Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Lecture 4: Summary Writing

Outline:
Review of Chapter 6
Pre-Reading Activity
Summary Activity
Summary Activity
Homework











Some tips to remember when you need to write a summary:

  1. Look for a picture – label it – writing clarifies thoughts
  2. So, if that’s the picture, what might you read about in the selection?
  3. Read the first sentence
  4. Read the last sentence: highlight similar words, that’s the main idea of the paragraph
  5. That’s also the topic of the paragraph/selection
  6. Read the first and last sentence: one might answer the other

Little Bear Informational Paragraph:

The Little Bear is a vital, year-round train in Northern Ontario. It connects the town of Cochrane in the boreal forests with Moosonee, 310 kilometres north in the James Bay Lowlands. It is a “mixed train” – one that carries both passengers and freight. During the morning, in Cochrane, the crew loads the box cars with things people in Southern Ontario take for granted (fresh fruits, vegetables and meats, cry goods, frozen foods, mail). Then, flat cars are connected behind the loaded box cars. These flat cars carry everything from heavy construction equipment to entire pre-built fabricated houses. Once people have boarded the passenger cars, the Little Bear heads north. It is one of the last “flag stop” trains in Canada. This means the train will stop anywhere along the route to let people on and off. It is common for the Little Bear to stop for canoe tripping parties at the major rivers – the Missinaibi, Mattagami or Kwataboahegan. Adventurers from all over the world match their trips on these rivers with the Little Bear’s schedule. In summer, the train pulls a special flat car with racks for transporting canoes. The famous Polar bear Express carries tourists over the same route during the summer months, but the Little Bear is the all-season working train for this northern route.





    Blog Comment - Summary Test Practise:
    Write a two paragraph summary of “Kiddy Thinks”
    Include at least two quotations and one paraphrase
    Be sure that this summary is in your own words and differs from the example in Chapter 6 (75)
    Include a link to an image that helps summarise the main ideas


    Homework:
    Add your practise summary of “Kiddy Thinks” to the blog by 3:00pm Friday
    Be ready to write summary test 15%
    Read Chapter 11 and “Health Canada Inadvertently Discloses Facts Planned Parenthood Would Like to Suppress” (243)

    16 comments:

    1. Lecture 4: Essay Summary Chris Pollard

      In the essay Gopnik, Alison. “Kiddy thinks”, Essay Writing.(Guardian Weekly, February 3-9, 2000). Alison reveals to the reader a new way to think about early childhood development. Instead of believing that children are merely blank slates or are the exact opposite of adults, she suggests a more ‘scientific’ way to look at young children. She explains that young children, between ages of 1-4, learn about their surroundings the same way that a scientist would. “They think, observe, formulate theories, make predictions, and do experiments”(270). “In the past 30 years we have learned more about what young children know and how they learn than we did in the preceding 2,500 years.”(269). As Alison suggests, this is a very radical way of conceiving childhood development.
      She describes several experiments done by developmental scientists to show how children develop. She describes a scenario where a group of three year olds are shown an empty box of chocolates filled with pencils. When asked what they thought was inside the box, the three year olds said that chocolates would be inside the box, but when the lid was removed they were shocked to find out that pencils were in the box. Then when asked what their fellow student would say was n the box, all the three year olds said that their friend would say pencils where in the box. There is a good chance that their friend would say that chocolates would be in the box, just like the rest of them, but they assume that he would know the outcome of the trick even though he has never seen the trick before. All the evidence put forth in the essay by Alison should open peoples eyes to a new way of thinking about early childhood development.

      http://www.flickr.com/photos/flickrdave/2589025350/

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    2. Lecture 4: Essay Summary Sarah Coates

      In "Kiddy Thinks", Alison Gopnik stresses the important role childcare plays in the psychological development of toddlers. Gopnik uses personal experience to pique the reader's interest, then presents her own research on how children develop. Her research focuses on children from newborns, through to the age of about four. The evidence gathered shows that babies are born with knowledge, and use scientific strategy to learn and theorize.

      The essay covers many stages of early psychological development. Newborns recognize that other people's faces are “like their own face” (270), and at nine months, infants are capable of recognizing emotion, while two-year olds begin to explore and experiment with the conflicting desires of humans. Gopnik's main point is that children analyze things the same way adults do, and puts forward that adults are seemingly hard wired to unconsciously teach children the things essential to their development. Gopnik ends the essay telling us that “Most parents face agonizing dilemmas as they balance jobs and children. If we really want babies to learn, we should ditch the videotapes and flashcards and work for paid parental leave, flexible work arrangements, and publicly supported, high-quality childcare.” (273) No remarkable discoveries are uncovered in Gopnik's essay, but the significance of childcare on psychological development is emphasized as something that deserves more attention than educational toys.


