A Method for Reading and Understanding Things Well Enough That You Can Write Simply and Accurately |
Reminder
of the goal for writing in this course: One
of the most powerful ways to learn something is to try to teach
it. If you follow the standards in the Evidence Checklist/Rubric and if you
try to understand what happened so you can teach it as simply but as
accurately as you can, you will have something worth writing. If you then
write in a common sense way as though you were teaching your cousin history
that he or she needed to understand, you will succeed in these assignments. |
What do you do for each term?
Click the method for reading FOR evidence. If you prefer a face-to-face meeting or a phone conference, let me know. Tips:
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- If you are having trouble thinking of what you need to teach about anything, the old fourth-grade tip of using the Reporter’s Ws can help. Honorable reporters are expected to cover at least these things:
§ Who?
§ What?
§ When? (not a specific date for this class but a period of time)
§ Where?
§ Why?
§ and
sometimes How?
§ Do not write your speech. Students who write the speech ahead believe their own errors.
§ Close
your book before you write. If you must check on something, open it briefly but
close it again before you write a word.
Why? If you have your book open when you write or you took extensive notes (see the tip with step 1), in almost
all cases you will have both these
errors:
- Plagiarize or do a “half-copy” version of plagiarism (to use the term in The Bedford Handbook)
- Be factually inaccurate
Example of Using the
Reporter’s Ws with a Table to
Understand More Than One Things
All of the rules above about writing only a few words apply to this table. This example shows what you would do if you were asked to examine Calvin’s influence on a colony in New England. You would not type this but just make a sketch on a piece of notebook paper using a pencil with a good eraser (because you are going to erase things a lot).
You write a word or two answers for each W in the column for John Calvin. In
deciding on a colony in New England, you might try Plymouth and Massachusetts
Bay first because they have the most coverage in the textbook on the New
England colonies. Using that last row, you also write down a word or two for anything
that is unique about the column but is not covered by the Ws.
When you write a word or two answers for Plymouth, you find Plymouth does not show in our textbook much that matches Calvin. You try Massachusetts and you will find much in common.
Trait |
John Calvin |
Plymouth |
Massachusetts Bay |
Who? |
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What? |
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When? |
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Where? |
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Why? |
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How? |
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Something unique not covered |
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All of the rules above about writing only a few words apply to this table. This example shows what you would do if you were asked to examine Grant’s Peace Policy and the Dawes Severalty Act to notice what happens to Native Americans. You would not type this but just make a sketch on a piece of notebook paper using a pencil with a good eraser (because you are going to erase things a lot).
You write a word or two answers for each W in the Peace Policy column and then in the Dawes Severalty Act. Using that last row, you also write down a word or two for anything that is unique about the column but is not covered by the Ws.
You can tell what is alike and different this way and therefore what you need to teach your smart cousin.
Trait |
Peace Policy |
Dawes Severalty |
Who? |
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What? |
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When? |
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Where? |
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Why? |
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How? |
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Something unique not covered |
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Copyright C. J. Bibus,
Ed.D. 2003-2013 |