World War 1, Day 3 - Class Recap

Today's talk about writing essays included a bunch of pictures of Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco. Here's a picture of the city from that trip (Spring Break in 2011).

Dear class,

First, thank you so much for doing your homework and reading the blog. It's homework for a reason - I really think it is helpful for students to remember and review what we learned! I was really pleased with the work we did in class on your rough draft essays and the overall focus after our talk. On to the recap:

Learning Targets: 
Critical Thinking and Analysis LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems, and concepts.
Knowledge LT 20: I can explain the impacts of nationalism and revolutionary movements.

Soundtrack: "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones. Selected for today because Matt in Period 3 suggested it, and there are all sorts of lyrics about historical events in the song.

AGENDA 2/9/15

Ground Rules Review
News Brief - Nolan
Read Letters
The Most Important Skill
Graphic Organizing

Homework: Read the blog! Keep working on your World War I essay. Next news brief: Brenden.

Ground Rules Review: To begin class, I talked about how unhappy I was with how last week ended with class - constant phone use, writing on desks, trash on the floor, and zero students doing their homework by reading the blog. So, I cam back to the ground rules we all agreed to at the start of the year:

1. Respect Each Other
2. Be Supportive
3. Be Responsible
4. Be Positive
5. Be Open Minded

I talked about each one of these as an instance of how we could do better. Last week, I was totally exhausted with how difficult it was to manage the class. Today was MUCH better - thank you so much for your work and focus.

News Brief: Nolan brought in this news article (and accompanying video!) for the news brief today: BBC.com - Mexico police find dozens of bodies in Acapulco. We found Mexico again on the world map (apparently it has already been featured three times!) and talked about this story.

We talked about the weekend and assigned Brenden to do the next news brief.

Finally, we also watched VICE News today, too.

The Most Important Skill: I said this in class and I really believe it: the ability to write (especially a good essay) is the most important skill that you will need in order to be successful in high school and college. Thus, this lecture was something I hope you paid very close attention to. Please see the PowerPoint below (remember that if the text doesn't show up in Google Docs, click "File" then "Download" and it should when you have a copy on your own computer):

Google Docs: Writing Easy Essays in Social Studies PowerPoint

The basics: every essay needs to start out with a "thesis statement" in the first paragraph (the introduction). Each of the three paragraphs after that should contain one main point you are trying to make. The format (or recipe) for those "body" paragraphs are like this: topic sentence, concrete detail/fact, concrete detail/fact, commentary/opinion, and then a concluding sentence. Finally, after the three body paragraphs, you will write a conclusion that restates the thesis. This is a LOT of information to try and learn, I know. That is why I am having you practice in class before I ask you to write me a real one at the end of the World War I unit.

Graphic Organizing: Based on the essay question on the last slide of the PowerPoint, I gave three different examples of "graphic organizing" your essay. I asked you to use one of these examples to start up your essay. If you missed class, here is one of the examples that you can use to start thinking about your essay:

Google Docs - Graphic Organizer for Writing Essays

Along with this, I gave the class a good format for writing a thesis (and even included one on World War I to start you off, if you were having trouble):

Google Docs - Thesis Statement Formula and Example

Hopefully this made sense. It is okay if it does not right away. That is why we are practicing!

For the rest of class, I had you start up your essays using your graphic organizers - then the actual writing if you finished that. Here are the prompts that we were using (the last slide of the PowerPoint): 

Question: Why did World War I start and what happened at the beginning of it?

Words to use: militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism, Franz Ferdinand, Sarajevo, Triple Alliance, Triple Entente, June 28th 1914, trenches, Eastern Front, Western Front.

Use your notes! Cite my presentation as (Fritz Lecture) for any concrete details directly from me. You can also use the textbook, if you like.

Again, we will continue working on this in class. The essay is not homework (unless you haven't started it, in which case, it is) - I want to help you through each step this time. Next time, it will be an actual assignment/test. You will be including your work here with that final assignment - so it is not like this work will not count.

Phew! I know that is a lot. Please let me know if you have any questions! Thanks again for your hard work today and willingness to follow the ground rules!