Take Note!

It is THAT time finally... you will begin answering your research questions in order to develop your project and "prove the assertion" you made about your topic.  IN order to create organized and easy to use notes, you should remember the three types of notes you will take:  QUOTES, PARAPHRASE & SUMMARIES.  

You can visit the site we used in class to review the difference between these three types of notes.

You will create your bibliography cards and your note cards using the resources you have been provided in class, and you will check the rubric you have been given to be sure you are doing everything you need to do to earn all of the points on this portion of the assignment.  Although you are required to do a minimum of 15 note cards and 2 bibliography cards, you will certainly need MANY more in order to get all of the information you need on your topic.  Samples of each type of card:

NOTICE-- different sources require different things in different places on the notecard.  I have given you a specific set up for the note cards we will do in class, so you should simply look at these for samples of how to take good notes for each of the different TYPES of note cards.

Here are samples of models we did in class that follow the required format.

Bibliography Card

Note Card-- 

Other Samples of quote, paraphrase & summary cards-- 

Samples of Bibliography Cards:

Easy Bib-- Ins and Outs

We will be working on various stages of research for the next 3-4 weeks, and we  will be using a comprehensive Web 2.0 tool called Easy Bib.  You will first need to log onto the site from school and create a log in.  I HIGHLY recommend writing down your log in information on your research folder, so you do not lose it and have to start over.

Notice-- you DO need to use an email;  You SHOULD have a G-Mail account by now, so this should be no problem.

You need to choose an easy to remember password (try your lunch number).  Again, write down this information, so that you have it with you at all times!




Next, you will create a new project.  You can just name it something that has to do with your research topic-- perhaps even the name of whom you are researching.

Notice;  I have several projects in here from the past several years;  Easy Bib will save your projects indefinitely!  Once you start a new project, you will open that same project each time you are completing a different step of the research process.  You can move back and forth from step to step;  finding valuable resources, creating a bibliography, taking notes and making notecards-- these are all things you will do with Easy Bib.

We will explore each of these services in class, and I will post additional resources on this blog post as I find them.  For now, simply create your log in and explore the site to become familiar with the student options!

Using Thinglink to create a multi-media presentation of your research

Share all of the  "FUN FACTS" you found during your research, and do it interactively with a Web 2.0 tool called Thinglink.  Explore a few examples by clicking on "featured" when you get to the site.  You will see some examples on topics-- you may even see the topic you have selected!

What is Thinglink?  View this quick video to learn WHAT it IS and WHAT you can do with it.  

To view a Thinglink Tutorial Wiki with directions and resources to make your own, click the link.  

You will be building your Thinglink presentation while you are doing your research project and completing your artifacts.  

Why use Thinglink?

You can research a topic, create an interactive visual presentation and label links and other multi-media resources for your viewer to explore... creating an individualized multi-media presentation of your research.  

The Trouble with Case-- Pronoun Case, That Is...

Students like to TRY to decide which pronoun to use simply by asking "does it SOUND" correct???  Sometimes, we are so used to speaking incorrectly, that it is difficult to know which is the proper pronoun to use!  In class lately, we have been practicing with personal, possessive, indefinite, reflexive, interrogative, demonstrative and relative pronouns.  We have been learning about pronoun/antecedent agreement, subject/verb agreement, when to use nominative case pronouns, when to use objective case pronouns and how to tell the difference between words used as pronouns or as adjectives.  While completing the review sheets for Grammar Notes 6, you may  still feel a bit confused with some of those concepts.  The purpose of this blog post is to help you find resources to clear up any confusion you may still have.

Review the basic rules regarding pronoun CASES, first.  This link has charts and explanations for you. The chart above is a listing of the personal and personal possessive pronouns by CASE.

If you forget WHEN to use each particular case, certain RULES do apply.  You simply must remember those rules when choosing.  It really depends on the FUNCTION of the word in question.

Remember-- Nominative (or SUBJECTive case pronouns are the ones that are acting either as the subject or the subject complement in a sentence.  Objective case pronouns take on the role of either the direct object, the indirect object or the object of the preposition in a sentence.


Much of the time, there is an antecedent present when using personal pronouns.  Although an antecedent may appear in a previous or subsequent sentence, we generally do not fail to refer to WHOM the pronoun is referring.

Often times when using indefinite pronouns, the antecedent is not present or is only referred to or assumed, OR the pronoun (if acting as a subject in the sentence) IS the antecedent!  In that case, it is necessary to remember which of the indefinite pronouns represent singular "indefinite" people, places, things or ideas, which represent "plural" people, places, things or ideas AND which can be either singular or plural.  This is just another LIST you need to memorize (or have handy to use when trying to decide.)

Don't forget... possessive pronouns ALWAYS act as adjectives EXCEPT when they are following a linking verb.  Indefinite pronouns, demonstrative pronouns and interrogative pronouns MAY be functioning as adjectives if they come IN FRONT of a noun, and words like that, which and who may be RELATIVE pronouns if they are telling you something about the group of words that come before the pronoun!

Possible Research Topics-- Interesting People Who have done Interesting Things...

