Agenda
1. Discuss issues teachers face when teaching difficult text and writing about elements of literature in difficult text.
2. Introduce “Reader’s Marks for Better Understanding.”
3. Model using “Reader’s Marks for Better Understanding” to mark up a text looking for specific examples that answer a question.
4. Have teachers use this model themselves
5. Show how small chapter questions and annotations for each chapter can lead to larger questions and better examples and analysis in students’ writing.
6. Discussion: teachers explore what texts they teach with which students struggle and how this may help students better understand text and writing about text.
Man being born, as has been proved, with a title to perfect freedom and an uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of Nature, equally with any other man, or number of men in the world, hath by nature a power not only to preserve his property — that is, his life, liberty, and estate, against the injuries and attempts of other men, but to judge of and punish the breaches of that law in others, as he is persuaded the offence deserves, even with death itself, in crimes where the heinousness of the fact, in his opinion, requires it. But because no political society can be, nor subsist, without having in itself the power to preserve the property, and in order thereunto punish the offences of all those of that society, there, and there only, is political society where every one of the members hath quitted this natural power, resigned it up into the hands of the community in all cases that exclude him not from appealing for protection to the law established by it. And thus all private judgment of every particular member being excluded, the community comes to be umpire, and by understanding indifferent rules and men authorised by the community for their execution, decides all the differences that may happen between any members of that society concerning any matter of right, and punishes those offences which any member hath committed against the society with such penalties as the law has established; whereby it is easy to discern who are, and are not, in political society together. Those who are united into one body, and have a common established law and judicature to appeal to, with authority to decide controversies between them and punish offenders, are in civil society one with another; but those who have no such common appeal, I mean on earth, are still in the state of Nature, each being where there is no other, judge for himself and executioner; which is, as I have before showed it, the perfect state of Nature.
And thus the commonwealth comes by a power to set down what punishment shall belong to the several transgressions they think worthy of it, committed amongst the members of that society (which is the power of making laws), as well as it has the power to punish any injury done unto any of its members by any one that is not of it (which is the power of war and peace); and all this for the preservation of the property of all the members of that society, as far as is possible. But though every man entered into society has quitted his power to punish offences against the law of Nature in prosecution of his own private judgment, yet with the judgment of offences which he has given up to the legislative, in all cases where he can appeal to the magistrate, he has given up a right to the commonwealth to employ his force for the execution of the judgments of the commonwealth whenever he shall be called to it, which, indeed, are his own judgements, they being made by himself or his representative. And herein we have the original of the legislative and executive power of civil society, which is to judge by standing laws how far offences are to be punished when committed within the commonwealth; and also by occasional judgments founded on the present circumstances of the fact, how far injuries from without are to be vindicated, and in both these to employ all the force of all the members when there shall be need.
--John Locke, Chapter VII, section 87-89, Two Treatises of Government: 1690
Reader’s Marks for Better Understanding
______Underline the parts that you think are important details
Put a star in the margin of an unusual idea, a new thought, or something you want to go back and take a second look at, or an interesting quote
? Put a question mark when you don’t understand. Better yet, write your own question in the margin!
C Put a C in the margin where you have a PERSONAL CONNECTION to the passage. It may relate to your own life, remind you of another idea, etc. Write that idea down, OR it just might be comment you would like to make. This is something that may be used as evidence when you write about what you read.
! Surprise! Mark ideas that surprised you or that you had never thought of before.
Circle a new vocabulary word. Guess its meaning or look it up in the dictionary. Write your definition in the margin
M Put an M by the statement that you think is the author’s main idea or assertion.
Created by Carrie Weldon,
Directions:
1. Use Readers’ Marks for Better Understanding to demonstrate evidence of close reading
3. Answer the two questions at the end of the article
4. Write a 200 word response to the blog topic on the class blog.
Should the U.S. reinstate the draft?
The U.S. has relied on a volunteer army since 1973. With Americans fighting, and dying, in Afghanistan and Iraq, is it time to bring back the draft?
YES
On Sept. 11, 2001, I was working in the World Trade Center, and by sheer luck I was not one of the 2,823 people who died there. As I ran down 61 flights of stairs, it was clear to me that we had suddenly become a nation at war, and I expected the government to reinstate the draft immediately.
But that didn't happen, and the failure to reinstate the draft in the aftermath of 9/11 was a huge mistake.
That became clear to me when I joined the Marines in 2003. I served for six months in Iraq, and my experience made me realize we have a serious talent deficiency in the military.
A draft would remedy that immediately. America's bravest are currently fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, but our brightest are not. If I could have built a squad with five M.I.T. or Caltech students, I bet within months they'd have found a way to make the roadside bombs that killed so many U.S. troops ineffective.
Furthermore, if the most well-connected people in government and business had to worry about their own children's safety, battle plans would be made more prudently, and the best gear would be available to the military in a more timely manner.
I favor a World War II-style draft, with the brothers and sons of future and former Presidents serving (and, unfortunately, dying, as a Roosevelt and a Kennedy once did). That is when a war effort is maximized. The military cannot be a faceless horde to those in charge of our most important institutions.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan need to be more discomforting to the average American than just bad news on TV. In the long term, democracies cannot successfully wage protracted wars when the only people who are sacrificing are those who choose to go.
