Lesson 3

Lesson Goals

Texts

Materials

Tools

• Organizing Evidence Tool

• Summarizing Text Tool

• What Does It Mean to Live a Life Well-Lived?: Supplemental Texts Handout

Reference Guides

• Assessing Sources Reference Guide
• Avoiding Plagiarism Reference Guide

Editable Google Docs

• Organizing Evidence Tool

• Summarizing Text Tool

Activity 1: Discuss

We will review guidelines for supplemental searches using research portals or keyword searches, as designated by our teacher.

Step 1

In your seminar teams, discuss what you still need to learn about your topic to provide additional information and evidence for the central and supporting claims you have outlined on your Organizing Evidence Tool. Consider also your possible need for multimedia resources to enliven your presentation.

Determine if you can acquire the information or multimedia resources from an existing, approved source listed on your Supplemental Texts Handout, if you might use a designated research portal, or if a more open keyword search is needed.

Step 2

Follow along as your teacher reviews the guidelines for doing additional research.

Watch a demonstration of how to use one of the approved research portals and its links to find additional sources. Note what you will need to do with your own research portals.

Access the Assessing Sources Reference Guide and specifically the final section: Assessing Online Sources: Additional Considerations. Follow along as your teacher highlights key information while explaining ways to limit and focus open searches on the Internet.

Review the class guidelines for approving an online search and source and the process your teacher will use to approve your searches before you expand them.

Step 3

As a team, determine which of the options you have learned about will best fit your needs for additional information.

Submit a supplemental research proposal to your teacher for approval.

Activity 2: Read – Write

After receiving approval for supplemental research, we will work in research pairs to locate, read, and take notes about additional information we need to complete our team investigation and support the claims on our Organizing Evidence Tool for our presentation.

After receiving approval from your teacher for your supplemental searches, organize the team to do online research.

In research pairs, use keywords and phrases from your team and individual inquiry questions, or from those already listed on the handout, to search for additional sources within the research portals on your Supplemental Texts Handout.

Using the questions from the Assessing Sources Reference Guide, evaluate the relevance and credibility of any source before you examine it closely.

If you determine that a text or other source is credible and relevant to the specific claims in your team’s Organizing Evidence Tool, read, view, or examine the source, taking notes that can be shared with the rest of your seminar team.

Complete a Summarizing Text Tool for the texts or other sources you examine.

Activity 3: Write

We will research and correspond with organizations or key people to learn more about our pathway topics to refine our claims.

Step 1

In addition to online research, we will correspond with important people or organizations that are related to our topics to get more information to support our claims.

Thinking about your local community or the state, what organizations or people might be interesting to talk to that are related to your controlling idea and supporting claims about living a life well-lived?

With a partner, brainstorm possible organizations or people who might have more insight to provide on your topic and central ideas. Make a list of possible contacts with your research partner and share them with your teacher for approval.

Step 2

Choose several contacts to reach out to via email. Remember that most organizations or individuals have web pages that provide contact information.

Draft a professional email to each contact asking for their insight on your inquiry questions related to your presentation about living a life well-lived. Their responses to your questions might provide more evidence for your previously written claims. Remember to include the following in your email:

• a subject that briefly captures your purpose or question

• a greeting that identifies who you are and the purpose for your email

• a selection of your inquiry questions that are pertinent to the person or organization you are contacting

• a concluding line thanking them for their response and time

Be sure to write professionally and succinctly.

Activity 4: Discuss – Write

We will report back to our seminar teams and think about how to use and integrate new information and evidence we have found with our previously written claims and lists of supporting evidence.

Step 1

Using your notes and summaries of the sources you have examined, report back to your seminar team about what you have learned. Explain how the new information is related to one or more of the claims on your team’s Organizing Evidence Tool, which will also be the outline for your presentation.

Step 2

As a team, synthesize relevant new information and list it under the supporting claims you developed on your Organizing Evidence Tool as an outline for your presentation. Be sure to include proper citations of the sources of the new information.