Does Homework Benefit Students?

**Use these resources to gather information for your Argument Essay.  Please write down the title, author etc. when you begin taking notes so that you can give credit to your sources within your papers and in the bibliography (please use www.easybib.com  for this).  Use the close reading strategies we practiced in class.  Remember your EQs for non-fiction:  What surprised me?  What did the author think I already knew?  What changed, challenged or confirmed my thinking? To avoid confusion, I would suggest writing down the text information and creating an individual “I Notice/I Think” chart to gather information for EACH text you use. 

Videos:

www.kidsinthehouse.com/teenager/education/studying-and-homework/what-science-says-about-the-benefits-of-homework

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/making-homework-meaningful

http://www.12news.com/news/local/valley/should-kids-have-homework/305912837

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/46915830

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/10/27/homework-or-no-homework-what-educators-are-saying/

http://abc13.com/education/student-creates-petition-for-less-homework-in-katy-isd/1533086/

http://www.komu.com/videos/local-teachers-respond-to-study-calling-homework-ineffective

https://youtu.be/D7tj0eyTuLI

Articles:

http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Instruction/What-research-says-about-the-value-of-homework-At-a-glance/What-research-says-about-the-value-of-homework-Research-review.html

http://www.alfiekohn.org/homework-improve-learning/

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/research-trends-is-homework-effective-youki-terada

https://www.edutopia.org/no-proven-benefits

https://www.teachers.ab.ca/Publications/The%20Learning%20Team/Volume-14/Number-1/Pages/Does-Homework-Improve-Student-Achievement.aspx

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2012/11/26/homework-an-unnecessary-evil-surprising-findings-from-new-research/?utm_term=.0a45d07dc037

http://www.livescience.com/55967-science-of-homework-does-homework-boost-achievement.html

Links to Videos for Argument Essays

Does the Electoral College Adequately Represent the Voice of the People?

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/06/500660424/how-the-electoral-college-works-and-why-you-don-t-want-to-think-about-it

http://uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_procon.php

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-the-2016-election-proves-america-needs-the-electoral-18407

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-electoral-college-kass-1111-20161110-column.html

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/11/02/good-question-electoral-college/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9H3gvnN468

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/11/10/electoral-college-popular-vote-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-editorials-debates/93609562/

Should Police Wear Body Cameras?

http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry/watch/should-police-officers-wear-body-cameras--365061699685

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/05/05/ac-town-hall-police-under-fire-body-cams.cnn

http://www.msnbc.com/andrea-mitchell-reports/watch/should-police-officers-wear-body-cameras--364013635842

http://www.today.com/video/police-body-cameras-can-you-always-believe-what-they-show-686449731595

Should Planned Parenthood Be Federally Funded?

http://www.wnyc.org/story/planned-parenthood-on-federal-funding-and-controversial-videos/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-to-vote-on-blocking-federal-funding-to-planned-parenthood/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIgE89bK7PA

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/planned-parenthood-fight-make-doors-stay-open-trump/story?id=43467297

Is Climate Change the Most Important Issue of Our Time?

https://www.ted.com/talks/james_hansen_why_i_must_speak_out_about_climate_change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtW2rrLHs08

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/29/science/alaska-global-warming.html

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-military-climate-change-20161103-story.html

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-military-climate-change-20161103-story.html

Should College Athletes be Paid?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Q-L5yr0Lw

http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/meet-the-press/should-student-athletes-get-paid-204172355888

http://www.si.com/sports-illustrated/video/2013/06/05/si-now-should-college-athletes-get-paid

http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/08/19/n-paying-ncaa-players.cnnmoney/

Should Athletes be Required to Stand for the National Anthem?

http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/colin-kaepernicks-national-anthem-protest-w436704

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2016/09/25/colin-kaepernick-anthem-protests-backlash-social-media-emails/91076216/

http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/09/11/national-anthem-protest-kneel-sit-players-list

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/28/colin-kaepernick-takes-online-beating-for-sitting-out-us-national-anthem.html

Sharing Your Reading Life  

by Ms. Cunningham

In the fall of my third grade year, my teacher was doing a class read aloud with Charlotte's Web.  We sat at our desks after recess every day, sometimes with heads down or eyes closed, to listen to the story of Fern Arable's pig. We were captivated.  It was a Friday afternoon before a long weekend, and she had completed all but the last two chapters. When she closed the cover and announced that we would pick up with "The Last Day" on the following Tuesday,  I thought I might die. Incredulous that my teacher could leave me in such a state and knowing that something very important was about to happen, I believed it my only option to slink into the school library, tuck a copy of the book into my book bag, and promise myself I would return it without anyone noticing.

I had to finish the story.

