Helpful blogs for letter assignment

http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/News/Blog/defense.shtml
http://www.politico.com/
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
http://realclearpolitics.com/
New York Times topic pages - great for overviews
The Washington Post
The Wall Street Journal

Final Reflection

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Aamc-mCgaEw6ZGhodnc4dHRfMTBoY3ptcWtmcQ&hl=en

Please take the time to answer these questions thoroughly (either click on the link above or read below). The responses are both for you to better understand your writing, and for us since this is the first time we’ve used blogs in the classroom.
1. Describe the ways in which knowing your work would be public, able to be read by members of the class and anyone else on the internet, affected your writing.

2. Describe the process of learning how to create and maintain a blog worked for you. What are some of the particular challenges or successes you had?

3. Describe the process of researching, using the various databases and electronic tools available to you. Were you able to successfully navigate them?

4. Describe your work with the final presentation. Do you feel like you were able to fully express your thoughts and ideas? Were there things you wanted to do but couldn’t because of the software? Are there other ideas you have for what you would have liked to do?

5. How would you describe the connection between what you learned during these past three weeks and the ways you were asked to read, write, and present about it? In what ways was this more effective or more challenging or otherwise different from or similar to the ways we usually work in this class?

6. Do you feel like you received adequate assistance during the process? Were the different steps explained to you? Did you receive help and guidance that helped you to be successful?

7. What else should we know about this process for you? Is this the kind of thing you want to do more of during class? What ideas do you have for how to use blogs in our class in the future? Do you plan on maintaining your blog?

** Please type out your response and submit it on Wednesday.

Sharing Day Instructions!

How to respond to blogs today:


1. Surf around the class blogs. Find one on a topic you are interested in / know a bit about.

2. Watch the final presentation / read around some of the posts.

3. Write an extended response in a new post on your blog. This must include specific references to new information you learned from the blog.

4. Surf around the class blogs. Find one on a topic you don’t know much about.

5. Watch the final presentation / read around some of the posts.

6. Write an extended response in a new post on your blog. This must include specific references to new information you learned from the blog.

7. Surf around the class blogs. Find another one to read.

8. Watch the final presentation / read around some of the posts.

9. Write an extended response in a new post on your blog. This must include specific references to new information you learned from the blog.

Last things

Monday is the day!  All of your research, blogging, posting, linking, commenting, and hard work will go on display for everyone to see.  Here are some final thoughts about how to make sure your research project is the best it can be.  Make sure:

1. You have all of the required elements as listed on the class blog.
2. Each entry is thorough, detailed, spell-checked, and includes the necessary labels.  This means you may need to go back and revise / re-write entries to make sure they include all of these elements.
3. Your writing in all postings and in the final project fully reflects the hard work you've been doing, and doesn't sound like someone who just read a quick summary and quickly wrote down a series of first thoughts.
4. Your writing in all postings is accurate and shows a depth of engagement with and understanding of the material.
5. The final project includes all of the required elements and answers all of the questions.

Good luck with it! 

One note - we know there are limitations with the software and that everyone is in a different place with their comfort using these forms of communication.  The work we are looking for and evaluating can be effective and successful in many different ways!

All together for one last time - Let's Blog!

Final presentation - directions

1. Go to http://docs.google.com/
2. On the left hand side, go to "create new" then use the pull-down menu to get to "presentation."
3. A new window will pop open.  Maximize it.  This software is similar to Power Point.  You will be able to use it to create a series of slides / a presentation as the final piece of your research project.
4. Be sure to save frequently.
5. To post it to your blog, first go to the upper right-hand corner and clink "share" and pull down to "publish / embed."
6. This will bring you to a screen with a web address and html code to post into your blog.  Under "presentation player," choose "medium" size for the presentation.  Below that is a box with the words "copy the code..." above it.  Highlight and copy the lines of HTML code.
7. Go back to your blog.  Click "customize."  Click on "Add a gadget."  in the pop-up window, scroll down to "Add HTML/Java script."
8. This will open the gadget for adding HTML.  Enter a title. Click in the box then paste the HTML you copied from the "published" screen in step 6.  click "save."
9. That's it!

Final presentation - requirements

• Based on the research and thinking you’ve done about your topic, what is the story that needs to be told about your topic?
• Title
• One-two sentence overview
• Show (don’t tell) how the pieces fit together (or not).
• Represent the key information you discovered and explain its relevance to your project overall
• Photos, video, quotations, or links along with your interpretations
• Consider:
• How does the background information help us to understand the story? The current events?
• What issues and ideas does the story introduce?
• How has the issue evolved over time?
• What are the current events and controversies, why do they exist, and what are some of the perspectives and solutions?
• What do you think of the issue at this point? This is your blog and your have been working with this issue for several weeks – spend time exploring and articulating your opinion about what it means, why it is an issue, and what should be done.
• How does this topic fit into the growing definition of “what it means to be an American” we’ve been exploring in this class?

Questions to Consider While Reading Analytic Posts

For the background and current events pieces:

1. Is the posting specific and detailed, providing relevant information that shows the blogger's expertise on his/her topic?
2. Does the posting include both specific details and a thoughtful analysis of what they mean and why they matter to this issue?
3. After reading the posting do you have a specific and informed understanding of the issue?
4. Is the writing clear and focused?
5. What questions do you have for the blogger? What else do you want to know more about in order to better understand their point?

