Chapter 21: A Dividing Nation

Essential Question:
Which events of the mid-1800s kept the nation together and which events pulled it apart?

Today in Social Studies, we are going to dive into Chapter 21: A Dividing Nation.  We will be studying events leading up to the civil war, analyzing how decisions and events divided or united the nation.  For this chapter, you and a partner will become an expert on two events.  It will be your job to read about the events, collect evidence to explain how the event divided or united the country, create a visual piece that summarizes the event, communicate ideas to others in a short presentation, and listen and record ideas from peer presentations.

I've included the expectations for the activity below:

Presentation Checklist

To help you prepare for our upcoming presentations, we are going to take time to think about the who, what, where, when, why and how of your presentation.  Working in partners, go over the Presentation Checklist.  Make sure that each of you gets to practice your presentation from start to finish at least one time!

Remember, presentations should be 3-5 minutes in length.  You need to have note cards prepared, and you need to talk about the book as well as your project.  See the description of the presentation on the final page of the Challenged Book Unit packet.

Presentations

This week, your job is to finish your projects and organize your presentations.  The description of the presentation can be found on the final page of your Challenged Book Unit packet or by clicking here.

For this presentation, you will need to create note cards.  What makes note cards effective?  How can note cards help you present?  When done correctly, note cards can help boost your confidence, increase your eye contact, and help you stay focused and on-topic during your presentation.

Note cards should be arranged in order, with bullet points of important information.  Note cards should serve as a guide to jog your memory, and help you speak to your audience from the moment, rather than from a script.

To see Ms. Gould's Example note cards, click here.

Plagiarism

After reading through all of our rough drafts, it has come to my attention that we need to have a class discussion about plagiarism.  Plagiarism can take many forms, and as you prepare for high school, it is important that you are aware of all of them, so you can produce authentic high-quality work that is truly your own.

I can lecture you on the dangers of plagiarism...as a student your reputation can be ruined; you can fail a class, or you can be suspended or expelled.  As a professional, it can be much worse.  Your entire business can be ruined, and you can be fined an sued.  But rather than focus on the consequences, let's focus how we can prevent the cause.

According to plagerism.org, here's the top ten most common forms of plagiarism:

How Were the Pyramids Built?

One of your classmates shared this article with us....check out one of the mysteries of the world, solved!

According to Denise Chow, of LiveScience, "The ancient Egyptians who built the pyramids may have been able to move massive stone blocks across the desert by wetting the sand in front of a contraption built to pull the heavy objects, according to a new study."

http://www.livescience.com/45285-how-egyptians-moved-pyramid-stones.html

Project Proposal

This week, you will begin your creative project.  The purpose of your project is to design and create a project that represents the plot of the book and explores why the book was challenged.  Remember, you have the choice of eight different projects, or you may propose your own project.  Use the link below to view your project options:

• Project Options

After your choose your project, you must complete a project proposal.  A project proposal identifies the work that needs to be done, explains why the work needs to be done, and outlines how you will complete the work.  Make a copy of the document from the link below to complete your project proposal.

• Project Proposal

Editing

“There Are Two Typos Of People In This World: Those Who Can Edit And Those Who Can’t” 

~Jarod Kintz

According to the Clarion University Writing Center, "Editing deals only with the minor details in your writing," and it is usually "the final step in your writing process." In the editing process, you are looking to correct punctuation,capitalization, grammar and spelling.  Once you reach the editing stage of this writing process, you will be self-editing and peer-editing.

To begin, you will be editing your own paper.  To help you with this process, I have created an editing checklist.  Just like the Revising Checklist, you will be reading and correcting your own work.  Once you have self-editing, you will share your paper and Editing Checklist with a peer, and peer-edit.  You two will swap work, and you will read through one another's copies, helping to catch mistakes and make comments.

To help you with this process, use the resources below:

• Editing Checklist:  Make a copy of this checklist to help you with the editing process.
• Ms. Gould's Example Essay:  Check out my essay sample to help with formatting, editing, and revising.