Using comics to increase writing achievement Essay Example for Free

Using comics to increase writing achievement Essay Abstract This paper will focus on a Classroom Action Research Project performed at an elementary school with a group of seven 5th grade English as a Second Language students. The project involved using cartoon comic strips to both motivate ESL students to write and also to see if a non-traditional approach to teaching writing will increase the student’s writing achievement. Popular newspaper comic strips were used to motivate students and they were required to read it and then answer a set of open-ended questions. Statement of Intent Many students have the ability to be successful writers. The ESL students struggle to write, but when they get motivated they seem to write better. Many ESL students are unmotivated about writing because of language, lack of background knowledge, or the topic is not authentic or interesting. The more the students write the better they will become at it. If ESL students can get motivated to write, they will write more and thus become better writers. Popular newspaper comic strips were used to motivate the 5th grade ESL students to write. Students read popular newspaper comic strips and then answered open-ended questions. Here are the questions that will be answered at the end of this Classroom Action Research Project: 1)Can ESL students get motivated to write? 2)Will a non-traditional approach to writing motivate 5th grade students to write? 3)Could the use of comic strips in writing help increase writing achievement in 5th grade ESL students? Rationale for Research Research into the process of writing has shown it to be a very complicated problem solving process requiring the writer to constantly monitor their progress towards a specific goal. Students that become good writers experience intrinsic as well as extrinsic rewards, but face problems with motivation along the way. Writing requires the individual to pay attention to motivational conditions. The following is a list of the four clusters of conditions that are keys to developing writing motivation: 1)Nurturing functional beliefs about writing. 2)Fostering engagement using authentic writing tasks. 3)Providing a supportive context for writing. 4)Creating a positive emotional environment. The teacher’s views, beliefs, conceptions, and misconceptions are very important in determining the right conditions in most writing contexts. Research is needed to better understand the process of motivation as it relates to writing. Children start writing at an early age by scribbling. The writing process continues from there and proceeds at different paces depending on the child. As writing develops children start forming letters, words and soon sentences. â€Å"They begin to shift away from list-like writing and localized control (e.g., linking to vocabulary used in  the previous sentence, repeating familiar syntactic frames) toward a more goal-directed, strategic approach ( Berninger, Fuller, Whitaker, 1996). Their writing has more topical and the- matic coherence (e.g., Flower et al., 1990), as purpose, planning, and revising play an increasing role. A growing metacognitive capability gives them the potential to shift from a knowledge-telling to a knowledge-transforming approach ( Bereiter Scardamalia, 1987) and to use information about audience, genre, and rhetorical stance to accomplish a variety of writing purposes ( Berninger et al., 1996). â€Å" Highly motivated capable writers that can adapt their writing to changes in audience and topic can only achieve the developmental writing process described above. They can use writing as a means of communication with others. They write the same way they would talk with another people, stress free and with control. In a 1997 National Center for Education Statistics writing assessment shows that 80% of eleventh grade students can write clear and focused responses and less that one third can write clearly enough to show sufficient information to support their claims. 2 % of students can write proficiently enough to show effective responses that have enough information to support details and discussion. Teachers are failing to develop positive beliefs and motivation about writing. Comic strips can be used to motivate and inspire students. For one thing, comics can take away the number one worry that students have about writing today: finding something to write about. Most of the times when you leave it up to the students to write about something, they never know what to write. Every teacher has heard the same thing. â€Å"I don’t know what to write about.† Introducing and discussing comic strips is a great way to motivate and stimulate students about writing. Many students already know the characters from comic strips and this makes the experience less stressful and fun. It also provides the students with kid friendly language and the relationship between the pictures and text makes it perfect for  lower level readers. All these facts put together makes it possible for comic strips to provide the level of motivation and interest that will help students stay focused a bout writing and this will in the long run improve their writing skills. Methodology The study was completed with a group of seven 5th grade ESL students for a period of three months one half hour a week. Starting in the beginning of September and ending at the end of November. This group of ESL students is composed of fluent English speakers that are limited English readers and writers. At the beginning of the study, the students read a short story about ants and then answered an open-ended question. The students were then told to draw a happy, straight,   or sad face depending on their level of frustration and/or stress. This was used as the pretest. At the beginning of the study students were introduced and exposed to newspaper comic strips. They read, discussed, and drew them. Students were exposed to a variety of lessons on the writing process and were required to do one comic strip writing prompt a week. Included in every writing prompt is smiling, straight, or sad face that is drawn by the