MVRHS Library

Kevin McGrath

Journeys to MVRHS

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Some students have traveled great distances to move to Martha’s Vineyard.  They bring with them diverse experiences and memories of schools that are similar in some ways, and vastly different in others.  Friends, Oshantay Waite, Nikol Asenova, and Chanaporn Eksiri have come from Jamaica, Bulgaria, and Thailand.  On April 3rd, 2015, they told their stories. They talked about what led them to move to MV, what it was like where they came from, what they miss, and their hopes and dreams.

Organic food debate

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Links to accompany Freshman Skills classes visiting the MVRHS library this week.

Socrative
When prompted, enter “mvrhs” for the room number

The Deep Web

Source #1
http://www.naturalnews.com/026266_organic_foods_food.html

Source #2
Singer, Peter, and Jim Mason. “Organically Produced Food Improves Human, Animal, and Environmental Health.” Food. Ed. Jan Grover. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Current Controversies. Rpt. from “Why Buy Organic?” The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 15 Apr. 2014

Source #3
“Organic Food.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Source #4
“Organic Foods: Are They Safer? More Nutritious?” Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic, 9 June 2014. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.

Source #$5

What do you think?

Organic Food: Which source is best?

Video Games: What did you find?

Researching life’s big questions

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Research Time! Your goal is to find a “researchable question”, a go-to question that you want to explore.  This is not something you can simply Google the answer to.  It’s interesting and debatable.  Coming up with this question is also one of the trickiest steps in any kind of research.  So, where do you start?

Narrowing your topic

Let’s assume you have a general idea of what you want to find out about.  For example, we’ll start with:

the Civil Rights Movement

How do you narrow it down to something that won’t require a 600 page dissertation? (Actually, this topic fills a whole section of the library).  You’ll need some background information, or what some refer to as working knowledge.  Think of having “working knowledge” as being able to talk about your topic for a full minute without repeating yourself.

A good place to turn for working knowledge is a published overview of the topic.  Don’t turn to a general web search until you know exactly what you’re looking for.  Its also very easy to find published overviews through the library website.  A good starting point is US History in Context, which has an overview of the Civil Rights Movement.

Next: read the article!  And look for areas to narrow your focus.  Is there a particular year you want to look at?  Particular figures or groups?  Let’s use Martin Luther King as an example:

Civil Rights Movement: Martin Luther King

Continue building your working knowledge by reading a biographical overview in Biographies in Context, a collection of published articles.  The entry for Martin Luther King in the Encyclopedia of World Biography.  The article is organized into significant aspects of King’s life, including his assassination.

Let’s focus on that:

Civil Rights Movement: Martin Luther King: Assassination

Researchable Questions

Now that we’ve narrowed it down to a manageable topic, read some other articles (for example in the Gale Virtual Reference Library) to gain multiple perspectives of King’s assassination. Keep an eye out for unknowns, controversies, and debates over the truth, meaning, or interpretation of the event or events at which you are looking.  Along the way, think about what “researchable” questions are out there.

A researchable question is one that has no simple answer. It’s not a “yes“ or “no” question.   The answer should depend on your interpretation of your reading based on evidence.  Someone else might come up with an alternative interpretation.  It’s a debatable question.

One piece of evidence might come from a primary source.  I learned from the article in the Encyclopedia of World Biography that “In Memphis on April 3, King addressed a rally; speaking of threats on his life, he urged followers to continue the nonviolent struggle no matter what happened to him.” However, I also learned from an LA Times article following his assassination riots in hundreds of cities broke out.

This reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend about a book that was published recently about James Brown called The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved the Soul of America .  He was performing in Boston on the night after the King assassination and urged the crowd to be calm.  The point of the book was that James Brown saved Boston from rioting after the assassination.

Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ2PEJGeNHw

So the question is:  Did the influence of James Brown prevent Boston from rioting following the Martin Luther King assassination?

Is it a researchable question?  I think so.  I need to understand the nature of the riots in other cities.  How much influence did King have over his followers?  Who else urged people to riot, and who urged against it?  Was the push for civil rights advanced or deterred by violent protest in this case?

Livie Jacobs: Teaching in Ghana

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http://youtu.be/AYGbGfPEgCw

Never having left the US before or flown alone, Livie went to Ghana for 3 weeks as part of Global Leadership Adventures. The goal of GLA is to expand student views of the world to different cultures. In the mornings, she taught 3rd graders English and Math. In the afternoons and nights she became immersed in the culture of the town, Odumase Krobo, where she was staying. Find out what it’s like to step outside of your comfort zone and do something that you normally would never do!