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Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing with Online Periodicals

 

Project Overview

Using online periodicals to locate current, social issues, students will access and print two articles: one from the United States and the other from a foreign source. They will write one summary and one critique of each article, respectively.

 

The intended audience will be for freshman-level college students, their peers, and their instructors.

Student Learning Objectives

This RWLO has several learning objectives:

 

• Students will work independently to prepare and present information,

using information technology - computers and the Internet

• Students will enhance critical skills in thinking, reading, and writing

• Students will learn the components of writing a summary – objectively

• Students will learn the components of writing a critique – subjectively

• Students will learn how to locate current, up-to-date social issue articles both domestically (US) and internationally (abroad)

• Students will be exposed to different viewpoints from ethnically/culturally

diverse groups.

Procedure

Time: 3 periods of 1 hr. and 20 mins.

 

Materials: Computer with Internet access and 3.5 floppy or zip disk (depending on type of school computer used).

 

Prerequisites: Students need to have basic computer knowledge: surfing, typing, saving, retrieving, and printing – using Word documents and the Internet.

 

Implementation: This RWLO can be used either in the classroom as a lesson, or it can be used as a homework project.

 

Steps:

 

1. Students will go the computer lab, library, or learning center to access RWLO through the Internet

2. Students will choose their topics from a list of current social issue topics provided by their instructor

3. Students will access given sites to search for their topics/articles, and print them (each should be 1-2 pages)

4. Students will spend a maximum of three, one hour and twenty minute periods to complete the entire assignment

5. Students will read, outline, and annotate US and foreign based articles during period # 1

6. Students will draft/write an objective summary and a subjective critique during period # 2

7. Students will complete writing/typing, revising, editing, and proofreading both at the end of period # 3

Students/Instructors can easily locate valuable online sources for their writing assignments through , , and .

 

For  (ideal for social issue articles), students/instructors should type the site's name in the URL section and press enter. Next, they should type their respective topics in the find box area located to the left of their screen, while making sure the right of their screen remains on "free articles only." After pressing enter again, a number of articles (each with a synopsis and total pages) will be displayed for viewing, e-mailing, or printing.

 

 

For  (ideal for facts), students/instructors should type the site's name in the URL section and press enter. Next, they should scroll down the page, looking to the left, until they see the "" search box. Here they should type in their respective topics, so they can peruse through the search results.

 

For (ideal for current worldwide news), students/instructors should type the site's name in the URL section and press enter. Next, they will get the opportunity to choose from a variety of local and international newspapers. Registration maybe required, but it is a totally free process, requiring users to fill out a basic one page questionnaire.

 

Content Material

For the summary, students will do the following:

• Select a current social issue article from or

• Read the article critically and write a 6-12 sentence, objective paragraph about it

• Make sure summary includes author/source information and highlights author’s main ideas and conclusion

• Write in the present tense

• Use author’s last name and signal verbs to effectively convey author’s intended meaning

 

 

For the critique, students will do the following:

• Select a similar article covering the same topic from a foreign source in

• Read the article critically and write a 6-12 sentence, subjective paragraph about it

• State source author’s stance or position on the topic, and compare it to theirs

• Separate themselves from source when citing

• Question, support, comment, or refute any facts, statistics, examples, personal observations, or expert testimonies raised in the article

 

Assessment

Students’ summaries and critiques will be graded on the holistic writing rubric of 1-6 (highest) in the following areas:

 

• Focus – a clear and directed topic sentences

• Development – adequate and relevant supporting details

• Coherence – smooth, logical transitions

• Unity - details stick to supporting main ideas

• Correctness – acceptable college-level in grammar and mechanics 

(Source: Advancing Writer Book 2 – Greenberg and Weiner)

Links to Course Competencies

This RWLO would be appropriate for English Foundations I & II (ENG 096/097) or a pre-college-level writing course. In addition, it can aid in the honing of these essential literacy skills for students taking college-level humanities or social science courses.

 

 

Developmental English/Writing students and other students will benefit from this RWLO since it sharpens fundamental critical thinking, reading, and writing skills.

 

 

Specifically, this RWLO meets the following course competencies:

 

• Critical Thinking

 

• Critical Reading

 

• Critical Writing

Supplementary Resources

Students can gain valuable background information and insight into US and foreign culture through the following sites:

 

 

 

•

•

•

Recommendations

Students will type their summaries and critiques, e-mail them to their instructors for grading, and/or post them on an online message board for peer reviewing. In the event that the computers in the library, learning center, or laboratory are down, students will use the school’s library to access the following periodicals/newspapers:

Time (magazine), Newsweek (magazine), BusinessWeek (magazine), The Economist (magazine), US News and World Report (magazine), The New York Times (newspaper), USA Today (newspaper), and The Wall Street Journal (newspaper).

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