September 9, 2016 -- Friday


On the board as students came in --  (also wrote the blog address yet again on the board)
 1. Warm-up--
      Reread the last paragraph of the article about Japanese gun policy.  Can you paraphrase it, that is, rewrite it in your own words?
2. Vocabulary quiz # 1
3. Word search  (ignore "mdjunction"),
4. discussion of article about Japanese gun policy



What does paraphrase mean?  Here's an example, based on Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Lincoln's words (more or less): "Four score and seven years ago, our forefathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

Kimmel's paraphrase:  "Eighty-seven years ago, our ancestors created a new country here, a country based on equality."



The students took Vocabulary Test # 1.  As they handed it in, they received a copy of the word search, which they worked on in class until everyone had finished the test.


After everyone finished the test. there was a discussion of the article on Japanese gun policy.  Outline on the board, as follows

                                                         Japanese Gun Policy
Good                                                       Depends                                        Bad
lll                                       ll                              l

People who thought the policy was good had the following things to say:
1. low murder rate in Japan
2. gun ownership limited to super-reliable people-- background checks, special training, etc.
3. everyone is equal because no one has a gun --- no one is more powerful than anyone else
4. people feel safer

People who said that "it depends":
1. advisibility of Japanese no-gun policy depends on location (nation, state, city, neighborhood, rural, etc.) and purpose
2. depends on time in history -- sometimes a nation needs armed citizens to defend the country

People who said that "it's bad":
1. difficult to change the situation in the U.S. because of the long history of gun ownership in our nation


It's very important for students to be able to form opinions (based on information) and then to be able to explain those opinions.  Similarly, it's very important for residents and citizens of the U.S. to be able to form opinions (based on information) and then to be able to explain those opinions, and, if qualified, choose the best candidates in elections.

Students identified  unfamiliar  vocabulary in the article:
   scantily
   spectrum (often used in the phrase "across the spectrum")
   enshrine  ("shrine" sacred place, plus prefix "en")
   rigorous  ("rigor" plus adjective ending "ous")
   monopoly  (the game, and the wider meaning)






Homework:
1. answer the questions at the bottom of page 26 in Bridging the Gap
2. read pages 270-272 in Bridging the Gap -- you may do #1 before or after doing #2
3. finish the word search  (which has a lot of pharmacological terminology)