For the literary posting:

1. Does the blogger have a clear point about the interpretation of the topic offered by the story? Does the blogger answer the question, "What does the story tell us about this issue?"
2. Does the posting include specific details of the story (character names, events, symbolism, setting) and interpret them in terms of their point? Are these explained sufficiently for a person who has not read the story?
3. Is the writing clear and focused?
4. What questions do you have for the blogger? What else do you want to know more about in order to better understand their point?

What do the "Analytic Entries" need to include?

You'll notice that for each of the three sections of this project (background, literary, current events) you will write an analytic response in addition to the journal postings.  The goal for these is not just to present your findings, but to interpret them.

o Background.  For this essay, we are looking first of all for an engagement with the material you read.  That is, showing that you didn't just skim it, but took the time to understand and think about its contents both in terms of the article itself and your project overall.  You need to demonstrate an understanding of what your topic is, what are the different factors (people, events, documents, etc.) that made it important, and what role it plays in American society overall.  You will need to include information from all of your different sources.  The result will be a critical definition your topic.

o Literature.  This essay is a critical look at the story and the ways in which it uses its various elements (characters, themes, plot, literary devices, etc. ) in terms of your theme / topic.  What is the story suggesting about your topic?  What perspectives is it using?  How does this written expression add to the definition about the theme / topic?

o Current event.  This essay is a clarification of different perspectives and reasons behind the approach, and an explanation of how the theme / topic appears today.  What are the reasonings behind the different perspectives?  What new elements exist today in terms of the theme / issue beyond those included in the background information?

* Note that these essays are not written in the first person - you used that voice in your journal responses.  Now its time to step back and be critcal about what you read.  You will need to use numerous quotations in these postings, representing the research you've done up to this point.

*The length of each of these is roughly approximate to a two-page double-spaced essay.

How do I search for links to current events?

1. Go to the DHS Library Site and click on "Opposing Viewpoints" under the "Contemporary Issues" title.
2.  Look for your topic, or something closely related to it, right there on the front page of the site.  Click on it.
3.  Scan through the articles that appear here and find a few to read.  Note that you are under the "viewpoints" tab, so these are all essays advocating a particular approach or interpretation of the issue.
4.  Select a few of these to read and journal about.
5.  Click on the "News" tab and you will be taken to current news articles.  Here might also be a great place to search!
6.  Go to the DHS Library Site and click on "CQ Researcher" under the "Contemporary Issues" title.  On the left hand side, click on "Issue Tracker" and look for your topic.  Click away!
7.  The task is for you to read and journal on at least three different articles by the start of class on Monday.

For all of  your journal posts that relate to current events, please insert the terms "journal" and "current events" as labels.

The total number of journal entries you need for this sections is a minimum of four: from the "opposing viewpoints" or "contemporary issues" sites, you need to read essays representing different sides of the issue so you can better understand the complexities and ways in which people are making their arguments.  You will also need to include journal responses to two different news items.

How do I search for a short story?

1. Go to the DHS library site and click on the Gale Virtual Reference Library
2. Click on "Advanced Search"
3. In the top left search box, use the pull-down menu to select "Publication Title (pu)"
4. In the top right search box, type "Short Stories for Students" (be sure to use those quotation marks!)
5. In the middle left search box, leave it set to "Keyword"
6. In the middle right search box, type in the term you want to search for.
1. Note - this is a key step and you may return here several times to try different search terms
7. Your results will bring you a list of different potential titles.  Choose one of them - but be sure to look at the "relevancy" on the right hand side - if it is less than 90%, it probably won't work.
8. Click on the title of the story you selected.
9. Scroll down to the "Author Biography."  Read through it.  If this author is not from the United States, go back to step 7 - we will only be using American authors for this project.
10. Scroll down to the "Themes."  Read through these.  Also read the "Plot Summary."  If these look like a match for your project - that's great!  Write down the name of the author and story.  If these are interesting ideas in the "Themes" but the story itself does not seem to work for you, choose one of the themes to use as a keyword in your next search and return to #6.
11. Go to the library catalog and find a book that contains your short story!

Want to customize the appearance of your blog?

Several of you have been asking about ways to change the appearance of your blog beyond the choices provided to you by the blogger site.  Deme sent me this great link - and it's all free!  Thanks!  Enjoy!

Want to make links open in a new window?

Many of you have been asking about how to do this, since there is no simple setting for it.
Here is a link with easy-to-follow directions about how to do it - let me know if you want help making that change to your blog!

What is a good blog comment?

Here is a great resource to help you determine how to write a "best comment"

Sample blog about John Lewis

Here are some thoughts about John Lewis

McGuire, William, and Leslie Wheeler. "John Lewis." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .

Howard Zinn dies at age 87

Howard Zinn, the author of "A People's History of the United States," a noted activist, teacher, and writer of many articles we'll read in our class this year, died this evening.  Here is a link to the New York Times obituary - there will certainly be a lot more written about him and his impact in the coming days... I'll miss his voice, perspective, and the important questions he urged us to ask.
Among the many places to read his essays on line is this site.

President Obama's first State of the Union Address

On the day we started blogging as a class, President Obama gave his first State of the Union Address.  You can read the text of it here and see the responses from our class in the blog roll on the left hand side.  Take a few minutes to read what people had to say - and post a response comment too!
Think about the issue you will be focusing on for the next few weeks - was it mentioned in the speech?  What did President Obama have to say about it?  What do think about it?