Objectives for today 3.16 & 3.17

By now everyone should have their first three posts completed (KWL, personal reflection, credible vs. non-credible) and have commented (using the questions I gave you) on one other person's blog.

Today you are going to have some time to work on your 4th post, which can be any of the following:

1. History—Significant history and background of your subject area. This post should feature three significant dates/events that people should know about your topic. You should have at least two credible sources for your information, and properly cite them. You can find a model of this post here. This post should have 300 words, two pictures, and at least two links.

2. Profile--Profile of a prominent figure in your subject area. This post should feature three significant accomplishments of the person who is involved with your subject area. You should have at least two credible sources for your information, and properly cite them. This post should have 300 words, two pictures, and at least two links.

3. Current Events--An informative post about a current event related to your subject area. This post should feature a summary of the event, at least two different news articles about the event, and a explanation of why it is important to your subject area. This post should have 300 words, two pictures, and at least two links.

4. Economics—An informative post about how an issue in economics relates to your subject area. This post should feature two credible sources and an explanation the issue, and why it relates to your subject area. This post should have at least 300 words, two pictures, and at least two links.

5. Your choice—An informative post about a significant and interesting thing about your subject area. This post should feature two credible sources and an explanation of why it is significant/interesting to your subject area. This post should have 300 words, two pictures, and at least two links.

If you have questions, ask them. Don't be a

Chess: Three significant dates

In order to more fully understand the history of chess, there are three important dates that everyone needs to know.

6th Century A.D.

This is the date that experts say chess developed in either China or India. Chess used to be called shatranj and was very different than the game we play today. According to an article by historian Gerhard Josten, chess wasn't just invented by one person, but was the combination of several different types of games. Josten argues chess has so many pieces that move so differently (the pawns for example, are the only pieces that can't move backwards) because they come from different games. I think the 6th century is significant to my topic because it is the point at which all of these games came together.

9th Century A.D.

Chess traveled from Asia to Europe by a group of Africans called the Moors. According to an article by Dr. Daaim Shabazz, the Moors brought the early form of chess, shatranj, to Europe when they conquered Spain. The Moors brought quite a few scientific advances with them as well and helped advance European civilization.


1475

This is the date that Queen Isabella took the throne in Spain. According to an article about the history of the queen in chess, the queen used to be a much weaker piece, but after the real-life queen came to power, the rules were changed and the queen became the most powerful piece. Historian Govert Westerveld, said that the development of chess has always mirrored real life events, which might be helpful towards finding out why the White pieces go first.

Objectives for today 3.10.09

1. Today you should already have created your blog and posted your first post.

2. You should have your second post done by the end of class.

3. When you finish that, you need to start working on your peer review assignment, which is due tomorrow.

4. If you finish all of that, you can begin working on your third post, which deals with credible and non-credible sources.

5. I've also added both the blog schedule and the blog rubric for you to look at. If you have any questions, let me know.

Also, congratulations on putting together such excellent looking blogs! You all have me hyped to hear more about your topics now that I'm starting to see more of a vision of what you're going to be doing. A couple tips:

- Make sure I have your blog address. If you don't see your name listed in the links on the left, than I don't have you yet. Post a comment here with your first and last name, blog title and subject. Ms. Arbeiter or I cannot give you credit if I don't have your website.

- Be sure to save your work as you type. The computer will automatically save for you, but make sure you do it yourself. If you want to be extra careful, save it in a word document before you post it on your blog.

- You all have some great images with your posts. Make sure the images are properly sized and that they fit what you're talking about.

- Remember that every post should have at least two pictures and one link.

Once you have read all of the above, leave an "I understand" comment.

Post #3: Credible versus non-credible sources

This assignment (Due 3.12.09) will require you to identify two credible sources and two non-credible sources for your research. In this post you will need to do the following:

-Title your post "Credible versus non-credible sources"
-Give two examples of credible sources and two examples of non-credible sources, with visuals and links to the pages.
-Explain, using the source credibility checklist, the three ways you made your determination about your source. You can use my post as a model.
-Post your post

Peer Review Assignment: Due 3.10.09

Objective: Complete a peer-review of a classmate’s blog post.

Instructions: You will read through one of the first two posts of a classmate and give typed feedback in the comments section of their blog using the criteria below.

1. Is the post the appropriate amount (300 words)?:

2. Rate (10 highest, 1 lowest) the clarity of the overall topic of research.

3. Rate how well the visual illustrations add to the topic of the post

4. Rate how well the post conveys what the author knows.

5. Rate how well the post conveys what the author wants to know.

6. Offer two or three written positive (specific) comments to the author

7. offer two or three written constructive (specific) criticism or questions to the author.

