Homework
- Writing Minutes
- Freewriting: A small box lay under a tree…. (Work on this AFTER your other writing assignments if you have time.)
- Create key word outlines for Dance Flies and Vulture Bees paragraphs.
We ran out of time in class today, so if you’re not feeling comfortable with creating key word outlines, never fear. We will be going over them again next week too! Give it a try this week. If you’re getting frustrated, stop and work on your freewriting. Try again the next day. Still don’t “get it?” We’ll work on it together next week!
This is what we learned today:
- Our first unit focuses solely on creating a writing outline. You do not need to choose the words or decide on sequence. Just like an artist copies famous works of art, we will be copying a good paragraph. And just like the student-artist copies to learn, not to take credit for another’s work, we will use this unit to learn how to take notes, understanding that we’re not creating anything of our own.
- First, we read our paragraph.
- Second, we count the sentences and create that many entries in our outline
- Third, we read each sentence and choose the key words for that sentence.
- We should choose 3-5 words (numbers and symbols don’t count toward the count!)
- We should choose only important words. Words like the, and, it, to, etc. should not be considered key words.
- These key words are to help remind you about the content of the sentences. Each person may choose different key words.
Here are some examples.
First the paragraph:
The Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a huge monument. It is located on Liberty Island, New York. It is built of copper and extends hundreds of feet into the air. The Statue of Liberty was given to the U.S. by France in 1884. It is a symbol of friendship. Over two million people per year come to see the Statue of Liberty. This large monument to freedom is world famous.
The paragraph becomes this outline:
The Statue of Liberty
1. huge/monument
2. located/Liberty Island/NY
3. built/copper/100s/ft.
4. given/U.S./France/1884
5. symbol/friendship
6. 2 million/people/come
7. monument/freedom/famous
Here’s another example. First the paragraph.
Infrasound and Elephants
Infrasound refers to sounds of low frequency, too low for the human ear. Normally humans can hear sounds in a range of ten octaves. Although elephants make many sound which people can hear, they also use inaudible calls to communicate with each other. Elephant infrasound is called “rumbling” and can be heard more than three miles away. Over the last decade, scientists have designed machines to record and reproduce ultrasound and infrasound. This has helped zoologist explain some of the more mysterious elephant behaviors. Before 1988, we did not know that elephants could hear two octaves below humans and therefore could communicate in infrasound.
Then the outline:
Infrasound and Elephants
1. low/frequency/human/ear
2. humans/hear/ten/octaves
3. use/inaudible/calls/communicate/other
4. infrasound/rumbling/heard/+3 miles
5. scientists/designed/machines/record/reproduce
6. explain/mysterious/behavior
7. before 1988/didn’t know/ infrasound
You may have chosen some different words. That’s ok! Outlines are for you to use and include information that you find important.
