Sanders Study Series

How do you know that? That is one of the most frequent questions I am asking my students in class when they respond to a question. I want to see if they are aware of their answer and how they came to that conclusion. The same goes for claims and posts on the internet today that give us misinformation- we need to know whether or not the post is actually giving us valid and accurate information.  Just like with all the ads and giveaways that appear on our phones, they seem too good to be true. Majority of the times they are feeding us false information that is often believed. For instance, “Day after day, people fall prey to them, hope they are true, and share the misinformation with your friends” (Turner & Hicks, 2017, p.104). This becomes an ongoing cycle, where we see something someone else claims through a post and reinforce it by reposting it for other people to also believe.  Example from Facebook This post was posted by a teacher on a teacher Facebook page. The person posting

Whether it is a movie, Youtube video, reel on social media, or Tiktok video, people of all ages are creating things for people to watch online today. It is easier than ever to compose a quick video of something you are doing and post it online, and you might even become famous for it! Kids and adults can spend hours watching video after video on their devices. A research study done by Common Sense Media found that "The percentage of young people who say they watch online videos "every day" has gone from 24% to 56% among 8-12 year olds, and from 34% to 69% among 13-18 year olds" (Baig, 2019).  What Now?  Like with all things in a digital format, there is are right and wrong ways to go about doing it. Since students are so immersed in technology today, creating videos is a big component of how they could share their learning in school as well as an activity they are most likely watching or creating at home for tiktok or other social media pages. This provides educato

One thing that always stands out about infographics is that they give you information in a quick way, telling you the most important or revealing data behind whatever the topic is. Instead of doing extensive research or reading a long article, the infographic gives you the information you need to know in a concise, visually appealing way. Infographics are defined as being "a combination of information and graphics (colorful pictures, images, and graphs) that give reasons and ideas to back up thesis on a topic" (Turner & Hicks, 2017, p.63). As there are so many uses of infographics in marketing, social media, and  businesses, I also see how there are just as many ways they could be used in the classroom.  When reading Chapter 4 in Argument in the Real World, I began to realize how much of infographics are centered around the data that is compiled in them. For example, "the most important component of an infographic is accurate data... as an organization, you may alrea

Since we currently live  in a  digital world with so  many  outlets of  information  and resources, it is very easy to get caught up in the various claims that are made.   After  reading chapters in Argument in the Real World , I realized how much of what we read and compose on the internet suggests an argument. Even images  portray a certain claim! I think this is especially important to remember when teaching  young children since much of what they read and see on the internet will most likely feel accurate and convincing to them. They should understand from a young age how to not only construct their own argument on something but how to state their own claim and support it with evidence even if they are just posting an image.  I was intrigued by the idea of using "gateway activities" that were discussed in chapter 3 of  Argument in the Real World as way to introduce this idea of making arguments. These activities are "helping them develop discrete strategies that mak