Lazy American Students?

1. Lazy American Students? Day 1

2. Standards Objectives Students will be able to… resolve final questions about personal statements. provide feedback to other students on their writing. identify perceived issues with the American public school system and American students and express their own beliefs. survey a text and make relevant predictions and create relevant questions. identify, define, and utilize newly presented vocabulary. read a text and identify logical and emotional appeals. read a text and formulate a supportive statement, whether they agree or not. • Reading: 1.0 Word Analysis, Fluency, and Systematic Vocabulary Development- Students apply their knowledge of word origins to determine the meaning of new words encountered in reading materials and use those words accurately. Vocabulary and Concept Development- 1.3 Discern the meaning of analogies encountered, analyzing specific comparisons as well as relationships and inferences. Structural Features of Informational Materials2.1 Analyze both the features and the rhetorical devices of different types of public documents (e.g., policy statements, speeches, debates, platforms) and the way in which authors use those features and devices. Comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text2.3 Verify and clarify facts presented in other types of expository texts by using a variety of consumer, workplace, and public documents. • Writing: 2.3 Write reflective compositions: a. Explore the significance of personal experiences, events, conditions, or concerns by using rhetorical strategies (e.g., narration, description, exposition, persuasion). b. Draw comparisons between specific incidents and broader themes that illustrate the writer's important beliefs or generalizations about life. c. Maintain a balance in describing individual incidents and relate those incidents to more general and abstract ideas.

3. Personal Statements Wrap Up • Remember: • When it comes to personal statements you need to be honest, real, and authentic… NOT “cookie-cutter” perfect and cliché. • Write about what you know, it’ll make it easier. • Make sure you get your statement edited by others. • Proofread like crazy! • Peer edit: • Those that have a rough draft will switch with a partner and have some time to read and comment. Offering constructive criticism and some proofreading. • Those who do not have a rough draft will respond to the following prompt during the peer editing: • Identity and culture are clearly intertwined. How has your experience of culture influenced the development of your own personal identity?

4. Prereading • Activity #1: Introducing Key Concepts • In your group, discuss everything you have heard about the state of the public school system in America and the picture of the American student that has been painted by the media. • The major issues: • Test Score Comparisons • Educational Superiority • Work Ethic

5. Prereading • Activity #2: Getting Ready to Read • Do you feel that American students are lazier and less educated than students from other countries? Compare and contrast the information the groups came up with, with what you have actually experienced as a public school student.

6. Prereading • Activity #3: Survey the Text • This unit has six different articles, number them as follows: • 1. “The Manufactured Crisis” • 2. “Comparing American students’ academic performance to other countries” • 3. “My lazy American students” • 4. “Lazy American students? Uninformed professor!” • 5. “Lazy American Students: After the Deluge” • 6. “Are American Students Lazy?” • This is the order they should be read in • Scan through the articles and notice the authors, dates of publication, and where/how the articles were published. • Some on paper, some on websites as comments or articles, one author’s original piece and a rebuttal to arguments.

7. Prereading • Activity #4: Making Predictions and Asking Questions • 1. Based on the title of article, predict what you think each article will be about. • 2. Rate each article as being positive, negative, or neutral in tone. • 3. What do think is the purpose of each article? (Persuade, inform, entertain) • 4. Quickly scan through the articles, do you feel the diction and syntax will be simple or more advanced? How do you think this will affect the articles?

8. Prereading Activity #5: Introducing Key Vocabulary • Article #1 • discrepancies • cogently • Article #2 • educational superiority • drastic • Article #3 • work ethic • mediocre • palpable • disengaged • Article #4 • plethora • overgeneralizations • Article #5 • deluge • Article #6 • No Child Left Behind • Helicopter Parents

9. Prereading Activity #5: Introducing Key Vocabulary • Locate each vocabulary word and define it, using the context of the article and/or dictionary as needed. • Using at least five of the vocabulary words from theses articles, write your own statement to the media about the state of the American public education system and students.

10. Reading • Activity #6: First Reading • Read through the articles playing the “believing game” or “going with the grain.” Take them for what they are saying. Make notes in the margins next to pieces of the text that appeal to your logic (label with a big “L”) and the ones that appeal to your emotion (Label with a big “E”). At the end of each article, whether you agree or not, write a statement in support of what that article was claiming. • Also, note (in the margins) if any of your complaints about school are relevant, mentioned or, discussed in any of the articles.