Assignment 3: SIRS

In the fall my AP seniors write a position research paper based on issues from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. For example, since Victor Frankenstein creates life in his laboratory, one of the timely topics is cloning: pros and cons. My students must take a position on the topic. One of the sites I direct them to is SIRS Issues Researcher. It offers reliable full-text articles on both the pro and con side of a topic. My students find useful information to use in defending their position.  Our high school librarian has made life even easier for all of our students by providing a direct link to SIRS Issues Researcher. Students can access it from school or home.

For this assignment I went to SIRS Issues Researcher to find a topic for myself. First of all, the list of current topics is amazing! My students can find lots of information on ANY current, controversial topic for their research papers!  I decided to research Zero Tolerance. The two sides of the issue are stated at the top of the page as YES and NO.  The YES statement is "Zero-tolerance rules make students and teachers feel safer while they are at school." The NO statement is "Zero tolerance rules often lead to harsh penalties for minor infractions." Just having the pros and cons stated like that helps students understand what the issue is and that there are two sides to it.  Each side has three articles listed. Just click on the titles.

Next on the page is a list of many more related articles. Each has a summary. One of the coolest features is the icon beside each article that indicates the source of the article: web, newspaper, book, magazine. The total is 57 articles!

On the YES-side was an excellent article on bullying. Like so many other schools, bullying is an issue we're dealing with right now. The author, Daniel Weddle, started, "When I was a high school teacher, we had a saying: Put out matches, not forest fires. One child making fun of another was a lighted match. A student throwing a punch in the hallway was a forest fire. We worried about the little acts that led to larger acts, and we responded early, while we could still prevent a child from getting hurt." His article had me hooked immediately!  At our high school every teacher participates in a book read and discussion. My group is reading a book about bullying. At our next discussion I'm going to share this great article. But before our next meeting, I'll do more research here because it looks like there are many, many more good articles to read.

Assignment 2: Learning Express Library

This is a wonderful site for AP test preparation and practice. Last spring I used Learning Express Library in my AP Lit class. My students were assigned one of the tests and then given bonus points for taking more tests. I think they felt the extra practice was worth their time. The practice tests give students an opportunity to practice both the Multiple Choice section and the Essay section. I love that this site gives them feedback on their writing.  I plan to use LEL again this spring. This afternoon I went in and took one of the tests (well half of a test). I was excited because the first two poems in the test were poems I teach. I think I could actually use this test as a graded exercise in class - it would test students' understanding of these poems and give the students AP Test practice.
I also teach an ACT Prep course twice a year, so I checked out an ACT practice test this afternoon. The practice test is exactly like the real thing. Students who are serious about improving their ACT test scores know that PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE is a key to success. I think they will find this site useful. The site identifies their strengths and weaknesses and gives them personal feedback. And it's free! I will include information on this site in my spring class. 

Assigment 1: World Book

Because I teach Honors and AP English classes at the high school level, I went straight to the World Book Advanced site. I had never really considered World Book as a research site for my students, so I was amazed to discover how much World Book has to offer! First I looked at Lesson Plans and found something right away that I could use. The lesson on teaching cartoon analysis would work well with my unit on satire. The lesson comes complete with a worksheet and information on how to site this page. Another useful feature is the citation builder. I will direct my students to this handy tool next week when I assign their research paper! I think they may also find World Book's timeline useful. And the Online Reference Center is very helpful for the research my students do. I started out skeptical that I would find much use for an online encyclopedia and discovered I'm wrong!