Follow a Columnist Project
Post date: Aug 28, 2018 10:48:0 AM
Follow a Columnist Project:
Over the course of the year, you will be working toward becoming an informed “global citizen.” To do this you will follow various editorial columnists who address local, national, and/or global issues. You will have choice as to whom you follow, but you will be required to switch to a new person every other month. The exception is for the first four weeks. During this time, I’d like for you to find and read columns whose subject matter appeals to you. Additionally, you will occasionally be asked to complete the “Trending Topic” assignment. All of this work should help you with the completion of your year-long research project will take.
In addition to using these sources in order to become a more informed citizen, you will use the columnists as writing mentors and will be asked to approximate their styles in both informal and formal writing exercises. As part of this process you will complete a weekly “information intake entry” for the column the which will include quotations from, a summary of, an your thinking about the column. For the summary, I’d like for you to practice writing an introductory sentence that provides the columnist’s first and last name, credentials, type of text, title of text, a strong verb, and writer’s subject. After this, you might consider the following prompts to spur your own thinking.
How you would paraphrase the key content for a high school student
The most important point of the reading, visual, or podcast
The most useful or valuable thing(s) you learned
The most surprising or unexpected ideas
What ideas stand out in your mind
What helped or hindered your understanding of the reading, visual, or podcast
The most confusing points, and why they were confusing
What idea(s) you can and should put into practice immediately
How the material connects with or breaks from your prior knowledge
How it connects with your knowledge from other courses