student in the upper right hand corner of the paper to show their motivation level. A record of the student’s motivational level was kept to measure fluctuation patterns according to the cartoon character used that week. Research Analysis At the beginning of the study the students were told that they would be taking part in a study that would require them to write. Many of them immediately showed signs of stress and much complaining followed. We met once a week for half an hour and they were introduced to a comic strip and  discussions followed. The students then had two days to complete the prompt on their own, including a drawing of a face on the upper right hand corner to show how they felt about it before it was collected. The prompts that were used are from the Comic-Strip Writing Prompts book by Karen Kellaher (2001). During the initial pretest three students drew smiling faces, three drew straight faces and one drew a sad face. Although it seems that the percentage of students that felt good versus the percentage of students that had no emotion at all is the same their reactions during the writing would tell a different story. The students all seemed stressed and bothered with the writing. Most of the students answered the question during the pretest, but all are lacking creativity and emotion to their writing. All the answers came straight from the story. No opinions, personal connections, or point of views were part of anybody’s writing. There were only five students remaining in the group during the last week of the study. One moved and the other one tested out of the ESL program and was no longer available to meet. In the final writing prompt all students drew happy faces. They did seem to be more excited about the writing than in the beginning. This may be due to the social rewards as well as the stress free environment due to the fact that no grades went along with their writing assignments. The following chart shows the before and after motivation and writing results for each student in the group: Motivation BeforeMotivation AfterWriting BeforeWriting After Dayannara V. Below BasicBelow basic Jose V. Below BasicBelow Basic Jeffrey R. ProficientProficient Maria C. BasicBelow Basic Jacqueline A. ProficientBelow Basic * The Chart above shows the beginning and end results of the study. Comprehensive Conclusions and Reflections The study increased the overall motivation of the group, but it did not increase writing achievement and in-fact lowered the writing achievement of two students. The contributing factors associated with the lack of success of this study are as follows: 1)Time frame The group met for half an hour once a week. This was not enough time to effectively influence the writing achievement of these students. Using Comics to Increase 10 2)Reading level – The reading level of these students was not significantly high enough for them to be able to read the comic strip and understand it. Even if they could have understood the comic strip, the prompt questions were too hard to for them to understand. 3)Background knowledge – A student who is asked to write about ice hockey or fishing that has experience it first hand or has been exposed to it will definitely be able to write about it better. Many of the urban kids are asked to write about things that they know absolutely nothing about.  A good example is the time the Reading School District had a district wide writing assessment about snow. The students had to write about a snowy day. Many ESL students had never seen snow. 4)Can’t get the joke – This one is the most important when it comes to comic strips. Most of the students could eventually read what the comic said, but they could not understand the jokes. A good example of this was the comic strip where Garfield says â€Å"Cats have just surpassed dogs as the country’s favorite pets!† Odie the Dog comes hopping by and then Garfield says â€Å"Somehow the victory would have been more satisfying had the competition been stiffer.† The students had no idea what this meant and could not understand it without some explanation. 5) Vocabulary – The students don’t have a sufficient vocabulary to understand comic strips. Although comic strips are written at a lower reading level, some of the vocabulary words that are used are hard for ESL students to understand and some extensive explanations had to be done before they could start writing. Example: â€Å"Had the competition been stiffer.† In closing, the ESL students need a lot of help. They of course need to write as much as possible, but if we work on increasing their reading level and expose them to as many cultural experiences as possible then we can really begin on making them great writers. If the study was to be done again it is suggested that the group meet daily and that there be vocabulary development lessons done to supplement the comic strip writing activities. References Yale University. Retrieved December 11, 2006, from www.yale.edu Web site: http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1980/80.04.02.x.xhtml Tom Janz, T (2006). Newspapers in Education Middle School Writing. Litsite Alaska, Retrieved December 11. 2006, from http://litsite.alaska.edu/workbooks/midnewswrite.html North Carolina State Board of Education, (2006). Making the Grade: Writing Through The Grades. ncpublicschools.org, Retrieved 2006, from http://www.ncpublicschools.org/student_promotion/mtg/fall01.html Brunin, R (2000). Developing Motivation to Write . The Questia online library, 35, Retrieved December 11, 2006, from http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=ose=gglscd=94798356 Kellaher, K (2001). Comic-Strip Writing-Prompts. New York, N.Y.: Scholastic. Parsons, J (1993). Using Comic Books To Teach.. ERIC, Retrieved December 11, 2006, fromhttp://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true_pageLabel=RecordDe tailsERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED363892ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accnoobjectId=0900000b8012cb2a Cohn , N (June 2006). Comixpedia. Retrieved December 11, 2006, from www.comixpedia.com Web site: http://www.comixpedia.com/comic_theory_101_seeing_rhymes

