Friday research update

In 10QI, we are working on our research assignments.  Check that you have:

1. A research question(s).  One is about a 'first" and one is about why it is important.
2. TWO printed resources which you have highlighted to show the information which answers your research question.
3. A bullet point list in your own words of the information you have highlighted.
4. For each source, a paragraph summarising what you learnt from that source, and commenting on how useful the source was.

When you have done this for BOTH sources, let me know.  I can help with your next steps.  Below is how you will be marked:

Research task: due September 4 2018

Student Instructions

Your aim is to present the information that you have found in relation to your question and explain why this information is important to you, to New Zealand and to the wider world.

You must hand in your highlighted texts, and notes, as part of your assessment

You can do this in either a written report OR by making a screencastify presentation in which you share your findings verbally

To be successful, use this checklist:

• start by telling me what you already knew about your topic and why it interested you
• explain the usefulness of your sources (did they help you answer your question? why/why not?)
• summarise the information that you found (explain all of the information you found that relates to your question)
• weave in specific quotes from your research to support your findings and to support your opinion on why your chosen 'first' is important
• make clear links between your topic and the evidence you found (keep referring back to your original question throughout your presentation)
• add your own personal opinion on the topic and the information you found (how did your understanding/opinion/thoughts on the topic change based on what you found out? how did your person change their society or the world? what can we learn from your research topic?)
• evaluate your information and your topic (were your sources relevant and reliable? how do you know? what were the different points of view you found? was there any bias?)

Note taking #1: Tuesday 21 August 2018

Today (Tuesday) is all about taking notes.  We have two texts to choose from:
1. Sharks
What is a shark?

What are the key differences between different types of sharks?


2. Global Warming
What is global warming?

What effects could global warming have?

We have three important steps to take to take good notes:
1. Read the text, with the two key questions in mind.
2. Highlight each place where you find information that answers' one of your key questions.  You can use a different colour highlighter for each question.
3. Now decide how to make notes.  You can make a bullet point list, or create a table, to show what you have found out.  You will make brief notes and these will be mostly in your own words.
4. The last step is to write SEXY paragraphs answering the research questions.  These will be all in your own words and show your understanding of the topic.  

Reflecting on our research process so far

It's time to share our progress so far on our blogs. 

• Please share your research question and why it is important (you have already written this down) on your blog.  
• Then screenshot your key word search table and explain what you did to create this table and what you learnt from the process.  
• Finally, I want you to make connections between the research work you are doing in English and in Global Studies.  Write about how they are similar and different, and what you have learnt in each subject which can help you in the other subject.

Evaluating sources

First up, let's look at what we mean by "evaluating."
SOLO thinking can help us work up to evaluating:

1. Identify the ball - the half pink and half yellow ball in the front right hand side of the photo.
2. Describe the ball - the ball is a medium-sized bouncy ball made from rubber or plastic.
3. Explain how the ball works - the ball is used for games such as four square and volleyball, where it is bounced or passed between players.
4. Evaluate the quality of the ball - this is a good beginner ball for young sports players, as it bounces easily but does not hurt too badly if you get in the way.  It is less useful for serious basketball as it doesn't have the capacity to be pushed really hard and it is a bit small.

Now, let's try the same steps for a piece of written text which could be a source for the question:
What events lead to the creation of a world sport called Motocross?
Read this text
1. Identify the text - URL, title, author and date it was written.
2. Describe the text -  What is the text about (two sentences)?
3. Explain how the sport was created (4-5 sentences).
4. How useful was this text for researching the creation of a world sport called Motocross? - what information was relevant?  What information is missing that you still want to know?

Research: finding information

This is what you should have by now for your own research assignment:
1. A research question about a 'first.'
2. An explanation of why this topic is important.

Next step: googling for great results:  On Friday we looked at how much of a difference it makes when you combine different words into a google search.  I want you to try different google search functions and see which searches bring up the best information.  Go into your document called "researching firsts" that you made last Monday with Ms Evans and add a table to the bottom of the document, like this:

Google search combination:	Image of results:	Example of a site which was useful that I found in this search:

You need to try at least four different search combinations, and record your findings in this table.