Check out my reflection post to see an example.

Also, if you don't see your blog on the blog list, leave a comment to this post with your first and last name, the name of your blog, and your blog address.

Credible versus Non-credible sources

Non-Credible sources

#1 Non-credible source:

I know it is a non-credible source because:
1. The website has a ".com" address, which means that anyone could have purchased that website.
2. There are more than five ads on the page.
3. The website is not focused on my topic, chess history.
4. The author does not have a degree or credentials in chess, so I don't know if I can trust his opinion.

#2 Non-credible source.

I know it is a non-credible source because:
1. The website has a ".com" address, which means that anyone could have purchased the website.
2. The description of the website at the top of the page tells me that it's purpose is to get people to play games online and to join their website.
3. The section that's marked "learn" on their website has just a little paragraph about the history of chess and it doesn't tell you where it got any of it's information.

#3 Non-credible source.

I know this is a non-credible source because:
1. Most of the information on the page is not footnoted or doesn't have a source, so it's hard to know where the authors are getting their information from.
2. Wikipedia pages can be edited by anyone and that means people can add or delete whatever they want, so there's no telling what is correct or incorrect.
3. The webpage has a ".org" website domain, which means they are a non-profit, but they still are not as reliable as a ".edu" address.

Credible Sources

Credible source #1

I found my first credible source by searching Google Scholar. The source is a book all about the history of chess.

I know this is a credible source because:
1. The book has one author, Gerhard Josten, and after I did a quick Google search of his name I found out that he is a historian and author of chess books.
2. The book has footnotes and references that let me know where the author is getting his information.
3. The book looks like it has been carefully edited and there are no noticeable grammar or spelling mistakes.

Credible source #2

I found my second credible source by checking the "notes" section at the bottom of the Wikipedia chess page. I saw an article about the history of chess.

I know this is a credible source because:
1. It's written by one author, Dr. Ricardo Calvo, who I did a quick Google search on and found out was an International Grandmaster and chess historian.
2. Even though the website has a ".com" listing, I did a Google search of the title of the article and found it on a more credible website.
3. The description of the website that I found on the top of the page said that the purpose of the website was to explore the history of chess. Also, it doesn't look like the website is really trying to sell anything.

Credible source #3

I found my third credible source by typing in "chess origins" in Wikipedia. I ended up finding an article from encyclopedia Britannica that talked about the history of chess.

I know this is a credible source because:
1. According to the "about us" section of the website, Enyclopedia Brittanica has been around for many years and is the oldest printed encyclopedia in the world.
2. The website gives a thorough history of chess, covering a lot of different types of topics
3. The website has a professional layout and is free of grammatical or spelling errors.

Where do I start my research?

The first thing you need to know is that there is a difference between scholarly and non-scholarly sources on the web. Scholarly sources are ones that are not supposed to be biased or false, and are fully supported by facts. Generally, scholarly sources will have a URL address of ".edu" (meaning they are with a university or college) or ".gov" (meaning they are from the government). Sources with ".com" or ".org" are ones that anyone can purchase and there's usually no way of making sure the facts presented there are correct.

When I'm researching on the web, I usually start with a Google search. Google is good because it will give me a general idea of my options for web resources on my subject. However, you should BEWARE when using Google because Google searches the web like American Idol searches for singers. It's all done by votes.

Google doesn't find you the best websites, it just finds you the most popular. For example, if I was searching for information about dogs, Google would track all of the most popular sites that people have clicked on when they have searched for "dogs".

So, the #1 result is not necessarily the best website, but it's the one most people chose. There's nothing wrong with that, but most people aren't writing a scholarly paper when they go on the web, so the most popular result may not be much help to you. If I used the number one result for dogs in my research, I might end up feeling dumb when the teacher asked me why I'm using information from a dog shipping company in my academic paper.

I started with a Google search, and most of the top results have to do with playing chess because when most people search for "chess" they are trying to find somewhere to play, not the history of chess.

I had to read through pages of search results before I found anything that was good for my topic. Sometimes it helps to add other search terms. I was focusing on chess and race, so I put in "chess race" and that narrowed my search results. It's frustrating, but research can be that way sometimes. Be patient.

Google Scholar is a great place to find academic sources. Google has digitized the academic papers of thousands of university professors and you can search through them. A lot of the papers are dry, but if you read the descriptions, you can find the ones that might be helpful. I found a couple of good articles on the history of chess and how it developed.