—Mark Finelli
Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps
NO
On the wall of my congressional office hangs a quote from Senator Robert A. Taft: "A compulsory draft is far more typical of totalitarian nations than of democratic nations. The theory behind it leads directly to totalitarianism. It is absolutely opposed to the principles of individual liberty which have always been considered a part of American democracy."
Taft said this in 1940, but it's just as true today, and I'm very concerned that the Obama administration may be considering bringing back the draft.
For years, I have introduced legislation to get rid of the Selective Service, which requires all 18-year-old men to register with the government, because why should you have a Selective Service if you're not planning to have a draft?
To me, a military draft would be the most serious attack on personal liberty. I consider it involuntary servitude. If we can draft young men and women and send them overseas to fight wars and think this is part of a method to preserve liberty, then we are sadly mistaken. And the truth is, if there is to be a draft, it will be for men and women.
I joined the Air Force in 1962 and proudly served as a flight surgeon for five years. My experience taught me that military service must be voluntary. Most military experts believe a draft would actually impair military readiness, despite the increase in troop levels, because of training and morale problems. Furthermore, most members of the military oppose a draft because they know there's a vast difference between serving alongside another volunteer and serving alongside a reluctant conscript.
A military draft would allow the government to demand your very life without your consent. This should be unthinkable in a free society.
—Congressman Ron Paul
Republican of Texas
(The New York Times Upfront, Vol. 142, February 8, 2010)
1. What is the author’s purpose?
2. Was there any bias in the article?
Blog Topic: Do you agree with Cpl. Finelli that the U.S. should reinstate the draft or do you agree with Rep. Paul that the U.S. should not? Why or why not?
Blog Post Rubric4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Ideas and Topic Development / Communicates sophisticated and original point of view, using strong support. Uses textual references as appropriate. / Communicates an original point of view using adequate support. / Communicates a point of view, but may be vague or merely echo previous posts without contributing original ideas or support. / Fails to communicate a point of view on the topic.
Voice and Style / Effective word choice and varied sentence structure contribute to a clear and powerful voice. / Adequate word choice and sentence structure contribute to an appropriate and effective voice. / Word choice and sentence structure show little variety undermining the sense of voice. / Inappropriate word choice or problems with sentence structure obscure meaning; voice may be overly informal.
Contribution to Learning Community / Meaningfully and respectfully references at least one colleague; attempts to motivate the group discussion with new and creative approaches. / Respectfully references at least one colleague; does not disrupt the flow of the group discussion. / Does not reference any specific colleagues; fails to acknowledge the ongoing discussion. / Makes limited effort to engage with the group; may post off topic.
Mechanics / There are few errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation; post is on time and does not exceed 200 words. / There are several errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation; post is on time and does not exceed 200 wordss / There are many errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation; post is on time but may exceed 200 words. / Extensive errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation obscure meaning; post may be late or fail to meet requirements for length.
· On the State of Union Addressee, Obama stated that we will begin to pull troops out of Afghanistan by July 2011. The war has had many negative effects on the United States. I think that the war should have been ended much sooner. I agree with Finelli that we should have reinstated the draft after September 11, 2001.
History shows that drafts create anti-war movements. For instance, the draft in the early 70’s for the Vietnam War caused a lot of uproar. If we would have reinstated the draft in 2001, many more people would have been affected by the war and the lack of public approval might have caused the war to end sooner. In the article, Finelli states that if the most elite people in society had to worry about their children going to war, then plans and equipment would be improved. I also think that military drafts bring different social classes together and this advances equality. The draft mixes the upper class with the middle and lower class. This unison of people is what America stands for. I disagree with my colleagues above because I think everyone should be involved in the effort to win wars for America. No one is better than anyone else, and when you are asked to fight for your country you don’t chicken out. I agree with Finelli that when everyone is involved, the war effort is maximized.
As the Afghanistan War comes to an end, more and more soldiers will begin to return home. These soldiers will have seen things we cannot even imagine. If we would have reinstated the draft, the war might have been ended sooner. Also, Military drafts bring people of all races and classes together. Isn’t this what being an American is all about?
· I agree with Congressman Ron Paul that the a military draft should not be reinstated. I believe that as a free country, people should have their own decision on whether or not to fight in the war. A draft would force people to risk their lives for the country and require you to put your life in danger. Cpl. Finelli said, “If I could have built a squad with five M.I.T. or Caltech students, I bet within months they’d have found a way to make the roadside bombs that killed so many U.S. toops ineffective.” I think that he has a point in saying this, but I also think that some people who are extremely smart may not have the same survival skills and courage as the brave men fighting in Iraq do. Many people who are very brainy rely on facts and exact data to get them through life. Soldiers however need to rely on instinct. A great example of this is in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Some of the soldiers drafted in the war were simply not able to fight in a war. They were not physically or mentally capable. I think that innocent people will die if they are forced to fight in wars. This is why I think that there should be no draft.