Westwood Middle School AVID site |
Recently, there has been quite the kerfuffle about the new Westwood Middle School hoodies that are available to purchase. I've heard you loud and clear and feel that we could use a little more clarification on what a uniform actually does for our school.
This week you will be researching the pros and cons of having a school uniform and will use your findings in a Philosophical Chairs discussion on Thursday. As you conduct your research, really look at both sides of the argument. What are the claims? What evidence does the author have to support their claims? What reasoning do they give that their evidence supports the claim? Remember, your arguments need strong evidence! Use the following lists of websites as a start to research this topic to create your own claims for the upcoming philosophical chairs discussion. You are welcome to conduct your own research as well - just remember to use reputable sources! Your findings should be recorded on Cornell Notes and the Philosophical Chairs Greatschools.org: Do uniforms make schools better? The Perspective: The Perspective on School Uniform ProCon.org: Should Students Have to Wear School Uniforms? University of West Florida: School Leaders and the Uniform Debate The New Yorker: The Downside of School Uniforms The Guardian: What's the ponit of school uniforms? VogueUK: Don't Hate on School Uniform, It Matters So Much More Than You Think
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Open the file attached to this blog post and follow the instructions.
You will be taking notes on the 5 types of Text Structures that you'll find in informational texts. Turn in your Cornell Notes once you are finished. On Monday, everyone received their blue report cards for the first marking period. Hopefully, your grades were not a shock to you. If they were, don't worry! We'll be working on goals for the second marking period today so that we aren't shocked when we receive our next report cards in January.
As you read the following information, take notes on the Notes side of your Cornell Note paper. Take note of the main idea of each section and any other information that you think is important. Don't worry about the Question side yet. You'll create questions later. :) Why do you need good note-taking skills? Taking notes is a life skill students must acquire to succeed in college and the world of work. Throughout their academic careers, students obtain information from a variety of sources, and they gather, process, wrestle with, think about, and ultimately solve problems and produce new knowledge using that information through the active process of focused note-taking. "The key reason most students find themselves in [the position of cramming for a test] is because they do not understand how to study. Students often do very little reading if any, and they do a poor job of taking notes. What you do before class, during class, and after class has a great deal to do with how much time you will spend studying the night before a test. How well you take notes will save you from the problems caused by last minute studying. Students who do a good job of taking notes could see a one or two letter grade improvement in most of their classes. " (Frederick, Richard) What is focused note-taking? It is a process of taking, revising, and applying notes from your classes so that you remember more of what you learned. In AVID we use a 5-step process method. This graphic shows the 5 steps in the AVID note-taking process. The following video will tell you how to take notes using this 5-step process in any class. His example is for a science class and uses an interactive notebook for his notes, but depending on your class you might be using regular notebook paper. It is 9:21 minutes long. Tips to help you write faster when taking notes Here are some common abbreviations that might help when taking notes. Anything you learn to use can be added to the list, but remember once you add it to your list use it the same way every time. If you keep changing you will not be able to read your own notes.
Take notes using the Cornell Note format while you learn about citing textual evidence when answering higher order thought questions. When answering questions, always utilize the RACES strategy. The graphic below will help you remember what the acronym stands for. The S at Westwood Middle School stands for "Spelling". There are two ways that you can cite evidence from a text: Paraphrase or Direct Quote
Paraphrase: Writing the information from the text in your own words. Quotation marks are NOT needed. Example: According to the author, dolphins are able to communicate with one another. This is just one sign of their intelligence. Direct Quote: Using the exact words from the text. Quotation marks ARE needed around the exact words from the text. Example: The author writes, "Dolphins have sophisticated communication capabilities which allow them to exchange information with other members of their pod." Try to have three (3) pieces of evidence to support your answer. The more evidence you can provide, the harder it is for someone to refute, or disprove, your answer. |
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