After reviewing journals, I decided we needed to revisit two concepts: citing textual evidence and using sensory language.
- Sensory Freewrite (in journal)
Students were given a nature picture (each picture was different) and after reviewing what sensory was and how to write it (describing, not telling), students were given time (7 minutes) to write about their picture (describing it using sensory language and figurative language).
Sensory Language
- What do you hear, smell, see (include colors), feel, and taste (taste is optional for this assignment)?
- Add a smilie (comparing two unlike things using "like" or "as")
Describe-- Don't Tell!
Example- I see a dog. (telling)
Example- A small white poodle with matted fur was limping across the busy road. (describing)
- Sensory Poem
I demonstrated, on the board, how to turn the sentences into lines of poetry. Students used their sensory freewrite to create a 10 line poem about about their picture.
Example- The black leafless trees were standing on the mountain.
Trim for poem- Black leafless trees
standing guard on the lonely mountain
In this example personification was used to (referring to trees as guards) and an emotional attribute/adjective was given to the mountain.
Responding With Text-based Evidence
- The second half of class we reviewed and practiced citing textual evidence to support our claims.
- We reviewed how to do that. We reviewed how to structure a response paragraph. Then students wrote a response paragraph to the articles about the Dakota Pipeline Protest. (articles attached below)
Response paragraph structure
1. Topic Sentence/Claim
2. Evidence (prove it)
3. Warrant your evidence (explain how your evidence proves it)
4. Second data point/evidence
5. Warrant for second data point
6. Summary Sentence
Example
(topic sentence/claim) The death penalty should be abolished because it costs taxpayers more money than sentencing criminals to life without parole. (first data point) As noted on the Criminal Justice Degree Hub web site, "The reason for this is that the inmates on death row are guaranteed a long and very thorough judicial process by the Constitution. This is done so that the chances of executing an innocent inmate are minimized." (warrant) When people think of death row inmates, they often think of all the money that would be saved by eliminating how long an inmate is alive, but they don't think about the amount of time and money it takes to get the inmate put in jail to start with. (second data point) For example, in California, "death row costs taxpayers $114 million a year beyond the cost of imprisoning convicts for life. The eventual cost to taxpayers in Maryland for pursuing capital cases between 1978 and 1999 is estimated to be $186 million for five executions" (New York Times, 2009). (warrant) The long drawn out process and costs have led many states to drop the death penalty. (summary) Clearly the death penalty should be abolished because it does not save taxpayers money.
Assignment- Read the two articles about the Dakota Pipeline Protest
Write a one paragraph response explaining why you agree or disagree with the judge's ruling. You must make your claim in your topic (first sentence). Then you must use text based evidence (quotes from the articles), to support your claims. You must also warrant each quote. End your paragraph with a summary sentence.
Article 1
http://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-rule-today-dakota-access-pipeline-case-protests/story?id=41973080
Article 2
http://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-rule-today-dakota-access-pipeline-case-protests/story?id=41973080