The Impact Of Ethics On The Enron Corporation Essay -- Business Ethics

Ethics is something that is very important to have especially in the business world. Ethics is the unwritten laws or rules defined by human nature; ethics is something people encounter as a child learning the differences between right and wrong. In 2001, Enron was the fifth largest company on the Fortune 500. Enron was also the market leader in energy production, distribution, and trading. However, Enron's unethical accounting practices have left the company in joint chapter 11 bankruptcy. This bankruptcy has caused many problems among many individuals. Enron's employees and retirees are suffering because of the bankruptcy. Wall Street and investors have taken a major downturn do to the company's unethical practices. Enron's competitors and the industry have also both been affected by the bankruptcy. The U.S. economy took a sudden downturn for the worse, do to just this one company's unethical behavior. Employees Ethical decisions are guided by the underlying values of the individual. "Values are principles of conduct such as caring, honesty, keeping of promises, pursuit of excellence, loyalty, fairness, integrity, respect for others, and responsible citizenship" (Bateman, 2004). Numerous employees lost their jobs and retirement funds because of Enron's bankruptcy situation. While top executives were cashing in their stock options, knowing the company was going to fall, employees and shareholders were the ones who would take the biggest hit. One of Enron's principles was to offer their employees fair compensation through wages and other benefits; yet that did not end up being the case. While executives were selling their stock options, employees were going to be losing the money in their 401K policies since most of the emplo... ...volume (9), p. 29. Retrieved September 20, 2005, from Proquest database. Enron's Missed Opportunity. Retrieved September 19, 2005 from, http://brie.berkeley.edu/~briewww/publications/WP152.pdf Flood, M. (2005, April 26). The Fall of Enron. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 19, 2005 from http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/special/enron/broadband/3153199 Kadlec, Daniel. (2002, January 13) Enron: Who's Accountable? Retrieved on September 23, 2005, from http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,193520,00.html Lashinsky, A. (2001, July 13) Enron's Own Dot-Com Bubble Finally Popped. The Street. Retrieved September 19, 2005 from http://www.thestreet.com/comment/siliconstreet/1489696.html Malveaux, J., (2002). Enron serves as wake-up call. Retrieved on September 20, 2005 from http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002/01/25/ncguest1.htm

The effect of a net economy

In order to arrive at a better understanding of what a net-economy is and how it stresses the relevance of software, it is first important to discuss the concept of a net-economy.   Net-economy is basically defined as a digital network that allows for the transfer of information from one source to another.This transfer has a value that then creates its own economy that takes advantage of the different electronic platforms that exist between parties.   It is also an economy that takes advantage of the development of information technology.   This brief discourse shall attempt to highlight the relevance of software in this growing economy and how it has changed the way by which business is conducted by shifting from people based focus to software dependent methods.The effect of a net economy can be seen clearly through the impact that the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry has had on certain economies.The reason for this is that BPOs have opened up the world markets and has shown that, according to Friedman, there really is a flat world that allows the factors of production, in this instance information, to flow from one part of the world to another.   In his book entitled The Flat World, Friedman has cited the information exchange and the net-economy as one of the major forces that is currently changing the way businesses are run on a global level.This recognition of the net-economy has now stressed the importance of software to its success.   As Friedman elaborates, the impact of this is that software or the means through which information is transferred becomes more important than the people.The success of the net-economy is now dependent on the speed and velocity by which information can be processed from the source to the market.   Presently, most of the companies that are based in 1st World Countries that are engaged in IT require specialized talent, which can be found in other developing countries, in order to function.The depletion of talented individuals and workers is now forcing these companies to search for the required technical assistance in other talent rich countries located outside of the developed countries such the United States, such as India and China.   Without software, there is no way by which this information or talent can be accessed, it becomes increasingly important, therefore, to ensure that there is enough software to support the net-economy.The main contribution or impact that software has had with regard to the economic aspect is that the net-economy has greatly increased the relative wages that individuals now receive with those engaged in the IT sector earning relatively more in the present than ever.The salary range for programmers in other countries is significantly lower than that of most developed countries with a higher standard of living and therefore even by relocating the entire business process to other countries and factoring in the movement costs and expenses, the companies that resort to outsourcing still save more than they would if they chose to continue all business operations in the developed countries.This means that people as a cost of doing business is a factor that can be changed and is now variable.   This also signifies that software development is quite integral to this process because it allows businesses to relocate the variable factors without a decrease in productivity.In a very serious, competitive environment, companies have to concentrate on their core competency and they want to outsource everything and reduce cost and therefore the world is seeing the trend toward offshore outsourcing increasing.As technology continues to improve and the business world becomes more and more competitive, the growing role of a net-economy becomes crucial.   Yet in order for the net-economy to take full advantage of the situation it needs to lay the infrastructure for such which lies in the information technology development and software.The prom ise of increased velocity for information transfer between business units and lower costs can only be achieved with the establishment and creation of this technology backbone.   Therefore, while people, as a business resource, are important, in a net-economy the key to survival and to remaining competitive lies in the software.

