Thursday, March 18th
Module 2, Day 4
Check In
Have you:
Overview
**How was the library visit? What did you think? What did you learn?**
1. Discuss/ Finalize Developing 5-8 Research Questions (the “W” in our charts)
2. Finding additional sources for your projects
3. Write brief 1-2 sentence summaries of the sources IN YOUR OWN WORDS
3. Discuss “American Never Wanted the Tired, Poor Huddled Masses” by Caitlin Dickerson
Project 2: Step 1: Brainstorm a Topic
You were asked to brainstorm a topic. You had to find a “beat” that you are you’re interested in or passionate about.
Let’s take a moment to look at our class topics!
Try to find a classmate who’s research might overlap with yours? Do you see someone?
Let’s share out about WHY we choose the topic and WHY it seems to be the “beat” we want to cover.
Project 2: Step 2: Gather Research
What is research?
And HOW do I GATHER it?
Research is
Asking question
Finding answers to the questions
Finding new questions
Learning more about your topic
Project 2: Step 2: Gather Research
Find at least 4 sources on your beat/ topic. While you might be knowledgeable on this topic, we want to find sources that really reflect your understanding of the topic. They must be credible and relevant sources.
For YOUR project...
You must find at least 4 sources on your topic.
These sources should vary in genre! Try to have some variety! For example, maybe choose a podcast and a news article and opinion article and a scientific journal article.
What sources can you use?
Academic journals
Atlases and maps
Bibliographies
Blogs
Books (nonfiction, fiction)
Diaries
Encyclopedias
Films
Government Reports
Handbooks and manuals
Interviews
Letters
Magazines
Speeches
Songs
Surveys
Vlogs
Websites
Newspapers, news reports
Pamphlets and brochures
Photographs
Podcasts
How do you find your sources?
Tips for Effective Google Searches
Be Brief
** It is important to choose a few words that capture the content of the information you wish to find.
** Choose words that are likely to appear in the text of a relevant document.
** Avoid unnecessary question words like Who is and What are. These tend to lead to informal, inaccurate Q-and-A pages.
Be Specific
**Name exactly what you want rather than broad categories.
**Use topic-specific vocabulary that is likely to appear in a relevant document. Use the terms the experts use to find the experts!
Be Flexible
**If there are multiple ways to refer to a subject, try synonyms to yield more results.
Be Persistent
**Check past the first page of results. There are often good sources lower on the list.
**If at first you don’t succeed, change your search terms.
Tips for Effective Google Searches
Boolean operators refine a search: AND, OR, NOT, NEAR, and quotation marks. Including these operators with search terms can broaden a search, narrow it, or make it more specific. Not case sensitive.
Use Google Advanced Search (or a similar advanced search feature in another search engine), which provides a form that customizes a search much like these commands do.
AND Narrows search by requiring that both terms be present in a document
OR Broadens a search to include either one term or the other
NOT Narrows a search by prohibiting certain terms
NEAR Narrows a search to include only documents where two words appear near each other
“Quotes” Narrows a search to include only documents that contain the exact wording inside the quotations
But FIRST, we have to start with QUESTIONS!
Let’s go back and look at our KWL charts!
KNOW
Make a list of everything you already know about your BEAT
WANT TO LEARN
Write down a series of questions related to your topic that you want to find the answers to. YOUR RESEARCH QUESTIONS!
LEARNED
Go onto Google. Search your topic. Write down what you have learned about your topic from your preliminary research. Cite where necessary. Follow up with: (1) a list of questions you still need to research; and (2) a list of sources you can consult, including people you can reach out to and possibly interview.
Examples of Research Questions
WHO (major players, might be interested, is involved, cares, knows about it)
WHAT (is it, do you already know, want to learn more about, see, hear, smell, feel, think)
WHERE (find it, hear about it, see it, learn more, take place, most important)
WHEN (did it start, change, become important, become involved, learn about it)
WHY (do you care, should we care, is it important, does it matter, does it exist)
HOW (does it work, does it happen, does it change, do you fix it, make change, become involved)
Articles as a Genre!
In journalism, there are several different article or journalism types. Some of the best-known include news articles, interviews, features, reviews, columns and editorials.
https://mediaguide.fi/mediaguide/journalism-genres-and-article-types/
Articles as a Genre!
The form of a news article is highly standardized…
The most important information is located at the beginning of the news article and, from there onwards, less and less important background information is provided….
The most important sentence in a news article is called a news lede. It is a brief, concise description of the article’s content.
The nutshell paragraph (also known as a “nut graf”) explains to your readers early in the article what it is about and why they should care.
https://mediaguide.fi/mediaguide/journalism-genres-and-article-types/
Subgenres of Articles
Feature Articles as a Genre of Articles
A feature article is a longer article type than a news article.
A feature should be fact-based, objective and accurate, but the genre also allows for more creative expression than a news article.
While containing elements of news, feature writing provides scope, depth, and interpretation of trends, events, topics or people. It aims to humanise, add colour, educate, entertain and illuminate.
Types of features can be, for example, news features on a topical phenomenon including the use of several independent sources, profiles and reportages.
https://mediaguide.fi/mediaguide/journalism-genres-and-article-types/
Let’s Discuss OUR Reading!
Using the Reading from last week, let’s:
1. Analyze it for the elements of a feature article and
2. Talk about what we learned from it and what we thought about it!
“American Never Wanted the Tired, Poor Huddled Masses” by Caitlin Dickerson
Let’s NOW Look at YOUR SOURCES!
Homework!