Ms. Harrigan's Discussing Current Events Elective Class: 2014

FINAL DAY....THIS IS IT!!!

Pull it all together...Your Current Events Padlet needs to go LIVE by the end of class and you need to share your link on this document.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Create a Wall about Your Topic!

Your job today is to start pulling together a published page about the topic you have chosen to research.

You must first complete all questions in your Google Doc before you start laying out your 'wall'.

When you are ready you can go to

http://padlet.com. Sign in using your Wellesley google ID/password.

There are lots of ways to modify the layout/format of your page. so, take a few minutes to play with the formatting but then get to work creating a high-quality wall that includes all your information.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

I've set up a Google Classroom for this class…check it out!

Step 1: Sign into your Wellesley Google Account
Step 2: classroom.google.com
Step 3: On the Home page, click +.
Step 4: Enter the code k7zoyt in the box and click JOIN.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Download this document and make a copy.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fTRpRlsCfNsdfHHEgu9pJMFDXOf1e6rGrOKXp5D3ZQY/edit?usp=sharing

Take Action Now!!

Topic (make it focused):
Description of the topic (about 1 paragraph. what is going on, what historical facts do we need to know to understand this issue, why should this be front cover news? why should we care
Articles/Websites (should have 3) listed and links pasted.
2-3 Images that help tell the story. (paste links below)
What action needs to take place? (this is your opinion…try to identity 3-4 specific actions, including specifically WHO needs to take the action)
Paragraph (or 2) describing why you care about this issue. Why are you passionate about this? Connect this to you personally.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

What is going on in the World? Week of Oct 21, 2014

What 3 things should we (you choose who the WE is: The World, The U.S., Massachusetts citizens) be focusing our time/energy on right now?

You have 30 minutes to browse the following sites to come up with your 3 THINGS WE NEED TO ACT ON/LEARN MORE ABOUT/DO SOMETHING ABOUT.

By 9:30 you need to have posted your response on the following site: http://padlet.com/kateharrigan1/3keythings

Websites to browse:

International focus
http://www.bbc.com/news/
http://www.theguardian.com/us

National focus
www.nytimes.com
www.usatoday.com
www.cnn.com

Massachusetts focus
boston.com
http://www.bostonherald.com

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Cool site on useful debating phrases

All might not apply, but I especially like the following list:

http://www.teflsites.com/Expressions%20for%20Discussion%20and%20Debate%20new.pdf

Expressing solutions and alternatives

ß The solution is to ... Then you will ...
ß The best way to ... is ...
ß To ..., you really have to ....
ß There are many choices. You can ... You
can .......
ß Alternatively, ...
ß Instead, ...
ß The alternative is…

Expressing Cause and effect
Cause
ß The reason why... is ...
ß The reason why ... is that ... ß Due to ...,...
ß Because...
ß Because of...
ß Because...,
ß Since...,
ß ...is why...
Result
ß For this reason,...
ß For this reason alone, ... ß Owing to this, ...
ß This is why ...
ß That’s why...
ß This is the reason why ... ß Therefore
ß So
ß As a result
ß Consequently,...
ß Thus,...

Monday, September 29, 2014

Death Penalty Resources

Arguably pretty objective:

Pew Forum. This website does a nice job of showing both sides of the issue, with an emphasis on some of the recent Supreme Court cases that have involved the death penalty.
http://www.pewforum.org/topics/issues/Death-Penalty/

Has bias, but still reliable sources:

Supports the death penalty:
This is a website that is organized by the lead prosecutor for Clark County, Indiana. This site is very well known and respected for containing a large amount of verifiable data related to the arguments in support of the death penalty. (there is also a link off of his site that has a list of many additional pro-death penalty sites)
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/death.htm

Opposes to the death penalty:
American Civil Liberties Union: Clealy opposes the death penalty and has a lot of information to support their point of view.
http://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment

Constitutionality
http://www.thisnation.com/question/018.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/colorado-death-penalty-ca_n_2773237.html
http://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment/case-against-death-penalty

Just cool...
Very cool website for both sides of the argument. This is how others have debated this topic, included the major reasons pro/con and the sources used to support their point of view:
http://idebate.org/debatabase/debates/capital-punishment/house-supports-death-penalty

And, again our grounding website for objective analysis of the issues: Today, we're going to be looking solely at one website, ProCon.org. This is a pretty fabulous website that focusses on looking at controversial issues by providing both sides as objectively as possible.

Overall reasons why people are either for or against the Death Penalty

http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002000

The background on exactly what the Death Penalty is, what qualifies as a crime worthy of the death penalty, where the death penalty is legal, etc.

http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.subissues.php?issueID=000132

Some of the specific reasons why people are either for or against the Death Penalty.