If you are doing your preliminary research and are coming up short on resources, check out this list of interesting people compiled by Ms. Matis

Abraham Lincoln

Adolf Hitler

Albert Einstein

Alexander Graham Bell

Alfred Hitchcock

Amelia Earhart

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Jackson

Andy Warhol

Anne Frank

Anne Sullivan

Aristotle

Barack Obama

Barbara Bush

Barbara Walters

Beethoven

Benjamin Franklin

Bill Cosby

Bill Cowher

Bill Gates

Billie Jean King

Bob Dylan

Charles Darwin

Charles Dickens

Charlie Chaplin

Christopher Columbus

Chuck Noll

Clara Barton

Cleopatra VII

Coco Chanel

Condoleeza Rice

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Daniel Boone

Davy Crockett

Diana, Princess of Wales

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Edgar Allan Poe

Edwin Hubble

Eleanor Roosevelt

Elizabeth Blackwell

Elizabeth I

Elton John

Elvis Presley

Emily Dickinson

Fidel Castro

Florence Nightingale

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Sinatra

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Fred Rogers

Genghis Khan

George Bush

George Lucas

George W. Bush

George Washington

George Washington Carver

George Westinghouse

Gerald Ford

Grover Cleveland

Harriett Tubman

Harry Truman

Helen Keller

Henry Ford

Henry Heinz

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Irving Berlin

J.K. Rowling

Jack London

Jackie Robinson

James Cameron

James Monroe

Janis Joplin

Jerry Seinfeld

Jesse Jackson

Jim Henson

Jimmy Carter

Joan of Arc

Joe DiMaggio

Joe Paterno

Johann Sebastian Bach

John F. Kennedy

John Hancock

John Lennon

Jonas Salk

Judy Garland

Julius Caesar

Katie Couric

King Tut

Lady Gaga

Lance Armstrong

Laura Ingalls Wilder

LeBron James

Leonardo Da Vinci

Louisa May Alcott

Madonna

Magic Johnson

Mahatma Gandhi

Margaret Thatcher

Marie Curie

Marilyn Monroe

Mario Lemieux

Mark Twain

Mark Zuckerberg

Marlon Brando

Martha Stewart

Martin Luther

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Maya Angelou

Michael Jackson

Michael Jordan

Michael Phelps

Michelangelo

Mikhail Gorbachev

Milton Hershey

Morgan Freeman

Mother Teresa

Muhammad Ali

Nancy Pelosi

Napoleon

Nelson Mandela

Oprah Winfrey

Orville and Wilbur Wright

Oskar Schindler

P.T. Barnum

Pablo Picasso

Ray Charles

Richard Nixon

Roberto Clemente

Ronald Reagan

Rosa Parks

Sally Ride

Sandra Day O’Connor

Sarah Palin

Sebastian Bach

Serena Williams

Shirley Temple Black

Sidney Crosby

Sir Isaac Newton

Sonia Sotomayor

Stephen King

Stephen Spielberg

Steve Jobs

Susan B. Anthony

Suzanne Collins

Teddy Roosevelt

Temple Grandin

Terry Bradshaw

Theodor Suess Geisel (Dr. Suess)

Thomas Edison

Thomas Jefferson

Tiger Woods

Tom Brady

Tony Hawk

Troy Polamalu

Ulysses S. Grant

Walt Disney

Wayne Gretsky

Whoopi Goldberg

William Jefferson Clinton

William Shakespeare

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Yasir Arafat

OR  you can get inspiration from one of the websites provided on the "Famous People" link below... Wondering who shares your birthday?  There's a list for that!  Wondering who "Time" magazine considers to be the top 100?  There's a list for THAT too!  Check out the "lists" and see if you can find some interesting information!  

FAMOUS PEOPLE

Daily Scribe

I love the concept of including student input on a daily basis and increasing individual responsibility for the day's learning at the same time.  So how can this happen?  I recently came across a wonderful idea for incorporating the classroom job of a DAILY SCRIBE, and I LOVE it.

So here is the idea:

Students will take turns taking notes on the day's basic events of the class and will present them in a neatly typed or hand-written format the following day for teacher approval, and will then post those comments on Edmodo-- at first-- and eventually on our very own Daily Scribe Blog for classmates to view and post comments.

Purpose:

To maintain an ongoing record of class activities and learning


To demonstrate the ability to write a report of information


To demonstrate the ability to communicate through a blog post

View some samples of this concept in action!

American History

Math Blog Spot

More to follow!  

Attention Future Bloggers.... Some of you have expressed interest in starting your own blog.    I want to support your efforts!  Check out some of the links I have provided for you to get started.

What is a BLOG, anyway???

Why should you Blog?

Convinced and ready to go??? Well, here are some sites to get you blogging!

Before you begin, be sure to read the first two links below.  It sheds some light on things to think about BEFORE you post on the Internet...

Digital Citizenship 101

Responsible Blogging...

Some Blogging Tips

Don't be afraid to look to OTHER blogs for ideas, tips and pointers!

Sample Classroom/Teacher Blogs

You can use Blogger (like I am) if you have a Google Account.  You can also use other blogging sites (many are free)

Tumblr  seems fairly "student friendly" and easy to use

Wordpress is said to be a bit "more advanced"