Period 4: Historical Investigation, Day 3 - Class Recap

One of the places I visited during Spring Break was Multnomah Falls (I took this picture on Friday). I actually ended my 4.5 mile hike at the bottom of the falls. It was great to get out and explore a bit!

Dear class,

It was so great to see everyone again! A week off certainly seemed like a long time to me. Now back to school with three and a half weeks left until Mrs. DeFrance Gilman comes back. Crunch time for me! Here's to a great end to my tenure as your teacher. On with the recap:

Essential Questions: What brings people together? What tears people apart?

Soundtrack: “Welcome Back” by Ma$e. Selected today for obvious reasons. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/2/13:
Spring Break Report
Part B, Explained
Library Research/Writing

Homework: ***Important*** Find all four sources for Part B – be ready to type up next class! Remember that Part B is due on Monday! Next news brief: Brennen and Alyssa.

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Spring Break Report: No news brief today, because I didn't assign one last class. Instead, we went around the room and said one thing we liked about Spring Break and one thing we didn't like. Students could "pass" if they wanted, but most participated and it was great to briefly hear about what many of you were up to!

Part B, Explained: Next up, I passed out the template for writing Part B of the Historical Investigation. Here it is if you missed class or somehow lost your copy:

Google Drive: Historical Investigation - Part B Template

I am going to try and make this really simple. You are finding a total of four (4) sources that help answer your research question. One of those sources has to be a book/print source. The rest can be electronic based sources.

If you are having trouble finding good sources of information online, here are a few links that might help:

1) Google Scholar web search.

2) Westview High School Library - Check out the "Research Help & Test Prep" section in the middle. Click on the "OSLIS" state logo, which will take you here. Then click on Find Information, then "High Schoolers."

You could also go to Wikipedia and look at the sources that are cited at the bottom of the page. If there is a link to see the source, evaluate it (is it a good source of information, or probably not?) check it out and see if it works for you. Again, you may NOT use Wikipedia itself as a source. Also, try not to use sources that are really old.

Once you have all four of your sources (and the template written out for each, if that will help), start thinking about how you are going to organize the information into your final Part B product. You are "telling the story" of what you found in your research!

Library Research/Writing: For the rest of class, we went up to the library and tried to find books to use as sources. Many of you worked well during this time, others were really struggling to focus and get good material.

Remember: next class you need to have all four sources (or at least an idea) that you want to use, so that you are ready to type it up in the Computer Lab. If you want to go ahead and have most or all of your Part B finished before class, that is fine, too. Just be aware that next class is the only time I am providing to be able to type up the 2-3 pages of Part B!

Please feel free to ask questions if you need help! Remember, this is going to take you quite a while. It's not like you are automatically going to be a be able to find 3 great sources that directly relate to your research question!