1. Moral and Ethical Issues

2. Legal Considerations

3. Deterrence and Retribution

4. Social Issues

5. Death Penalty vs. Life in Prison

Friday, September 19, 2014

Learning about what interests you

Document you will be completing during class

You have 3 choices to learn about today:

1. Ebola

Link #1: A background on Ebola, to get started.

Link #2: Violence in Guinea against medical workers as fear of disease rises

Link #3: What Sierra Leone is doing this weekend to attempt to slow down the spread.

2. Scotland votes to stay a part of Great Britain in landmark voting

Link #1: What was the issue really about, anyway? The basics
Link #2: Scotland says no
Link #3: The day after the vote

Link #3: Interesting map showing the world as it has been controlled at some point in history by Great Britain.

3. The 2014 Massachusetts Governor's Race

Link #1: From a few weeks ago, but still a good reader background on the race.

Link #2: Here's is how WBUR, the local NPR station is talking about the race. Specifically about the role gender might play.

Link #3: If you like looking at poll numbers and want to see lots of varying opinions about who has the lead, take a look here.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Learning about ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria)

Tomorrow, President Obama is going to be delivering a pretty big speech on what the US is going to do to try to take on ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). This is the same group that has killed 2 American journalists over the past month and has killed thousands of people in Iraq and Syria in their quest to create a new Islamic country.

There's so much to learn about this topic, I thought we would start with a video that will probably raise more questions than answers, but that's ok!

Then, together in small groups, we're going to learn a bit more through a very cool website called vox.com

http://www.vox.com/cards/things-about-isis-you-need-to-know/what-is-isis

As a way to track questions and/or reactions, we're going to try something called a back channel. This is when you comment as you learn/read about the topic. The website that we will be using is called, Today's Meet.

https://todaysmeet.com/wmscurrentevents2

The idea is to use this space to: 1) ask questions, 2) react to what you are reading, 3)add details about what you know on the topic 4) react to others comments and ideas

Friday, September 5, 2014

Raising the Minimum Wage -- What should the US do?

Our first discussion is going to be about a hot domestic issue: The minimum wage. There are some pretty fierce debates going on whether the minimum wage is woefully low for people to live on or is simply the rate that it needs to be for business to be successful.

Some people see it like this:

While others see it as:

YESTERDAY, 430 protestors around the country were arrested while protesting the low wages at fast food companies.

Let's do a little background reading and then discuss the pros and cons of this very current issue!

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Political Cartoons...what do they tell us about what's going on in the world?

Website for political cartoons: http://www.cagle.com

Link to political cartoon analysis sheet: http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/cartoon_analysis_worksheet.pdf

Your task:

Step 1: With your partner, go through the political cartoon website, Cagle Political Cartoons and just look at a variety of cartoons. (about 10-15 minutes)

Step 2: Select a political cartoon to analyze. Be thoughtful about your choice. Make it something that is relevant, current, interesting, thought-provoking AND one that you think you understand what the cartoonist is trying to say (there is always some kind of takeaway -- message that you as the viewer are supposed to think about after seeing a particular political cartoon. You might not agree with it, but it's still the message!)

Step 3: Try to complete as many parts of the Political Cartoon Analysis Sheet that is linked above. It might be possible that you can't answer every question, but try your best. BE CURIOUS. BE SPECIFIC. BE DETAILED. Don't be afraid to take some risks in trying to explain what the meaning is behind the cartoon. (Please also note the exact title of the cartoon and write it on the analysis sheet. This way we can find it later)

Step 4: You will print out your completed sheet (make 2 copies, so each of you has a copy).

Monday, June 9, 2014

The LAST Debate…let's make it count!

Social Networking: Is it good for our society? (think Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest)

Basic background: http://socialnetworking.procon.org

Why it might be a positive
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/oct/05/teens-social-networking-good-for-them

http://www.parentfurther.com/technology-media/social-networking/benefits

http://forward.com/articles/161500/why-social-media-can-be-good/?p=all

Why it might be negative:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jmaureenhenderson/2012/12/29/3-reasons-you-should-quit-social-media-in-2013/

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21583593-using-social-network-seems-make-people-more-miserable-get-life

Interesting infographic
http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-media-bad-health_b55722

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jim-taylor/the-bad-the-ugly-and-the_b_3346768.html

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Bowe Bergdahl: US Prisoner of War released after almost 5 years in Afghanistan!

The original story
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/03/world/asia/where-bergdahl-disappeared.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/13-things-you-need-to-know-about-bowe-bergdahl-20140602

The release:

Questions that remain:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/05/us/questions-sgt-bowe-bergdahl-controversy/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/world/middleeast/can-gi-be-tied-to-6-lost-lives-facts-are-murky.html

Opinion about the decision to swap Bergdahl for 5 prisoners at Guantanamo

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2014/06/the_bergdahl_prisoner_exchange_doesn_t_reward_terrorism_it_keeps_our_promise.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-b-mukasey-the-ghastly-transaction-that-freed-sgt-bowe-bergdahl/2014/06/04/325d9780-ec04-11e3-93d2-edd4be1f5d9e_story.html

Friday, May 30, 2014

1/3 and 1/3 and 1/3

First 1/3 of class -- find a political cartoon on Cagle.com about a major news story that makes sense to you. (open up google doc. import cartoon image and link -- share doc with me)

Second 1/3 of class -- do a little research on the topic the cartoon is about. Make sure you are able to give us some background on the issue, why it's making news, why we should be paying attention. In your google doc write a 1 paragraph description of the news event and a 1 paragraph explanation of the cartoon.

