Mr. Bourdeau's Website
 
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JSA at Amity

Click here to access the "JSA at Amity" website.

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Welcome to my website!

Here you will be able to find a lot of information, like your class's assignment calendar, downloadable versions of handouts, blogs, and other things that you will find helpful.
  • This homepage contains any general information you may need.
  • Each individual class has its own webpage. Access the one for your class using the navigation bar to the left. On your class's webpage you will find your assignment calendar, plus other news and information specific to your class.
  • I am the faculty advisor for Amity's chapter of the Junior State of America. Click on the "JSA at Amity" link for important club information or if you are just a political junkie (like me!) interested in learning more about what we do. It is a lot of fun!

President Obama's Speech To School Children

As explained in the "opt out" letter I distributed in all of my classes on Tuesday 9/8, I planned to show President Obama's speech to all of my classes on Wednesday 9/9 if it did not deviate significantly from the previously released text. It did not. Below are links to the CSPAN clip of the speech I showed and two articles from Friday 9/4 that discussed the controversy in what I thought was a balanced manner. Note that only showed the speech -- I stopped the CSPAN clip at the end of the speech at the 16:35 mark.
 
 
MSNBC article (I only shared the text of the article, not any videos or anything else on this page): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32673334/ns/politics-white_house/
 
Fox News DC affiliate article (Again, I just shared the text, nothing else): http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/mornings/090409_obama_speech_to_students_sparks_controversy
 
Note that the MSNBC and Fox articles are similar. Both took the AP story on the controversy that was published on 9/4 and tweaked them somewhat. I used this to point out how an organization's bias affects how it communicates information, how all organizations (and all people) have a bias of some sort, and how to recognize this bias and read information critically.
 
The Amity administration allowed the high school teachers to make the final decision about whether or not to share the speech with their students. Therefore, the decision to show the speech with my students, as well as the design of the lesson plan and selection of supporting materials were solely mine. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.
           

Other Helpful Links (just click to go there)

     
      
 
           

Contact Info

The best way to communicate with me is through my school e-mail:
 
 
Alternatively, you can leave me a message at (203) 397-4830 x3712 and I will get it. I check it regularly.
     

Elements of THIEVES Literacy Strategy

As I have mentioned in class, it is very important to preview non-fiction texts before actually reading them. If you take 5-10 minutes to preview what you are about to read, you get a good idea about much of the material right away. You then can use the time that you actually read the text to obtain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of what the author is trying to say.
 
One literacy strategy I have seen work is called THIEVES. THIEVES is an acronym for the seven things you should examine when you preview.
 
Title
Headings
Introduction
Every first sentence of every paragraph
Visuals/Vocabulary
End of chapter questions
Summary
 
Take a little time to look over and think about these seven things before you read. You will be well on your way to understanding what the text is about even before you read it!