The History of Steam Engines

Before the invention of the gasoline-powered engine, mechanical transportation was fueled by steam. In fact, the concept of a steam engine pre-dates modern engines by a couple thousand years as mathametician and engineer Heron of Alexandria, who lived in Roman Egypt during the first century, was the first to describe a rudimentary version he named the Aeolipile.   Along the way, a number of leading scientists who toyed with the idea of using the force generated by heating water to power a machine of some sort. One of them was none other than Leonardo Da Vinci who drew up designs for a steam powered cannon called the Architonnerre sometime during the 15th century. A basic steam turbine was also detailed in papers written by the Egyptian astronomer, philosopher and engineer  Taqi ad-Din  in 1551.  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, the real groundwork for the development of a  practical, working motor didnt come about until the mid-1600s. It was during this century that several inventors were able to develop and test water pumps as well as piston systems that would pave the way for the commercial steam engine. From that point, the commercial steam engine was then made possible by the efforts of three important figures. Thomas Savery (1650-1715) Thomas Savery was an English military engineer and inventor. In 1698, he patented the first crude  steam engine  based on Denis Papins Digester or pressure cooker of 1679. Savery had been working on solving the problem of pumping water out of coal mines when he came up with an idea for an engine powered by steam. His machine consisted of a closed vessel filled with water in which steam under pressure was introduced. This forced the water upwards and out of the mine shaft. A cold water sprinkler was then used to condense the steam. This created a vacuum which sucked more water out of the mine shaft through a bottom valve. Thomas Savery later worked with Thomas Newcomen on the atmospheric steam engine. Among Saverys other inventions was an  odometer  for ships, a device that measured distance traveled. To learn more about Thomas Savery the inventor, check out his biography.  Ive also written a description of Savery’s crude steam engine.   Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729) Thomas Newcomen was an English blacksmith who invented the atmospheric steam engine. The invention was an improvement over Thomas Slaverys previous design. The Newcomen steam engine used the force of atmospheric pressure to do the work. This process begins with the engine pumping steam into a cylinder. The steam was then condensed by cold water, which created a vacuum on the inside of the cylinder. The resulting atmospheric pressure operated a piston, creating downward strokes. With Newcomens enginee, the intensity of pressure was not limited by the pressure of the steam, a departure from what Thomas Savery had patented in 1698. In 1712, Thomas Newcomen, together with John Calley, built their first engine on top of a water filled mine shaft and used it to pump water out of the mine. The Newcomen engine was the predecessor to the Watt engine and it was one of the most interesting pieces of technology developed during the 1700s. To learn more about Thomas Newcomen and his steam engine, check out this biography. Photos and a diagram of Newcomen’s steam engine can be found at Niagara college’s professor Mark Csele’s website. James Watt (1736-1819) Born in Greenock, James Watt was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer who was renowned for the improvements he made to the steam engine. While working for the University of Glasgow in 1765, Watt was assigned the task of repairing a Newcomen engine that was deemed inefficient but the best steam engine of its time. That started the inventor working on several improvements to Newcomens design. The most notable improvement was Watts 1769 patent for a separate condenser connected to a cylinder by a valve. Unlike Newcomens engine, Watts design had a condenser that could be cool while the cylinder was hot. Eventually Watts engine would become the  dominant design  for all modern steam engines and helped bring about the  industrial revolution. A unit of power called the Watt was named after James Watt. the Watt symbol is W, and it is equal to 1/746 of a horsepower, or one volt times one amp.