Research Update

While we’re halfway done with research, we still have several things we need to do in order to present this in a useful manner:

1. Organize and prepare our slides (10 slides began by end of class Monday).  Research and the subsequent gathering of information is useless if you don’t think through it and present it in an organized and easy-to-learn fashion.  Most students have done this, but some are rushing out slides willy-nilly.  We’ll fix that today ; )
2. Submit 10 “Test Questions” for Friday’s open-note student-generated Test.  In doing this, students identify what their 10 most important points are from their research.  They also give me time to prepare a “study guide” of sorts for their fellow researchers/students taking notes on Thursday/Friday.
3. Present their research.  Most are doing this in the Researching Chicago – Presenattion and PPT.  A few others are Researching Chicago – Paper Rubric using the standard format for doing such (thesis/introduction-body paragraphs-conclusion).  Either way, students must use the rubric provided (and linked above).

Students are doing an excellent job and learning a great deal of information.  I can’t wait to see the finished presentations and will share them with you on Friday/Saturday when they are complete.

Research Project

We spent this week researching Chicago.  This project serves two goals:

1. Learn to be better researchers.
2. Teach a part of Chicago’s culture and history to your classmates.

Accomplishing both takes time.  We spent Monday – Friday collecting resources.  This required the abstention of using typical “researching” methods – google, ask, bing, etc.  Many students were indignant at the thought of not using the only sites they could possibly find information!  But most learned to find good sources still.  This is one of the most important lessons to learn, as students will have to do so next year in 8th grade, and certainly when they go to high school.  Learning to do that now makes the process far easier, and progressively makes them better researchers and students.

Next week, we’ll work on our presentations.  Rubrics go out Monday, and I’ll blog with that and give more info then!

Last “Resource”

Gaurunteed to make you hungry:

http://www.greasefreak.com/beefs.html

Enjoy 

Additional/Updated Resources

Some general info that might be helpful for researching Chicago:

1. Search specific names of buildings, people, or other research topics. Big themes like “Magnificent Mile” search a broader amount of sites, and bring bad results for you. Narrow the search field to get more specific and useful results.
2. Google/Bing/Ask are the last resort. Use the IMC’s resources (EBSCO host, GALE Virtual Library, and World Book Online).

The following resources may be helpful for those with the following, more challenging topics:

Chicago Artists:

• Chicago Artists Coalation: a collection of local artists in the city:  http://caconline.org/
• Write City Magazine: entries from local Chicago writers: http://www.chicagowrites.org/thewritecitymag.aspx and:
• Windy City Writes – same as above! http://windycitywriters.com/
• Chicago Songwriter’s Collective – songwriters and musicians from Chciago: http://www.chicagosongwriters.com/
• And some lists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Chicago#Musicians and writers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Chicago#Writers.2C_thinkers.2C_scientists.2C_and_cultural_figures

Corruption in Chicago:

• John Kass is the Chicago Tribune’s biggest voice regarding corruption in the city: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-johnkass,0,5724822.columnist
• Slate.com article on Chicago’s general corruption: http://www.slate.com/id/2206364/
• Trib’s site page for IL corruption. You’ll have to search through it to differentiate between Chicago and IL, please. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/corruption/
• Chicago Historical Society Perspective: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/989.html
• Primary Source! A former politician in the 1960’s shares his secrets: http://www.hydeparkmedia.com/Alderman_Parrillo.html

Magnificent Mile:

• Excellent Wiki Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Avenue_(Chicago)
• City of Chicago’s page on South Michigan Avenue: http://egov.cityofchicago.org/Landmarks/M/MichBlvd.html
• List of old/famous buildings on South Michigan Avenue: http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/st/?id=179946
• History of Grant Park: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/538.html
• More Grant Park History!: http://www.grantparkconservancy.com/home/briefhistory.html
• And the Mag Mile’s commercial site: http://www.themagnificentmile.com/

Chicago Food:

• History of Greeks immigrants and their food in Chicago: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/548.html
• History of Chinese immigrants and their food in Chicago: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/285.html
• Polish: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/982.html
• Mexicans: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/824.html
• Italians: http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/658.html
• Chicago Style Hot Dogs: http://www.hotdogchicagostyle.com/chicagodog.php
• Italian Beef: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_beef
• History of Chicago Pizza: http://members.cox.net/jjschnebel/ddishpiz.html
• Again!: http://www.newcitychicago.com/chicago/5337.html

Researching Chicago

Today we begin our newest research project:

View this document on Scribd

As stated in the letter above, our goals are two-fold and simple:

1. Develop our Research Skills.
2. Teach the class about a facet of Chicago history and culture.

For general historical information, photos and facts:
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/
or
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576998/Chicago_(city_Illinois).html
or
http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215480/
or
http://www.chicagohistory.org
or
http://www.lib.depaul.edu/eresource/subject_search_infotype.asp?TopicID=141&SubjectID=13

For information on skyscrapers, buildings and landmarks:
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/ci/bu/sk/li/?id=101030&bt=2&ht=2&sro=1
or
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?cityID=4
or
http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/faculty/erics/web/arcchicago.html

For information on the 77 different neighborhoods of Chicago:
http://neighborhoods.chicago.il.us/
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_neighborhoods

Detailed Photographs:
http://digicol.lib.depaul.edu/site-templates/client_LPNC1/index.html
or
http://www.picturingchicago.com/
or try searching here:
http://images.google.com/imghp?tab=il

A Timeline of Chicago’s History:
http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/chihist.html

Alphabetical Listing of Landmarks and Skysrapers, Past and Present:
http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Landmarks/List.html