Summarizing Activities: Identity; Visit from Ms. Wilkie

This morning, Ms. Wilkie will be here to speak to the class about the dual enrollment opportunity for this class. If you haven't signed up yet for dual enrollment, you only have a week left to do so. After that, you will still have to complete the college course, but you will only receive high school credit for it.

If you are interested in signing up for dual enrollment, please check out this link and fill in the appropriate forms. You will need your personal data. MCC Dual Enrollment application.

Summarize:
Like any skill, the more you practice the better you become at that skill.

Kathy Wilson: "Dude Looks Like a Lady"

Try T-RG-TS (or TARGETS):
T: Trivia (remove trivial or unimportant material)
R: Redundancies (remove redundant or repetitive material)
G: Generalize (replace specifics of lists with general terms and phrases)
TS: Topic Sentences (identify the main ideas & the topics that create the main ideas)

We are all different. In Psychology we often argue about what makes you, you! The debate over whether we are formed by our nature or by nurture is one of the biggest disagreements we have in our culture/society. Rousseau posited or believed that we are born "blank slates" upon which our experiences determine who we become. This Romantic idea came into question by Charles Darwin who believed that characteristics are inherited or part of our nature.

Consider yourself. Would you say you are more a product of your nature (DNA, chromosomes, genes, instincts, etc.) or your environment or upbringing (i.e., nurture)?

Let's read about what makes you so special. Then a summarizing activity:

A. Watch the following short animated film directed by Chuck JonesB. Take notes on the key or main points of the film. Add details. [consider using Cornell notes for this activity, but you can use any note-taking system you prefer...] We'll stop during the "commercials" to summarize and/or organize notes. You will need your notes for our summary activity next class.

REMEMBER: You are writing a summary, not an analysis. Leave your opinions at the entrance to the highway, so to speak.

The Hoober Bloob Highway (1975) by Dr. Seuss (Ted Geisel)

After writing your summary, check the following points:

1. Is the summary accurate and complete?
2. Does it include all the author’s main points?
3. Are they in the right order?
4. Did you remember not to include details, examples, your opinions, and information that isn’t in the original selection?
5. Did you write the summary in your own words?
6. Did you use transitions so that it reads smoothly?
7. If someone else read your summary, would they see and be able to understand all of the important points the author presented in the original selection? 

Topic Sentence/Transitions:

Remember that all paragraphs are made up of topic sentences. Topic sentences should be clearly written (just like your main points).

After your topic sentence, you can explain your topic sentence with details, facts, statistics, and textual support. Main points in your essay should always be made clearly. Compound and complex sentences should be reserved for details, not main points.

Body paragraphs are often connected to the previous paragraphs by transitional words or phrases. The following illustrates "relationships" between ideas, followed by words and phrases that can connect them:

If you are trying to use transitional words of________ then use _________:

Addition: also, again, as well as, besides, coupled with, furthermore, in addition, likewise, moreover, similarly

Generalizing: as a rule, as usual, for the most part, generally, generally speaking, ordinarily, usually

Summarizing: after all, all in all, all things considered, briefly, by and large, in any case, in any event, in brief, in conclusion, on the whole, in short, in summary, in the final analysis, in the long run, on balance, to sum up, to summarize, finally

HOMEWORK: Please read chapters 9 & 10 of The Namesake. Summarize each chapter. You will need your summary notes for our formal summary of The Namesake.