Wikipedia is usually excellent for pointing me in the direction of academic sources, but it is not considered an academic source.

Anyone on the web can change Wikipedia entries, so they can be unreliable. One guy had his whole life disrupted because someone wrote a Wikipedia entry about him that said he helped kill president Kennedy. The bad thing was that he didn't know who wrote it and it was a big hassle to get it removed. There are people who constantly keep an eye on Barack Obama's Wikipedia entry because people are always trying to post racist stuff about him.

But, if you look down at the bottom of the page where it says "references" or "further reading" or "external links," you can often find academic resources that will be helpful.

The Chicago Public library also has quite a few academic resources you can check out. You'll need your library card in order to access a lot of this stuff, so make sure you have one with you.

Here are some highlights:

1. The Biography Resource Center--This site will help you find articles that tell the stories of famous people from all countries and all time periods. Search by name or create lists of people based on certain characteristics: what they do (or did) for a living, what country they are from, what American ethnic group they belong to (for example, African American), and whether they are male or female. Great bios on famous people.

2. History Database Search --This database has short overview articles on a wide range of historical events and processes. Also includes biographies, timelines, primary sources, images, maps, and charts.

3. Issues and Controversies--This site presents overviews of current public policy issues and other controversial topics. This resource is a great place to start for students working on persuasive essays or debates or anyone wanting authoritative background information on the issues making today’s headlines.

4. Junior Quest Magazines & ProQuest--These sites are archives of newspapers and magazines. Junior Quest is more teen-oriented, but ProQuest is the resource I had my college students working with. ProQuest is the bomb when you figure out how to use it!

5. You can also search most of these databases by using the search bar at the top of this page

Google News--This site features thousands of news articles from the last few decades. This is a good place to look if you're looking at a specific figure in history or a specific incident.

Webmd.com--This site is a good place to look for any kind of health related material. You certainly don't want this to be the only thing you look at, but it could have some good general information. Usually it features some helpful visuals as well.

Yahoo.com--I know you all are going to say that Mr. Shakur is an old fuddy duddy because he still looks at Yahoo!, but the thing I like best about the site is that they categorize some of the information for you, so it's not just a thousand random sites.

Bureau of Labor Statistics--This is a federal government website that keeps track of all the different kinds of jobs that people are working in the country. They keep statistics on how much people are getting paid, the type of work they have to do, whether or not this type of job will be available in the future, what kind of training you need, and a bunch of other stuff. If you're researching a potential job, this might be a good place to look. Just put the job you want to research in the search bar on the left.

Personal Reflection

I picked the topic of why does White move first because that has been one of the rules in chess that I never really understood. All of the pieces are the same, so why do the black pieces have to go second every time? What does it add to the game to have it this way? It makes me think of this psychologist named Dr. Franicis Cress Welsing who said that the games we play, like basketball, football, baseball, etc, are all ways that culture sends us messages about race. She's controversial, but I think there is something true about the fact that chess is all about hierarchies (It goes King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight, Pawn) and that could potentially teach people to accept the idea that one person has to rule over everyone else. It's hard for me to believe that it is just a mistake that black always goes second.
I can't remember when I started playing chess, but I know my father taught me about the game a long time ago. I remember the nice wooden chess set my father used to have and the way he used to beat me all the time. My father never put it in my face, but every time we sat down at the board it was pretty much understood that he was about to give me a whupping. Being able to beat him made it really important for me to learn as much as I could about chess.

I guess it's also important to me to figure out why white goes first because I like to teach my students how to play too. I'm usually pretty honest about how I don't understand this particular rule, but I would hate to be sending my students the message that they deserve to go second--especially as brilliant as they are.

Objectives for Today

As you know, your first blog post is due on Friday (3/6/09). In preparation for this, by the end of today you will should have the following completed:

1. You should reply to my post by clicking the comment button below. All you need to say is "I understand." If you have any questions, feel free to ask me in class or write them here.

2. You must have a blog created and ready to be displayed

3. You must have a post that at least lists all of the things you know and the things you want to know in a post labeled "Post #1." You can look at my post as an example.

4. You must insert at least two pictures into your post. The pictures should be relevant to whatever you know or want to know.

5. You must insert at least one hyperlink into your post. The hyperlink should also be relevant to whatever you know or want to know.

If you have completed this task, begin working on your second post, a reflection on why this topic is important to you.

