Paragraph response Paragraph response to an Articleto an Article

A response to “Social Websites Hurt Children’s Brains”

FIVE MINUTES--prewriting

Write for five minutes in response to this: Does the warning in this article concern you? Jot down any and all thoughts for five minutes.

STEP 1

Write a sentence/quote from the article that best captures your concern or worry. Remember to put quotation marks around it with a page number in parenthesis.

STEP 1 Example:

“…teenagers now spend seven-and-a-half hours a day in front of a screen” (Durbyshire).

STEP 2

After the quote, write in your own words the significancesignificance of the quote in reference to the reading. This is where you can explain it in relation to your concerns or lack of concern.

STEP 2 EXAMPLE:“…teenagers now spend seven-and-a-half hours a day in front of a screen” (Durbyshire). This is a significant portion of anyone’s waking hours. It is difficult to imagine how screen time could NOT affect a person’s brain. And, if a teenager is spending this many hours in front of a screen, what are they no longer doing?

The conversation…If you want your writing to make a point, you

must do more than make a statement: You must also indicate what larger conversation your point is responding to. This is the context for an argument or circumstances leading to your response. You may want to indicate this BEFORE you make your point, because this is how your reader processes information.

STEP 3:

Scroll up to the quote. You will now write BEFORE the quote.

Introduce the purpose of the quote or introduce the speaker or narrator.

Tell WHAT the narrator is trying to achieve and HOW.

STEP 3 Example:

Much of a child’s cognitive development is dependent on experiences growing up. But, today’s children spend time differently than ever before. “…teenagers now spend seven-and-a-half hours a day in front of a screen” (Durbyshire). This is a significant portion of anyone’s waking hours. It is difficult to imagine how screen time could NOT affect a person’s brain. And, if a teenager is spending this many hours in front of a screen, what are they no longer doing?

STEP 4

Is there another line in the reading that says something similar to the first quote? If so, put this quote at the end of all the writing you have done so far.

ORIs there another line in the reading that further

shows the point of the first line?

STEP 4 Example:Much of a child’s cognitive development is dependent on experiences growing up. But, today’s children spend time differently than ever before. “…teenagers now spend seven-and-a-half hours a day in front of a screen” (Durbyshire). This is a significant portion of anyone’s waking hours. It is difficult to imagine how screen time could NOT affect a person’s brain. And, if a teenager is spending this many hours in front of a screen, what are they no longer doing? Many parents and teachers complain about students’ inability to communicate or concentrate away from their screens (Durbyshire).

STEP 5

After the second quote or example, write a short explanation of HOW it relates to the first quote and WHY it is significant to the story.

STEP 5 Example: Much of a child’s cognitive development is dependent on experiences growing up. But, today’s children spend time differently than ever before. “…teenagers now spend seven-and-a-half hours a day in front of a screen” (Durbyshire). This is a significant portion of anyone’s waking hours. It is difficult to imagine how screen time could NOT affect a person’s brain. And, if a teenager is spending this many hours in front of a screen, what are they no longer doing? Many parents and teachers complain about students’ inability to communicate or concentrate away from their screens (Durbyshire). And, it is no wonder. If more than one-third of their waking hours are in front of a screen, they do not have the experience and/or practice of communicating face-to-face. In addition, teenagers cannot learn to focus for extended periods of time when they are used to being bombarded with so much stimuli with a simple click and the screen changes.

STEP 6 Read through your paragraph so far….Think

about the main idea. Do you see a general theme or idea in your message?

Write one or two sentences that grab the general idea of the paragraph. Your sentence should be large enough to cover both quotes and ideas, but small enough for your audience to have a good idea about the paragraph. This paragraph MUST support your thesis from the introduction.

As teachers integrate more and more technology into their learning environments, they should also focus on the skills and abilities our “screenagers” are losing. Much of a child’s cognitive development is dependent on experiences growing up. But, today’s children spend time differently than ever before. “…teenagers now spend seven-and-a-half hours a day in front of a screen” (Durbyshire). This is a significant portion of anyone’s waking hours. It is difficult to imagine how screen time could NOT affect a person’s brain. And, if a teenager is spending this many hours in front of a screen, what are they no longer doing? Many parents and teachers complain about students’ inability to communicate or concentrate away from their screens (Durbyshire). And, it is no wonder. If more than one-third of their waking hours are in front of a screen, they do not have the experience and/or practice of communicating face-to-face. In addition, teenagers cannot learn to focus for extended periods of time when they are used to being bombarded with so much stimuli with a simple click and the screen changes.

STEP 6 Example:

STEP 7

Read the entire paragraph…does it make sense? Is it clear? Does it support your main idea?

Compare it to the paragraph you wrote the first time. What are some differences?

Make any revisions necessary.

STEP 7 Example:In the quest for control of our individual preferences, we may

have possibly stifled an appreciation for the pioneering and creative vision. In an unprecedented era of technological advancements, Rosen poignantly points out the dangers of complete control of personal technology. The convenience and appeal is obvious to most consumers; however, she makes a shrewd argument for its polarizing impact on society, art, and music. “[W]e…are finding it increasingly difficult to appreciate genuine individuality” (Rosen). Personalized technology allows the consumer to pick and choose those songs, shows, or ideas one enjoys. Exposure to new and different forms never or rarely occurs, as a result. “Sampling is the opposite of savoring” (Rosen). Not only is the “surprise” or uniqueness lost, one also misses how it can be experienced. A level of meaning is lost when one is not immersed in the experience, but rather skipping through it.

STEP 7 Example:As teachers integrate more and more technology into their

learning environments, they should also focus on the skills and abilities our “screenagers” are losing. Much of a child’s cognitive development is dependent on experiences growing up. But, today’s children spend time differently than ever before. “…teenagers now spend seven-and-a-half hours a day in front of a screen” (Durbyshire). This is a significant portion of anyone’s waking hours. It is difficult to imagine how screen time could NOT affect a person’s brain. And, if a teenager is spending this many hours in front of a screen, what are they no longer doing? Many parents and teachers complain about students’ inability to communicate or concentrate away from their screens (Durbyshire). And, it is no wonder. If more than one-third of their waking hours are in front of a screen, they do not have the experience and/or practice of communicating face-to-face. In addition, teenagers cannot learn to focus for extended periods of time when they are used to being bombarded with so much stimuli with a simple click and the screen changes.

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter In Persuasion. N.p.: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc, 2005. Print.