We live in an age where vast pools of information are literally at our fingertips, carried around in our back pockets, and streamed into every corner of our lives. That information is used to make decisions, but how can we tell whether the information is reliable or not? 

These decisions we make every day, as individuals, may not seem to make a big difference, but when made as a collective society, they can bring about great change in the future of the world.

In this studio, we are going to learn how to find and identify credible sources that lead to decision-making and eventually change. Since we need each other to bring about effective change, we will learn persuasive techniques that can be used to win others over to our side.

We will consider the following essential questions: 

• How is critical literacy essential to decision-making?

• How does decision-making lead to change?

• How can change affect communities and the larger world?

In this studio we will work to develop competencies in literacy, which is the comprehension of written, spoken, and watched mediums of communication. We will also develop writing and communication skills. 

Use the competency guide to direct your learning. 

ELA 1 - Critical Reading

ELA 2 - Writing Effectively

ELA 3 - Collaborative Discussion

ELA 4 - Conducting Research

In this milestone we will read some articles and watch some videos about some of the debatable shortcomings in the United States. We will use our reading strategies as they pertain to argument writing and speeches to develop a deeper understanding of the media. 

In this milestone, we are going to develop a research question and conduct research on a topic that will be the main idea of your culminating writing project, an argument research paper. We will also learn how to assess sources to determine their creditability because it is dangerous to believe everything you read on the internet. 

In this milestone, we are going to choose a topic to discuss. This will double as the topic of your culminating writing performance task for Milestone 4. We will engage in a formal discussion in the Fishbowl style. 

In Milestone 4, we will take all the research and discussion notes to write an argument paper. The paper will argue an issue within the United States and prove it to be either valid or invalid.