Third 1/3 of class -- we'll present your findings.

Monday, May 19, 2014

SIt with your groups...each group can have 1 computer.

Steroids

TEAM A	TEAM B
Ryan Madden	Patrick
Thomas	Ryan Murrey
Will Rosen	Drew

Video Games

TEAM A	TEAM B
Andrew	Brian
Jackson	Alex W
Rhea	Tim

Drinking Age

TEAM A	TEAM B
Carson	Rory
Angela	Harrison
Will W.	Jeannie
Ryan C	Nick

Steroids

TEAM A	TEAM B
Elliot	Dillon
Davis	Jack K
Jack S	Mitchell

Video Games

TEAM A	TEAM B
Tara	Jamison
Abel	Alec
Javier	George
Jack B

Drinking Age

TEAM A	TEAM B
Chris	Julia
Sofia	Annie
Kaleigh	Mark
Emma

LINK TO GOOGLE DOC (SHARE WITH YOUR GROUP MEMBERS and with me!)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16VbM71OF9icAiu6nXyIARX6oPWT-KUJ0sRjMETjuRcQ/edit?usp=sharing

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Crossfire Debate

THIS IS GOING TO BE EPIC!!

We're going to try a different format for our next debate:

There will be 3 debates that take place.

Topic #1: Are some video games bad for children? (do they contribute to violence, social isolation? etc)

Sources: http://videogames.procon.org/, http://time.com/34075/how-violent-video-games-change-kids-attitudes-about-aggression/, http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-15/violent-video-games-dont-make-you-aggressive-but-tetris-might, http://www.theesa.com/facts/violence.asp

Topic #2: Should drinking age be lowered from age 21?

Sources: http://drinkingage.procon.org/, http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/20/opinion/cohan-underage-drinking-duke/, http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/24/282072818/the-21-drinking-age-may-save-lives-even-though-its-flouted, http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/30/health/la-he-drinking-age-20110530

Topic #3: Should Performance Enhancing Drugs (such as steroids) be accepted in sports?

Sources: http://sportsanddrugs.procon.org/, http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2012/08/24/why-its-time-to-legalize-steroids-in-professional-sports/, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/03/maybe-we-should-just-legalize-steroids-for-pro-athletes.html, http://espn.go.com/special/s/drugsandsports/steroids.html, http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2010/10/20/why-steroids-have-no-place-in-sports/comment-page-1/

Research will take place for Odd day (May 15,19) and Even day (16,20)
Debates will take place for Odd day (May 21,23,28) and Even day (May 22,27,29)

Here's the twist: you won't know which side you are arguing until the day of the debate (GASP!!!)

Computers: Cart F (328) on Thurs May 15), Cart E (230) on Fri May 16, Mon May 19-Thurs May 29

DEBATE SETUP

Round 1
Team A Speaker 1 – 2-minute limit (make logical points for your side of the issue)
Team B Speaker 1 – 2-minute limit (your opponent makes opposing points)
Each side makes notes to prepare questions for the first Crossfire
Timeout – 1 minute (Create the questions for the Crossfire)

Crossfire (between A1 & B1) – 2-minute limit (use the questions you created from the Timeout)

In cross-fire, both participants face the judge rather than each other. This is because
the questions are intended for the audience. The keys to an effective cross-fire are
good questions and a professional demeanor. Specifically:

1. Ask specific questions that get to the heart of the issue.
2. Be polite, professional, and respectful during the cross-fire.
3. Never personalize the cross-fire —the focus should always be on issues.

Round 2 (Repeat the instructions for Round 1)
Team A Speaker 2 – 2-minute limit
Team B Speaker 2 – 2-minute limit
Timeout – 1 minute
Crossfire (between A2 & B2) 2-minute limit

Round 3 (Repeat the instructions for Round 1)
Team A Speaker 3 – 2-minute limit
Team B Speaker 3 – 2-minute limit
Timeout – 1 minute
Crossfire (between A3 & B3) 2-minute limit

Final Round Summary
Timeout – 2 minutes (Group should decide only the most important points to present)
A summary -- 1 minute limit
B summary -- 1 minute limit
Grand Crossfire (all speakers) -- 3 minute limit

http://www.proquestk12.com/productinfo/pdfs/MiniDebate_Students.pdf