MORE RESEARCH

8th grade ELA classes were in the IMC this week doing a pre-research survey of materials. They are starting to work on their persuasive speeches. Their job for this week was to select four or more topics of interest and search for books, magazines, newspapers, databases, and websites to check for position statements and availability of resources. Today in the classroom students made their final selection of a topic and position. Next week they will begin researching their specific topic for the speech. I had the honor of introducing students to two series of books that present both sides of an issue -- At Issue series and Opposing Viewpoints series. The IMC has a large number of books from these series on topics usually selected by our students. The IMC also has entries from a number of other book series on controversial topics, but these two are the most clear in defining positions. In today's world of the Internet and Google everything, students sometimes have to be reminded that there are books ready to help them.