October 9, 2017 - October 13, 2017 Weekly Agenda

Monday, October 9th: 

Please open your books to page 27, please get out your notes on the video, and a piece of paper and a pen.

Today we will work on your thesis statement and your introductory paragraph.

The thesis statement is a sentence that has the topic and your position on the topic.

Julian:

Animals are very smart and therefore they should be treated better.

David:

Because animals are much smarter than we realize, they should be treated with greater respect.

Because animals are capable of thinking and feeling, we should not hunt them or eat them.

Trenton:

Animals are just as smart as humans and therefore, humans shouldn’t think they are superior them in any way.

Animals are___________________; therefore, animals should be treated______________________.

Cierra:

Animals are very smart and have feelings; therefore, humans should respect them.

Outline for the Essay:

Introductory Paragraph:

Where does the thesis statement go?

Bianca: Anywhere in the first paragraph

Grabber or a hook

Anecdote –

Lizbeth: a short or interesting story about a real incident or a real person

Include three things you are going to write about in your essay.

Transition sentence!

The First Body Paragraph

The mini-topic sentence – the idea or position

The mini-topic sentence lets us know what the paragraph is about.

Three or four sentences to develop the mini-topic sentence

Introduction to supporting evidence

Evidence – something which supports the thesis statement

The evidence can be a quotation or an anecdote from the video or the article we read.

After the evidence, explain, or analyze, or paraphrase the quotation in order to show how the evidence supports your thesis.  This should be about two to four sentences.

The transition sentence which will then take you to the next body paragraph.

Repeat the body paragraph two more times!!!!!!

Conclusion:

Restate your thesis statement

Briefly go over the main points to support your thesis statement

Then write one strong concluding line.

Do not include new information in the conclusion.

Now, what you need to do is write the introductory of your essay!!!

Share out of first paragraph!

Diego

Julian

For homework tonight: work on your introductory paragraph and your first body paragraph.

Tuesday, October 10th: 
Absent
Students worked on essay 

Wednesday, October 11th: 

Shortened, special schedule today - PSAT Testing and Senior College Fair 

Work on the introductory paragraph

Move onto the first body paragraph

Thursday, October 12th: 

Students constructed a class body paragraph for the essay:

Body Paragraph

The first thing that goes into the body paragraph:

Diego – The mini-topic sentence

The second thing that goes into the body paragraph: 

David – three or four sentences that will develop the topic sentence

The third thing that goes into the body paragraph:

Lizbeh – introduction to support evidence (quotation or a paraphrase)

The fourth thing that goes into the body paragraph:

Alejandra – the evidence

Alejandra – the quotation or paraphrase of the information

The fifth thing that goes into the body paragraph:

Idalia – explain or paraphrase or analyze the evidence to show how it supports your thesis. This should be two to four sentences

The last thing that goes into the body paragraph: 

Bianca – The transition sentence to the next paragraph

Build a Body Paragraph!!!!

Topic Sentences

Animals are very intelligent and should be treated the way humans are treated.

Topic Sentence:

For many years scientists thought that only humans were intelligent enough to use tools, until one day a scientist saw a bird using a stick as a tool to dig for food. 

This develops the mini-topic sentence:

This shows that animals can think and use tools to get what they want like food, just like we do.  Scientists have found that there are many animals that use tools.

Examples:

Milan:

For example, elephants use their trunks as tools to do work not only for themselves but also for humans.

Yessenia:

Another example is Fu Manchu, an orangutan, who escaped from his enclosure by stealing a wire from a louvered air vent and using it to pick the lock from his cage.

Hilaryd:

According to Eugene Linden, in his article “Can Animals Think?”, the zoo keeper noticed that Fu Manchu stowed the wire in his mouth so he could  plan future escapes.

Yessenia:

This shows that Fu Manchu, an orangutan, figured out not only how to use a wire as a tool, but also had the intelligence to hide it so he could use it again for future escapes.

Transition Sentence:

Milan:

These aren’t the only examples of animal intelligence. There are many more examples that haven’t been discovered of animals using tools.

 Cierra:

We humans treat animals based on what scientists think and say, not knowing that animals think, feel, and know how to do things we humans don’t.

Another examples of animals being smart:

Julian: When you ask your dog where your cousin is and she takes you to him.

Bianca: A dog learned how to jump on a mattress after watching two little girls jump.

Hilaryd and Yessenia:  A dog has learned how to watch traffic patterns before crossing the street.

More Examples of Animals Being Smart:

Milan: Hurricane evacuees released their animals before the hurricane. The animals, dogs and cats, were smart enough to find high ground so they survived the flooding.

For homework tonight:

Please write your introductory paragraph, your paragraph on animal intelligence, and your paragraph on animal emotions.

Friday, October 13th: 

2^nd Body Paragraph

Mini-topic statement:

Yessenia

Animals have feelings, too, even if they don’t show it.  Animals have their own language and humans may not be able to “read” or understand their language.

Lizbeth found this online:

According to Jackson Galaxy, the famous “cat whisperer”, when your cat does a slow blink, she is telling you that she is feeling happy and content with you. This is called a “kitty kiss”.  Many people don’t like cats but it is because people do not know how to interpret cat language.

Milan:

Another example that shows animals have feelings is when Milan meows at her cat, her cat will meow back at her, which starts a “meowing” conversation that ends with her cat running to her and rubbing against her.

Julian:

Elephants have been known to destroy the villages of poachers who have killed members of their herd.

Another example is from a youtube video, “Why Elephants Never Forget“, which states elephants have been known to attack villages of poachers who have killed members of their herds.

Jason read his paper based on a true story found on the “Modern Dog” website about a dog who grieved so much over the death of his owner that he refused to eat, and  eventually died.  This dog literally died from grief.

David:

Elephants have funeral rituals  which honor their dead. They will stand guard close to their deceased elephant family member – their mother, their sister, their daughter – for several days and lovingly touch the body.

Another example of elephants expressing emotions is when they encounter a dead elephant that is not a part of their family.  The herd will stop for some time and carefully and respectfully examine the bones and the body of the stranger elephant.


Rubric for second and third body paragraphs:

Structure for Second Body Paragraph

Mini-Topic Sentence

Two to four sentences developing the mini-topic sentence

Introduction to the quotation or evidence to support your mini-topic sentence

The quotation or the evidence - paraphrased in your own words

Two to four sentences to show how the quotation or evidence supports your mini-topic sentence

Transition sentence - last sentence of the paragraph which ties up the ideas and provides a bridge to the next mini-topic sentence.

Conclusion:

You restate your thesis statement.

You briefly write one sentence per main idea in the essay

Then one final concluding sentence which states your main idea.

Please do not add new information

Please do not write “In conclusion”.