The instructor explained the group symposium project and how it results in two 15-point assignments. The class then read the assignment sheet.
Class members made a list of issues affecting their generation and broke the issues down into smaller categories. Each student decided the issue most interesting and then went into the corresponding group. The groups then met to break down the topic into individual categories:
Energy Crisis:
Wars & violence--Priyanka Patel
Nuclear energy--Katherine DeMenna
Windmills, solar energy, and geothermal: feasibility of each--Mike Texeira
Pollution--Armand Almeida
STDs
HIV--Jenny
Syphillis--Dan
Gonorrhea--Jamie
Herpes--Nick
Miguel--chlymidia
Note: instructor will check spellings on these later
Eating Disorders
Bulimia--Z
Anorexia--Nicole
Obesity--Isabel
Binge eating--Brian
Psych. effects of eating disorders==Steve
Social Issues
Allaycia Tell
Melissa Romero
Lucy Boateng
Robert Stanley
Angie
Group needs to select one issue and break it down
Psychological Issues & Health/Lack of Support
Steroids and the Olympics--Sin-young Choi
Mental and physical effects of steroids--Tony Somma
Lack of support--Angelica Bermudez
For next class: work on getting sources for your topic. Here is the Annotated Bibliography help sheet. Work on "I Am" paper. Do readings and outlines.
Monday, Sept. 15:
Links to assignments that were handed out in class:
I Am
Group Symposium
Links to 2008 topics are at left in the Links section. Microsoft .doc download. This document will not be distributed in class. The topics are for students to think about for their informative and persusasive speech.
We finished paired interviews today.
Next we did an outlining exercise where the instructor outlined along with the students. She then told what she considered to be the main points of the paragraphs. A few pointers are:
- determine whether the reasoning for the paragraph is deductive or inductive (see text, p 334-35). That will often be the main point.
- often the main point is the first or last sentence of the paragraph--but not always. Today we found one main point in the middle of the paragraph
- students will often find studies cited. What did the study prove? Don't write the details of the study in the outline--just what it proved.
The instructor pointed out that this practice helps students become better writers because they become more comfortable with the structure of academic writing.
Assignments were given:
- "I Am" communications perception reaction paper
- Group symposium
- Notebook dividers
We read through the "I Am" assignment and did our own personal characteristics rankings in class.
In our next class, the instructor will ask students to tell what social problems they perceive as being the most important. We will make discussion topics out of these issues and break down into groups to begin preparation for the group symposiums. We will also read through the group symposium assignment.
For the next class, students should be reading what is on the reading schedule and continuing with their outlines. Chapters 1 & 2 should be done. They should be getting interviews for their "I Am" paper. Students should also think about what they see as social problems that need to be solved (group symposium).
Alert: On September 24th , two assignments will be due: the "I Am" paper and an annotated bibliography. Please plan your time accordingly.
