The Grad Paper

•It’s a 6-8 page, argumentative research paper. •The paper must synthesize information from at least five academic sources. •The paper will be MLA formatted. •The paper must be about a topic for which a policy claim can be clearly and objectively argued. •The paper will count for 20% of 2nd quarter’s total grade (about 7% of your semester grade). •While we will have some workdays in class (about four during this unit), most of this paper will be completed at home.

Picking a topic... •Inability to sustain a 6-8 page paper •You’re going to be stuck with this topic for the next two years. •Make sure it’s something in which you are interested, but probably not something about which you are already an expert. •You will submit a topic approval form to me by 2/1. •I reserve the right to deny any topic. •Reasons for denying a topic: •Inability to sustain a 6-8 page paper •Inability to create an objective policy claim •Controversial for the sake of controversy •Inability to complete volunteering associated with topic

•You will use your research to complete the senior portion of the grad project. •The expectation is that you will complete 15 hours of community service that ties into your topic. •For example, if you choose to write about the problem of food insecurity in America, then you might volunteer at a soup kitchen or food pantry. •The idea is that you will document your time and present your research (academic and real-life) in the form of a 6-10 minute speech during your senior year. •You may start your community service whenever you like; just be sure that you are documenting your experiences.

•I will not be editing your draft along the way •I will not be editing your draft along the way. We will complete peer edits, you may see me during office hours and you may seek out help from another teacher. •At the end of the day, I do not have time to fully read every draft from every student and make comments. Honors Timeline 2. 1: topic approval form 2.8: working bibliography 2.15: outline 2.22: first rough draft (three pages) 3.1: final rough draft (6-8 pages) 3.22: final paper due

Portfolio Every turned in component of your grad paper must be turned in at the end of the paper. This grade will be a 50-point formal grade and breaks down as follows: •Topic approval form: 5 points •Working bib: 5 points •Outline: 5 points •First 3 pages: 5 points •Final rough draft: 10 points •Final paper: 10 points •Final checklist: 10 points •If you lose any element of the portfolio (the original document that is peer edited or written on by me), you will lose those points. •Late work will be docked by half (this includes failure to include a turnitin.com submission). . •You’d be surprised, but it’s this grade that usually hurts students more than their grad paper grade. •Slacker students routinely get 25/50 on this formal test grade. Silly, I know

Picking a topic •Begin with a problem. •That problem should have a solution. •Now that you have identified a problem and a solution (this is your claim), you have to make sure that there is something that you can volunteer with that is related to the problem. •This is harder. •Here is a list of popular topics from the past.

Picking a topic... •So let’s take one of these problems. •American teenagers are stressed/depressed. •What are some solutions to this problem?

•Problem: Stressed/depressed teens. •Solution: Less testing. •Solution: Mental health evaluations. •Solution: More exercise. •Know that you’ve got some possible solutions, you can turn these solutions into claims. •You just have to find someone who can makes those solutions happen. •I call this finding an actionable party.

•Problem: Stressed/depressed teens. •Solution: Less testing. •Actionable party: Schools give less tests. But who is “schools” here? Is this a national policy you’d like to see happen? Is this something individual school districts should do? •Claim: The federal government should amend the Common Core curriculum to eliminate high stakes testing. •Claim: School districts should opt out of Common Core in order to focus on a holistic model of student achievement rather than standardized tests. •Claim: Students shouldn’t take tests. •Hmmmm. That last one isn’t going to work, is it?

•Let’s try this again with a different solution. •Problem: Stressed/depressed teens. •Solution: More exercise. •Claim: American public schools should mandate 30-minutes of physical recreation in order to decrease stress in children. •Claim: Students should be encouraged to exercise. •Wait? Encouraged by whom? •Claim: Parents should make their children exercise. •Wait? Is that actionable? Can anyone force parents to do anything? Probably not.

The process then is this: 1.Start with a problem 2.Identify a solution to that problem 3.Identify an actionable party that could make the solution happen 4.Make sure you can volunteer with this •What would volunteering look like for our “less testing” and “more exercise” solutions? •Less testing: volunteer at a middle school/elementary school/Sunday school •More exercise: YMCA. Run around with kids during the summer.

Closure How many pages are required for the Grad Paper? When is the Final Grad Portfolio due? When will we be finished with the synthesis bootcamp? Read through and consider topic approval form (due 2/1) .

Closure Define: Claim________________________________ Grounds_____________________________ Warrant______________________________