LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION 2016

Monday, August 17, 2015

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION 2016

Dear Seniors in the Class of 2016,

Please complete this Letter of Recommendation Request Form and email your answers to me. I will notify you within a week of receiving your request as to whether I will be able to write your letters in time to meet your deadlines. Thanks and good luck!

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List of Education Unit Texts

If you're making a foldable, or just want to make sure your notes are organized, here's the list of all of the texts from the unit:

Susan Jacoby's essay, “When Bright Girls Decide that Math is a Waste of Time”

William J. Bennett's essay, “What Really Ails America”

Neil Postman's essay, “Order in the Classroom”

Leon Botstein's editorial, “Let Teen-Agers Try Adulthood”

Horace Mann's speech, “Report to the Massachusetts Board of Education”

Austin Channell's TEDx Talk, “Why Taking Choir Kept Me from Being Valedictorian”

Sir Ken Robinson's RSA Animate talk,“Changing Education Paradigms”

Benjamin Barber's essay, “America Skips School”

Malcolm X's essay, "Learning to Read," an excerpt from his autobiography

Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s essay, "Delusions of Grandeur" (with an updated introduction!)

Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt, memoirs, The Pact

Recommended Websites for RH Paper

Recommended websites for Rhetorical Historical papers:

The New York Times Topics Page

Samohi Library page to access SIRS/Proquest Databases: You'll need the username and password!

Cagle.com: Daryl Cagle's index of editorial/political cartoons

American Rhetoric - index of historical speeches, complete with audio/video!

Pew Research Center - a nonpartisan fact tank with statistics and information about all sorts of wonderfully random things

For help with MLA Format and your working bibliography, consult these resources from Purdue's Online Writing Lab:

General Works Cited Format

In-Text Parenthetical Citations

Citing Electronic Sources

Citing Other Common Sources

Or these resources from Diana Hacker and Bedford/St. Martin's:

General Works Cited Format - there's a pull-down menu for citation types and examples

In-Text Parenthetical Citations

General Manuscript Format

And don't forget, there are some basic MLA reminders and samples beginning on page 35 of your binder reminder!

RESOURCES FOR THIS I BELIEVE ESSAYS

The essay guidelines offered by NPR, which provides specific tips for writing a good essay
The original producers' invitation, which describes the purpose and focus of the project
And of course, you can scan the This I Believe website, http://thisibelieve.org/, for tons of sample essays that you may read or listen to--perhaps the best way to acquaint yourself with the project (and see what has already been written).

My "This I Believe" essay that I submitted last year, which is now part of the "This I Believe" database

ELECTION ISSUES/CANDIDATES PROJECT

Description of Election Issues Project 2012
Directions for Annotated Bibliography

Screen shot for how to format the citation spacing (hanging indent)

Screen shot for how to find the Format Paragraph dialog box in the fancy New Microsoft Word

Sample student bibliography, revised and with my comments/reminders

Sample for Print source using Official Voter Information Guide

RECOMMENDED WEBSITES FOR RESEARCH:

California Official Voter Information Guide

Los Angeles County Sample Ballot Lookup

League of Women Voters Los Angeles County Voter Information

League of Women Voters California Education Fund

Project Vote Smart

Money in Politics

Fact checking websites: FactCheck and Politifact

OntheIssues
GovTrack.us
Ballotpedia - California

Digitized print version of Oct 2012 California Educator magazine

AUDIO RESOURCES FOR COMMERCIALS:

Audacity Getting Started Guide
Link to Audacity (sound editor)
Link to SoundBible - search for free, downloadable sound effects and music! Public domain - ok to repost on web
Link to Soungle - search for free, downloadable sound effects!
Link to Freeplay Music - search for free, downloadable background music by style or keyword. FOR CLASSROOM USE ONLY.

Link to JewelBeat - search for downloadable music - 99¢ a song gives you licensing permissions to use on web.
More recommended audio sites

BIBLIOGRAPHY RESOURCES:
Link to KnightCite bibliography generator : use MLA 7 style and make sure you're logged in!

Link to BibMe bibliography generator: use MLA 7 style.

REMEMBER: bibliography generators are only as smart as the information you put in--when possible, enter information "manually" to reduce mistakes!

OWL at Purdue - MLA 7 2009 Guidelines: This is an amazing website with all of the information you'll need to succeed on your bibliography. This is the one I use when I can't remember how to cite something. :-)

MLA 7 information from Bedford St. Martins: this is a wonderful resource and seems to include almost everything you'd need to make your bibliography!!! Check this out if you're unsure how to cite a particular kind of text or source.
Description of Annotated Bibliography assignment

Link to Turnitin.com to submit your annotated bibliography