Thursday, January 19, 2012

Language Part 1 for Thursday, January 19, 2012

Reading: What is True?

Yesterday, you were asked to select a topic that you could investigate or research to determine what was true about the topic. For example, in class we discussed and did a little bit of research about whether or not Fat Free Foods were good for you. This was a good topic to choose because there are multiple points of view and a lot of reading that could be done about it. We also had a significant amount of background knowledge about Fat Free Foods, how they are advertised and how they might be useful to people trying to lose weight, but also might contain some chemicals that may or may not be healthy.

We recorded this information in a mind map and included a couple of questions that we had about the topic as well.

Your task was to choose a topic (links to debate topics were provided) and brainstorm what you knew about the topic. Some of you reached this stage and some of you didn’t. If you didn’t, that is your first task today.

Your Task

Overall

Explain how you know what is true about a certain topic of your choice. The topic should be somewhat controversial so that there are different points of view and different information sources available about it. For example, some might say that mining the oilsands in Alberta doesn’t cause a lot of environmental harm, while some might say that it does. There is a lot of information about health and environmental topics which make them good for this project.

Specifically

Find a minimum of five sources (online or print i.e. books) that discuss your chosen topic. At least one source should be from Social Media (we’ll discuss that more and I’ll share relevant sources with you in class on Monday).

Complete the Web Site Evaluation form (https://docs.google.com/a/collaborativeschools.net/document/d/12zD4wYm24hp3COT3eOh8BsHWuzZ0OybyZMDCLs2MqqQ/edit) for each of your sources ensuring that you answer all of the questions. This will be handed in. Please note that I have added additional tables below the first one so that you can add more sources if you need to.

I will also give you a scale to rate various information sources and you will rate each of your sources on a scale. Not all of your sources have to be excellent sources, it is just as important to be able to identify poor sources.

You will need to share your information with the class in a form of your choice. We will discuss limiting the range of choices when I am back on Monday, but if you feel that you can share what you learned and your evaluation in a certain form, feel free.

Your task for today

Find sources that discuss your topic. Use the tools suggested in class including Google, Wikipedia, and the other Encyclopedia (don’t forget to use the Find It page on the blog and check the username/password for Grolier by hovering over it). Begin filling out the Web Site Evaluation form for the sites you visit. It is better to have too many sources than too few, and you can always eliminate some later.