Google searching like a boss

Do now: silent reading

Learning objective: how to choose google search terms to get the most useful results for our research

Success criteria:

1. We can identify contentious topics to research

2. In groups, we can collaborate to find out which words and combinations of words get us the most useful result for our interest

3. We can apply our new knowledge to our own "first" research question

Step one: select a topic which is contentious

Step two: think of all the words which go with this topic.

Step three: Try out different word combinations using google search.  Take screenshots of each combination and first page of results.

Step four: What do you notice about the differences between the results?  Look carefully at the sites on the results page.  How are they different?

Step five: sharing what each group has learnt

Step six: how can you apply this learning to your own research on the first...? 

Deconstructing wikipedia: giraffes

Learning objective: to deconstruct how a wikipedia page works
Success criteria:
1. I can skim read the wikipedia page on giraffes, and share what I found
2. I can describe what a footnote is
3. I can explain how we can use footnotes to help us in our research
4. I can identify further sources of information and begin to evaluate them

Do now: silent reading

Let's all look at the wikipedia page for giraffes.
We are going to have five minutes to read and decide on the key information on this page.
Then everyone will have an A3 sheet.  Chromebooks closed and we will write down everything we remember (timed: five minutes)

Then we will share our ideas with others around the room who we don't usually talk to.

We will then come together as a class and Zoe will scroll for Ms Quick as we analyse how the wikipedia page is set up.

We will look at footnotes and external links and talk about how we can use these in our research.
Plenary: on paper:
Today we learned:
One thing I will remember is....

Then hadn in the A3 sheets (named)

Focus on wikipedia

Learning objective: we can describe the strengths and weaknesses of wikipedia and identify alternatie sources of information.
Success criteria:
1. I can describe how wikipedia works
2. I can evaluate its strengths and weaknesses
3. I can find two alternative sources for my research question

Researching firsts
1. What do you know about wikipedia?
2. What are the benefits of anyone being able to contribute to wikipedia?
3. What are the weaknesses of anyone being able to contribute to wikipedia?

Choosing our 'first' to research

• On Friday (3 August 2018) we worked in groups to write lots of questions about "firsts." Even if you were away (as lots of you were), the big pink sheets at the front of the room will help you to catch up.  Each group wrote questions and came up with a fantastic range of questions that are definitely worth researching.
• The idea is that we ask a question about a 'first' that we don't already know about, and then when we research that question, we will uncover information that isn't widely available.  
• That was what the film Hidden Figures did to tell the stories of super talented mathematicians Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson.  The huge contribution they made to aeronautical research was hidden from public knowledge for a long time.

Task one:
Take a pink sheet from the front of the room, and add the questions to the padlet below.  As you are writing the questions on the padlet, add more questions that you think of.  If you don't have a pink sheet at your table, add your own questions as you think of them.  I have put some examples up to get you started.

Task two:
Choose one question which you would like to research.  Write your name in a comment on the question you have chosen. Create a new document in your English folder called "Researching Firsts"  In that document, write your question at the top and then write about why you have chosen it, including as many details about the topic and its wider significance as you can. I have made an example below:

"Who invented the flush toilet?"  

I chose this topic because I was thinking about items which we don't talk about much but which make our lives much more comfortable.  I've read before about how people had to go outside to a long drop 100 years ago and thought about how cold that would be at night.  I would like to understand what science led to the invention of the flush toilet and how fast the use of the flush toilet spread.  I think this is an important topic because getting rid of our human poo and urine safely is really important for preventing disease.

Creating 'firsts' questions

Learning objective: to identify other "hidden figures" in history and in the present
Success criteria:
1. We can identify questions to help us find out about firsts.
2. We can share the ideas from our group's work with the rest of the class
3. We can reflect on which area is of most interest for each of us to focus our research on.

We choose to go to the moon

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

John F Kennedy, full speech here.

What can we learn from this speech about JFK's vision for the United States of America?

How can we put this idea into our own lives?  What is hard for us but worth doing to stretch ourselves?