Remember: You can do this!

What Do I Know, What Do I Want To Know?

I know that the white pieces traditionally move first and it's been like that for a long time. I'm not sure for how long. I know that both white and black pieces are pretty much the same, so it's hard for me to figure out why it's important that the white pieces go first. I would like to know if it has anything at all to do with race.

I know that chess has been around for 1,500 years. I've read a lot about how chess first started as a game in China and/or India. I think the name of one of the first games was Shatrang. It was similar to chess because there was a knight, king, rook, and pawn, but there was no queen. Instead of a queen, there was something called a Vizier (or something like that) which was like the king's adviser. Apparently, back in the day, the game was a lot slower and over time they added the Queen and changed the way pawns moved in order to speed up the games. I know that every change to the game has been well-documented, but I have never heard or read anyone explain the reason for White moving first.


I read a book called "The Birth of the Chess Queen" which talked about how and why the queen appeared. Basically, it said that chess changed as it spread throughout the world and that the queen piece came about because there were queens in Europe who had a lot of power. The queens influenced peope to think that there should be a powerful feminine piece on the board.

I would also like to know did people in Africa play chess, because I know a lot of Arabic people played.

Blog Rubric

Your blog will be graded on the following categories:

Ideas & Content
(4) The student has many original ideas and they clearly relate to the subject area.
(3) The great majority of ideas are related to the subject area.
(2) Some of the ideas are related to the subject area.
(1) The ideas are not related to the subject area.

Quality of Information:
(4) Information clearly relates to main topic. Includes several supporting details and/or examples.
(3) Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples.
(2) Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given.
(1)Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.

Amount of Information:
(4) All topics are addressed and all questions answered with at least 300 words
(3) All topics are addressed and most questions answered with at least 300 words.
(2) All topics are addressed, and most questions answered with at least 300 words.
(1) One or more topics were not addressed.

Sources
(4) All sources (information and graphics) are credible and accurately documented in MLA format and hyperlinks.
(3) All sources (information and graphics) are credible accurately documented, but a few are not correct format.
(2) All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented, but many are not in the desired format or are not credible.
(1) Some sources are not accurately documented and most are not credible.

Mechanics
(4) No grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.
(3) Almost no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.
(2) A few grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.
(1) Many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.

Visual illustration
(4) Diagrams and illustrations are neat, accurate, and add to the reader's understanding of the topic.
(3) Diagrams and illustrations are accurate and add to the reader's understanding of the topic. (2) Diagrams and illustrations sometimes add to the reader's understanding of the topic.
(1) Diagrams and illustrations are not accurate OR do not add to the reader's understanding of the topic.

Academic Writing
(4) Posts are well-written, and have strong academic writing style.
(3) Posts are well-written, with academic writing style
(2) Posts have are moderately well-written and have casual writing style.
(1) Posts are poorly written with casual writing style.

Blog Community
(4) The student participated actively in the blogging community via comments on other weblogs. (3) The student participated moderately in the blogging community.
(2) The student rarely participated in the blogging community.
(1) The student did not participate in the blogging community.

Enhancements
(4) The student greatly enhanced their weblog space using video, audio, images or other add-ons, which improved readability.
(3) The student enhanced their weblog to some extent using video, audio, images or other add-ons, some of which reduced readability.
(2) There is very little evidence of multimedia enhancement and the student blog is primarily text-based.
(1) The student did nothing to enhance or personalize the weblog space.

Blog project schedule

Research Blog schedule

Your senior research project must be completed by March 26^th, 2009. You will have at least 110 minutes in class every week to complete your posts, but you should come to class prepared with a post already outlined.

Posts #1-3 will fall into the following topics:

Assignment #1 Due 3.5.09

1. KW--What you already know about the subject area and what you would like to learn

Assignment #2 Due 3.9.09

2. Personal--Personal reflection about why you chose this particular subject

Assignment #3 Due 3.12.09

3. Sources--Three examples of both credible and non-credible sources of information about your project.

Assignment #4 Due 3.17.09

Assignment #5 Due 3.19.09

Posts #4 & #5 can be any of the following topics.

1. History—Significant history and background of your subject area
2. Profile--Profile of a prominent figure in your subject area.
3. Current Events--An informative post about a current event related to your subject area.
4. Economics—An informative post about how an issue in economics relates to your subject area.
5. Your choice—a significant and interesting thing about your subject area.

Assignment #6 Due 3.24.09

Post #6 will be on the following topic

1. Reflection—What have you learned through this project?