Thursday, October 30, 2014

The Research Paper Process from start to finish: Person/Hero of the Year Essay


Enduring Understanding:  Words and actions, purposely chosen, have a great impact on the individual as well as society.


Objective:  The students will read about and discuss what a hero is in our society.  They will see some real and fictional examples of heroes and the effects that their actions had on their lives.  The students will then pick a person that they think deserves the title of Person/Hero of the Year and complete research on their person.  They will then complete a full research paper on their person using facts, details, and quotes from reliable sources.

Performance Activity/Assessment:  The Person/Hero of the Year Essay

Person/Hero of the Year Prompt and Rubric

Focus:  Research and Writing.  Speaking and Listening

Common Core Standards Covered:    Reading:                                1,2,3,4,7
                                                              Reading Informational Texts:   1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
                                                              Writing:                                  1 a,b,c,d,e
                                                                                                            2 a,b,c,d,e,f
                                                                                                            4,5,6,7,8,9

Duration:  2-4 Weeks

Essential Questions: 

1.      How does a novel, short story, poem, essay or article reveal an author’s point of view? 
2.      How is effective propaganda used? 
3.      How does one persuade or influence another person.
4.      When do a person’s actions speak louder than their words?
5.      What is a hero?
6.      What are the effects on someone who is/was a hero?
      7.   How can we all make a difference in society?

What do we want our students to know?
  • Reliable vs. Unreliable Sources
  • Vetting important information and details
  • Citing sources
  • Integrating quotes into the flow of their writing
  • Works Cited Page
  • How to write an anecdotal intro
  • How to peer edit, revise, and publish a "perfect" paper

Literature/Texts
  • "Nothing Man" fictional poem by Bruce Springsteen
  • "Man in the Water" non-fiction essay
  • "The Parable of the Good Samaritan" historical text
  • "Disturbing Legacy of Rescues:  Suicide" non-fiction news article


Pre-Activity:

Person of the Year or Hero of the Year

Important Vocabulary

Academic Vocabulary
Class Specific Vocabulary
Literature Vocabulary
synthesize
citation
flailing
analyze
parenthetical citation
abiding
integrate
quotation
pitted
gist
implied thesis
implacable
thesis
Anecdotal intro
extravagant
textual evidence



Complete Person/Hero of the Year Vocabulary Exercise

Use Denotation/Connotation Vocabulary Handout

Day 1:  "The Man in the Water"

1.  Read the news article The Air Florida Crash of Flight 90
2.  Close Read:  "The Man in the Water"  
3.  Discuss and Complete Text Based Questions"The Man in the Water" Text Questions

Day 2:  "Man in the Water" Videos:  Watch and discuss and complete Text Based Questions.

Divide the class into 8 different groups.  Assign each group a paragraph of the text to discuss and present to the class.  Assign a question also from the text based questions.  The group comes to the front of the class and presents the "gist" and the "claim" that the paragraph presents.




Day 3:  "The Parable of the Good Samaritan"

Close Read "The Parable of the Good Samaritan"






Day 4:  "Nothing Man" by Bruce Springsteen:  Group Activity


Day 5:  News Article Close Reading

Disturbing legacy of rescues:Suicide

Disturbing legacy of recuses:  Suicide Text Based Questions Handout


Days 6-7:  Library Research 

Day 8:  Part 1:  The Anecdotal Intro

Bruce Springsteen:  Example Anecdotal Intro
Ice Bucket Challenge: 2014 Event of the Year Sample Intro 
Pen Farthing 2014 Person of the Year Sample Intro 


Day 9:  Part 2:  The Biographical Information  

Bruce Springsteen:  Example of Part 2:  Biographical Information
Ice Bucket Challenge 2014 Event of the Year Part 2 Section Sample 

Day 11:  Part 3:  What the Person Did in 2014 to Make Them a Hero

Ice Bucket Challenge 2014 Trend of the Year Sample Part 3

Day 13-14:  Part 4:  The Close and The Works Cites Page
Part IV: Example:
Use Easybib.com to complete the Works Cited Page  

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