When I got home that day, I readied myself for what would happen next.  I curled up under a blanket in my mother's bed and began to read.  I'm not going to tell you what happened in case you haven't read it yet (and EVERYBODY should read it), but I will tell you that it is the first book that ever made me cry.  To this day, it is my favorite reading memory.  After finishing the book, what remained was that feeling of heart ache you get when you finish a story you love--when you say good-bye to characters who mean something to you--who lived with you for a while and you fear might (and probably will) fade away into and among all of the other memories of beloved characters you have known.  There were also lessons to be learned in Charlotte's Web.  Lessons about friendship and justice, loss and resilience. Sigh.

I guess where I'm going with this is that, as a community of readers, we are sure to have strong feelings about the books we read. These feelings can range from pure joy to absolute disgust--even indifference.  Books make us feel stuff.  Isn't it great?

Your ELA blog is a place where you can share reactions to your reading. In the busy real world where it isn't always easy to get a group together in one place to talk about a book you've shared, you have the online world.  You can log on any time and share your feelings about a beloved (or despised) character, a theme that made you think about the world in a different way, or an inspiration (you can't tell me I'm the only person to want to be a wizard after reading Harry Potter). Anything.

Of course, this IS still school, so we'll have to make sure we are using our writerly skills to share our thoughts.  There will be rubrics and guidelines as always, but the IDEAS are YOURS. So, I hope you will embrace this opportunity.  You will be publishing your thoughts in a very real world way (Yay!).

I look forward to your posts!


Sincerely,


Ms. Cunningham


A book is a dream that you hold in your hand--Neil Gaiman

“My Name”
by Sandra Cisneros
excerpted from The House on Mango Street

In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness,
it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my
father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing.
It was my great-grandmother's name and now it is mine. She was a horse woman too,
born like me in the Chinese year of the horse--which is supposed to be bad luck if you're
born female-but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don't
like their women strong.
My great-grandmother. I would've liked to have known her, a wild, horse of a woman, so
wild she wouldn't marry. Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and
carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier. That's the way he did it.
And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the
way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with
what she got or was she sorry because she couldn't be all the things she wanted to be.
Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window.
At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the
roof of your mouth. But in Spanish my name is made out of a softer something, like
silver, not quite as thick as sister's name Magdalena--which is uglier than mine.
Magdalena who at least- -can come home and become Nenny. But I am always
Esperanza. would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me,
the one nobody sees. Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes. Something
like Zeze the X will do.

Martin Espada-The New Bathroom Policy at English High School

Care to Comment?                                                      2012-2013

Now that you've had some time to practice writing blog posts, it's time, yet again, to step up our blogging!  As I mentioned before, a crucial part of participating in the blogosphere is interaction.  It's all about the conversation.  Today, we're going to explain a little more about what this means by introducing you to the blog comment.

A good, thoughtful blog comment might:

• praise interesting ideas in the original post
• ask for clarification of any unclear parts of the original post
• add the responder's own thoughts to original ideas to build strength
• contradict or challenge (respectfully!) by explaining another aspect or asking a question to further dialogue
• contain connections (to the self, the world, another text, or another part of the same text) to deepen thinking about the post
AND good, thoughtful blog responses always
• are respectful and coherent
• use standard vocab, spelling, and grammar (so that everyone can understand)
• show consideration of the original blogger's work and thought
Finally, since blogs are conversations, it's rude not to reply when spoken to!  You are required to comment on at least two separate posts per week.  If you're the original author, you should also reply to comments that you receive.

For some mentor texts on commenting, click on these links to see former 8th graders rocking the comments thread:


Pia's post on the painting "Life and Death" by Gustav Klimt

Izzy's post on street art by Banksy (speaking of street art, see Max and Rafaele as well)

Nina's post on how girls and boys respond differently to books



Pia's post on the painting "Life and Death" by Gustav Klimt

Izzy's post on street art by Banksy (speaking of street art, see Max and Rafaele as well)

Nina's post on how girls and boys respond differently to books


So, let's get talking!



(Adapted from posts by Ms. Rear and Ms. Robbins and borrowed from Ms. Langbein)

Welcome to Blogging 705, 708, and 805!

     Isn't it fun and inspiring to have a place to share all of our reading work (and some other great stuff, too)?  You've already gotten a pretty good head start on your blog work.  Let's just review some of the blogging structures for the 2012-2013 school year:

•  You will blog about your independent reading once a week (unless I give you a different assignment for that blog).  It will be posted by 9pm each Sunday!
• You will follow the rubric for writing a blog that is aligned with the standards.
• Your blog will reflect the fabulous work you are doing in the classroom (of course).
• You will comment on 2 blogs each week (following the rules we went over in class).  10/21
• Your behavior online will always reflect the courteous, mindful, respectful academics I know you ALL to be.

Ms. Cunningham