Today’s goals Introduce Major Essay 2: Write to Inform (WTI) essays Analyze sample web articles to better understand their genre conventions Continue discussing fake news and the critical consumption of information

Class discussion- web articles What is a web article? How is a web article different from print news articles? Consider: Content Writing style Organization Multimedia How are web articles related to public space writing? How do we check for or establish credibility in web articles?

Group activity- wti sample analysis In your unit 2 groups Read through the sample student web article and answer the questions below What is the main idea or thesis of the article? Take this directly from the source if possible. What main sections or elements of a web article can you find in the student’s essay? What elements might be missing? What supporting evidence is used in the essay? Is it presented credibly? If so, how? What grades would you give the student based on the scoring criteria from our assignment sheet? Give each a letter grade and a brief explanation.

Class discussion- fake news Take a few minutes to share the fake news articles you brought in for homework Of these articles, which is the hardest to identify as fake? Why? Which article is easiest to identify as a fake? Why? How did the who brought in the article find out it was fake? If you found these articles on a credible news platform, would you know they were fake?

Checking web credibility Check the company/website name and credibility If this is brought into question at all, check the other stories on the website Check the author’s credibility and credentials (on a different website) If sources are used or links or provided, check them! If any facts or data seem off to you, verify them with at least one other source on a different website

Group activity- Fake news analysis In your unit 2 groups Identify the article name, website, and person who brought in each article Select one article (the most credible seeming) from amongst your group members for more in-depth analysis Which article have you selected? What “company” published it? Of the strategies we just discussed, how could you most easily identify this as a fake news story? If you were able to edit this fake story, how could you make it seem more credible or believable?

Informative writing skills Verify your facts and data Use specific facts, details, and examples Make the information interesting Organize information appropriately Be concise; do not include unnecessary information

Informative writing skills- organization Two main strategies – Old to new General to specific

Group Activity- organize informative essays In your unit 2 groups Do exercise 8.3 on pages 226-227 For each of the two examples, develop a theoretical outline that organizes the information presented according to the strategies in the reading

Group activity- In your unit 2 groups Answer questions 1-3 on page 231 Read “The Apple, Alcohol, & Johnny Appleseed” on pg 231-232 Answer questions 1-3 on pages 232-233

homework Find a news website that you would like to write your informative article for as well as a current event you are interested in learning more about. You will be asked to declare each of these in class on Friday. Maximum of 2 students per publication.