Thursday, October 4

Okay, tonight's the biggie. I have no reason to for this prediction, but the saying around here is "Utah by Five," so that's what I will say. Final score: Utah 22, USC 17 - our last five points are a safety when Barkley gets sacked late in the end zone and a field goal with a minute to go after a great return. There will be only one rushing of the field tonight...

Freshmen: Today we focused on Question-Based Research Strategy. QBR is founded on the idea that authentic questions drive research. In other words, you need to genuinely care about the topic you are writing about and have questions you want answered in order to write a good piece. Remember, all academic writing is entering into a conversation about a topic. In QBR, you write a question you need answered about your topic on one side of an index card. This drives and guides your research. You then write brief answers, in bullet statement form, on the back of the index cards. Be sure to include the source where you got your answer on the back. For example, I asked the question, "How many teenagers die each year in car accidents?" Some of the answers I found were "3,500 in 2003" on rmiia.org's website, "68,000 from 1996-2006" on Carfax's website, and that "16 year olds are three times more likely to die in a car accident than any other age group" on rmiia.org.

If you come across a big idea that was not addressed by any of your questions, simply state the big idea on one side of an index card and the supporting details on the back, again, with your sources. For example, I had not anticipated brain research factoring into my essay, but when I stumbled across it, I wrote "Brain Research" on one index card. On the back I had details relating to this idea about the dorsal-lateral pre-frontal cortex and decision making.

You will see next week how this method of research not only prevents unintended plagiarism but helps you better organize your early drafts.

Due for next Tuesday is all of your research - this means your interview or survey should be complete, your research read, and your index cards filled out. You may use your 20 minutes of reading to read from They Say I Say Chapters 1-3, which are due Monday, or from your research sources if you wish. Chapter 2 vocab is due Friday.

Sophomores: Today we focused on integrating quotes from what we read into our writing more effectively. See the earlier post on the blog about this for more info and an example. Due for Monday is a revised, annotated copy of your most recent Life of Pi Shaping Event essay that you submitted to turnitin.com. Go to turnitin, read the feedback, and revise your essay based on today's lesson and the feedback you got. Then annotate on your essay the improvements and revisions you made so that I can compare your revised piece with the original and see your process.

Continue to read, work on your 3EJ, and your Echoes assignment, as well as your chapter reflections. Chapter 2 vocab is due Friday.

CNF: Today we began reading Chapter 6 and the conclusion to Blink. We will conclude it next week.