Week 11

Possible 50-point Class participation Grade this week.

No blogging this week.

1) Get notes approved before moving on. Email to king@cityhigh.org
2) Review section of book starting on page 276.
3) Outline
4) Introduction and Thesis Statement (see handout)
5) Begin paper

Good luck, keep going, email me if needed. MK

Week 10

100 point NOTES CHECK. Notes are due Thursday. You may not go on to start your outline and paper until your notes are approved. Do homework every night, if needed. You will be grievously and woefully sorry if you fall behind.... and not just because of your grade.

Be first in line for my weekly Monday Grad Project workshop. Form a single file line outside the 11th floor office immediately following dismissal.

This week you will also receive a 50 point Class Participation grade. You will start with an A+. Over the course of the week, each time a colleague reports that he or she needed to correct inappropriate behavior, you will lose 10%. From A+ to A to B to C, etc.

If you need help, please king@cityhigh me.

Collages: Ms. Moye taught you how to save so that you could upload it. They should be on H: Drive and uploaded. Get to me by Tuesday for full credit.

Remember, to be approved, your notes need to be:

• in dot jot format
• in your own words
• each fact or set of facts needs to be matched to a source
• use the author's last name. If not given, use the first word or two of the article title (not website!)
• if you want to search in a database, go to www.carnegielibrary.org/ find articles / you can use my card 11812012540758 / click a category / click remote access
• try to find at least 5 worthy quotations. Be sure to document where you got the quote from.
• You should be able to write about three quality paragraphs for each of your foundation questions.

Your interview questions (and the name of person, area of expertise, and contact info) are officially overdue on Tuesday.

Work, Work, Work! Good luck, MK

Week 9

* Continue blogging appropriately M-Th
* Continue notetaking
* Works Cited page - Wed and Th

Email Etiquette

Here is a sample of a good one. Have your emails approved by MK before sending:

My name is Danielle Ossman and I am a student at City Charter High School, in Pittsburgh, PA. I am working on my Graduation Project and am truly concerned with the rate of illiteracy as well as how a person, like me, can help to combat it. This project takes two years. Along with a presentation, we are required to do an action plan. The illiteracy rate in the city of Pittsburgh is growing at an alarming rate and I wish to find a way to help lower those statistics in and around my community.
My action plan would be to have a book drive at school and then get some of the other students, in my school, to come and read the donated books to the children on each of the children’s wards in the hospital, if that is possible. My question to you is, can other students from my school, including myself come and read to the children on each ward for a certain amount of time? My goal is to be able to come in each day for a few hours or, if that is not acceptable, come in for one day and read to the children. I would be willing to fill out any forms or answer any questions that may be necessary or required, in order to accomplish this goal. I also want to let you know that I do have my state clearances as I currently intern at a local day care. I look forward to your response and the prospect of meeting you. Thank you for taking time to read over my request and your consideration in assisting me in obtaining my goals for my Graduation Project.

Sincerely,

Week 8

* Continue to Blog M-Th, appropriately
* Keep up with your notetaking - NOTE CHECK ON FRIDAY

* Tuesday - Introduction to Interview requirement

Week 7

Continue blogging, appropriately, M-Th.

Monday - Introduction to Proposal/Notetaking
Tuesday - Proposal/Notetaking
Wednesday - Proposal/Notetaking
Thursday - Proposal Due/Notetaking
Friday - Collage/Notetaking

Week 6

Don't forget that I stay every Monday to help with Grad Projects. Email me during the day to let me know you're staying.

* Continue blogging, M-Th, appropriately
* Note Taking - Dot Jot format, with sources listed for each fact.
* Plagiarism review
* Conferences: Ideas due for Tangible Products

Tangible Product:
* New Learning or Experience
* Related in some way to topic
* Reflects work and organization over time (requires a large amount of time, effort, and planning to complete)

Week 5

* Blog daily Tues, Wed., Thursday
* Hour 1 students: Webliography will be LATE following end of class Thursday
* Hour 2 students: Webliography will be LATE following end of class Friday

* Wednesday: Note Taking for Grad Project
What is Plagiarism? What are the consequences of plagiarizing?

Week 4

*Continue to Blog M-Th, appropriately.
*Check the dashboard for any zeroes or "See Me's"
*Select relevant articles that you will use for your notetaking. Print.
*Webliography

Week 3

* Continue to blog everyday, M-Th, meeting expectations/standards.
* Key Terms - overdue; See MK if extenuating circumstances.
* M&T: Essential Question and 10 Foundation Questions
* W&Th: Webliography
* F: TBA

Week 2

* Continue to blog each day, following the rules/expectations. Monday-Thursday
* Monday-Tuesday: Explore topic. Select an 'expert' focus related to topic. Explore resources online. Read about topic.
* Monday-Tuesday: Key Terms: Select and define at least 10 terms necessary for an understanding of your topic.
* Wednesday-Thursday: Essential and Foundation Questions

Week 1

Welcome to Grad Project class!

This week:

* Complete interest inventory activity

* Create your blog

* Complete first post of blog (#9 on directions sheet)

*Create a link to the Trimester One blog (gradprojects2009.blogspot.com)

* Create a link to the Trimester Two blog (trimester2.blogspot.com)

* Create a link to the Trimester Three blog (http://gradprojects2009tri3.blogspot.com/)

Select Option A or Option B:

Option A: If you have several ideas for your written report (Lit Review), do some background reading. Start considering the focus of your research. It should not be too broad or too narrow.

Option B: If you're not yet sure about your project, maybe another inventory would help. Answer the questions in the Interest Inventory (pp. 11-13) Number and label the Categories and try to come up with 1-2 answers for each.

Grading Alert: 10 points for Blogs correctly linked, with working links to the other blogs, and at least two entries, written in standard English.

Today's entry: What will you write your research paper about? What area of your topic will you become 'expert' in?