April 29th 2013

Lesson ABCDe PracticeMr. Koblinski

My teaching philosophy

It is my job as your teacher to help foster a community that will allow you to learn… Skills that will help grow a democratic society Skills that will help you better understand

yourself and your personal connection with the world around you

Skills to better understand your own thinking which will hopefully grow your love of learning

My pledge to you

To the best of my ability every day I will help my students become active life long learners able to participate in a democratic society.

What I expect I respect your time by preparing and not

asking you to do things that are “unimportant”. I expect you respect my time by bringing a level of effort and enthusiasm that encourages the group

A community atmosphere where everyone feels free to speak, question and assert opinions and view points.

That you help me improve my teaching through response.

Standards check

Introduce a topic, organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole,

include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

Standards check continued b. Develop the topic thoroughly by…

selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the

audience’s knowledge of the topic. c. Use appropriate and varied transitions and syntax

to link the major sections of the text, In order to create cohesion and clarify the relationships

among complex ideas and concepts.

Standards continued

Research to Build and Present Knowledge 8. Gather relevant information from multiple

print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism(This skill has been being practiced throughout the last week, but I feel like it is important still to unpack it and discuss it.)

ABCDe format- thesis Starts with a strong thesis at the end of your

introduction. Your thesis: What you are arguing.

Someone needs to be able to take your same thesis and find information against it and argue the opposite.

All of your points will relate back to your thesis so it better be good.

“At least 25 percent of the federal budget should be spent on helping upgrade business to clean technologies, researching renewable energy sources, and planting more trees in order to control or eliminate pollution.”

Once we have these topics, we can begin to organize our information. ABCDe formatTopic Sentence “ There are great economic benefits to be gained by

investing in clean technologies and renewable energy sources” A- General idea B - Introduce background C - Content D - Relate e - Transition

A - General ideaIntroduction of the general idea you will

be presenting as evidence of your thesis statement. Should relate to your topic sentence.

“ Despite setbacks in recent years, the diversity of the green technology field has continued to grow”

B - Introduce, background

The B is where you are able to connect your topic sentence to the content that will follow. This is where we start to get specific and connect to our content.

“In 2013, the investment sector saw a drop in interest for green technology, specifically solar.”

C - Content This is where you give your hard data that you

worked so hard to find. This should be a quote or a paraphrase from your research.

Despite this reduction in interest, MIT economist professor Dr. Bozo recently published an article stating, “the solar market is ready for investors. The companies have learned how to responsibly grow a business and their futures look encouraging and profitable.”(Bozo).

C- continued

Despite reduction in interest, in a recent article MIT economist professor Dr. Bozo spoke about the likelihood of a comeback in the solar market due to new business practices. According to his data, investors who take advantage of this will reap large rewards (Bozo).

D - Relate, so what? Once you have presented the data carefully

stringing it from your topic sentence to the data, you must ask yourself “So what?”

The D is where you relate your information through your topic sentence and to the thesis.

As professor Bozo points out, the United States government has a unique opportunity to take advantage of the economic development occurring today in our country by investing in these green technology companies. Investing in these technologies and companies will not only improve the field of clean business, but provide a profitable investment for US taxpayer dollars

e - Transition The e is used to make a clean transition to the next

topic. Requires a little creativity to string everything

together

This investment may pay off in ways much bigger than financial gains by helping the United States curve the destructive habits of energy use and the environmental repercussion associated with them.

(transition into the benefits to the environment)

Let’s do a new exampleMilk and Cookies!

Thesis:

Jackson Northwest High School should reduce the price of the milk in the cafeteria from $.35 to $.25 in order to improve the school.

This thesis could be a little more specific, but let’s keep it simple compared to my example on Wednesday.

Let’s start with the C today

C - “If the school lowered the price of milk, I know I would buy a cookie every day with my meal. I think a lot of my friends would do this too.”

How can we organize this idea? What should our paragraph be about? How should it connect to the thesis? Let’s make a topic sentence for it.

Topic sentence I made,If the school were to lower the price of

milk, the school would receive economic benefits.

Next step, let’s connect the idea of buying cookies to the idea of lowering the price. With an A clause. Ideas?Remember, make it a broad introduction.

A-introduction of general idea. Let’s hear some of the A sentences

you created, and as a class we will decide if we think they meet the expectation of an A sentence.

“It is well known that many students think milk prices are too high.”

On to the B. Remember, B is background information. What do we need to make our C fit into our paragraph?

B- Introduce background information

Let’s hear your Bs. How did you introduce the background behind the quote?

“As a result of these high prices, some students do not purchase additional items.”

Technically, your B can be considered all the

way up until your quote or paraphrased fact is stated.

C- Your contentFinally we have arrived at the quote!

How do you “lead into” your quote? You should never just set it in; you should always lead in.

One student at Jackson Northwest, Michael Soenso, commented on prices and how a change would affect his purchasing habits, “if the school…”

D - Relate it back to your thesis Take a minute to relate it back through the

topic sentence (economic gain) to the thesis (improvement of the school)

These changes in buying habits would increase the amount of money students spend in the lunch room. This would result in an increased profit for the school.

What’s missing? , which could be used to benefit the

cafeteria and school as a whole. (connection to thesis)

e transition

This part is where you get to be creative and make connections. We will work on these as you develop your own paragraphs.

Your turn!

Together we are going to try to create some ABCDe outlines.

If you are unsure of what you need to do for any part, ask.

Regardless if you use ABCDe, I hope you will be better ablePick which facts you should present,

and how to format them most effectively based on your audience.

Introduce complex ideas in a way that creates a unified argument

Use transitions and syntax to create a clear argument that shows the relationships between information