ISIS | Writing for Foreign Policy Magazine

Good Morning Tributes,

Unfortunately, I am not well today and have decided I need to take some time to stay home and gets some rest. If you had planned to take your Benchmark retake today, I apologize for having to reschedule. Please take time to move your retake to next week.

Since today is a short day, it is the perfect opportunity to practice our writing, and what better topic to work on our score 3/4 levels than ISIS? You may use your laptop to reference your notes/annotations on ISIS, any videos we have watched on ISIS (use your headphones), and to access the rubric. Some students have emails from me. Check your email.


Expectations:

• Work Hard. Be Nice. 
• Even without Ms. Kelly being here, your learning is still important. Use your notes and write a strong, well-crafted response. Use this time to hone the adult skills of explanatory writing, not to chit chat with a teammate.
• Remember to sign-out/ in (clipboard) by doorway when you are given permission to leave for the bathroom—one at a time, 3 minutes out, no backpacks.
• No one should be on youtube/pandora/gaming sites/anything unrelated to this course, etc.
• A sub/TA may address anyone who is not following expectation. If you are able to get back on track, great! If you continue to make poor choices they have the right to move you or send you to the office with a referral. Behavior issues/poor attitudes will not be tolerated.
• The substitute & TAs will email Ms. Kelly with positives & negatives-- which list do you want to be on? :)

Step 1 | Open the Smarter Balance Rubric so you can be sure to fulfill the score 3/4 criteria.

Step 2 | Open A Look at Danger Posed by ISIS in your Google Drive so you can refer to your notes as you write.

If you were absent, you may use your class copy of annotations:

• Period 1
• Period 2
• Period 3
• Period 4

Step 3 |  Write your response on paper. 

• You have the entire period to write. 
• First thing tomorrow we will swap with partners to have our writing scored. 

Imagine you are writing for an academic magazine like Foreign Policy. On a piece of paper, write a score 3/4 response to the following prompt:

ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has been labeled a terrorist organization and in the past three months the U.S. has taken a strong interest in their actions in the Middle East. 

• Explain how ISIS has created a de facto state (secured geographic locations, plans for future territory, the structures it has set up, resources it controls, etc)
• Cite evidence that explains whether ISIS (and/or it's sympathizers) are a threat to the U.S. physically, economically, politically, etc.
• Critique/Justify whether the U.S. should get involved or stay out of the situation. Address the benefits and the drawbacks of whichever point you argue.