      http://www.am.dodea.edu/benning/Stowers/Images/4%20class%20pages/Child_Scientist.jpg

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    3. Lecture 4: Essay Summary

      In Alison Gopnik’s essay “Kiddy Thinks” she suggests to the reader a new perspective on how to view early childhood development. She states that in the past 30 years we learned more about children than in the preceding 2,500 years. Our view on children was the opposite of that of adults but Gopnik seems to affirm a more scientific approach for early childhood development of children. She briefly describes a scientific proposition to childhood development and says that there are three elements to that picture. She emphasizes that “children know a great deal from the moment they are born, they are born with extremely powerful learning abilities and most adults are programmed to teach them what they need to know” (269).
      Gopnik explores the major stages of childhood development beginning from a nine month old baby to about the age of four. Along with each age group she gives a rather scientific example with a personal approach. She suggests that “newborns can imitate facial expressions and recognise that faces are like their own face” (270) and at nine months “babies can tell the difference between expressions of happiness, sadness and anger” (270). Alison’s essay is implying that “adults appear to be programmed to unconsciously teach babies and young children just the things they need to know” (269). The development of a child is important and with the help and attention of adults children will be able to discover and learn a whole lot more.


      http://www.signaturesgallery.com/uploads/gallery/large.Dani%20small.jpg

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    4. In the essay "Kiddy Thinks", written by Alison Gopnik, she discusses the way in which babies and toddlers learn and develop over the first few years. She explains that when babies are born they are aware that humans significant to them in some way. She writes that "a baby as little as 42 minutes old can imitate facial expressions of humans". She also presents her own findings and explains that babies are very quick learners and that they learn by observation and experimentation.

      Through out the essay she draws similarities between the way babies learn and the way scientists learn. Children just like scientists form theories and test them. When they realize that they are wrong, they learn and adjust. She writes "In "mistaken belief" experiments, simply telling children the right answer makes no difference. Like scientists, children at first resist counter-evidence." But even though children at first resist the opposing thought, they eventually learn from it. Throughout this essay the main point is to reiterate the importance of early childhood development and the impact that adults and surroundings of a child have on their early learning.

      http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/ea/east-coast-nursery-taf-toys-curiosity-cube.jpg

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    5. In the essay "Kiddy Thinks", written By Alison Gopnik, she explain the developmental stages of a new born and through out the first year. Past studies have shown a significant change in the way we know how children learn and develop, it been proven that the research done in the last few years have made a more progress then researcher have in the past 2,500 years.
      Evidence from such research has proven that new borns are born with a great deal of knowledge and processing mechanisms to aid them for the future.
      Throughout this essay, scientist's are making the connection that children learn a great deal within the first few hours of being born and how that process never stops "Newborn babies (youngest tested was only 42 minutes old) can imitate facial expressions." With having no experience of the external world,young babies can recognize natural movements of their parents. Despite all the research, there is much more we need to learn about human development,role modeling and the knowledge that newborns already are born with.

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    6. Lecture 4: Essay Summary
      Gavin Bradley

      In Alison Gopnik’s essay “Kiddy Thinks” she discusses how infants are able to learn at such a young age, and how scientists are able to study this process. Gopnik uses her own experiences to give a personal feel to the essay, however, she also offers scientific facts that researchers have worked on. The age in which the babies are researched at is anywhere from a newborn to around the age of 4. This way, scientists are able to provide a broad conclusion and have variety in their outcomes. Researchers have found that as a baby grows, they quickly learn to do things such as imitate faces, and will take their parents advice as they experiment with the idea of choice.

      As the essay moves along, Gopnik explains how babies at the age of one, are dependent upon their parents. In this quote, she exclaims this idea, "For instance, an adult can look in two boxes. She looks into one with an expression of joy and into the other with disgust. The baby will happily reach into the box that made her happy, but won't touch the box that disgusted her. The baby has discovered that its initial emotional rapport with other people extends to joint attitudes towards the world." (270). As a baby grows older, they are still dependent of their parents, however, their knowledge broadens. For example, Gopnik uses two year olds to explain their growth, "The terrible twos reflect a clash between children's need to understand other people and their need to live happily with them. If the child is a budding scientist, we parents are the laboratory rats." (271). Gopnik goes on to suggest that people have coped to gain a lot of knowledge as a result of parents from every generation trying hard to give love, and be concerned for infants. If people want to maintain this idea of teaching children, there should be constant attention to them, and therefore flexible work arrangements and publicly supported child-care should be things to consider for the future.

      http://www.aolcdn.com/channels/08/05/47d920b5-0024b-06e52-400cb8e1

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    7. Lecture 4: Kiddy Thinks Summary

      In the essay, "Kiddy Thinks," (Guardian Weekly, February 3-9, 2000)co-written by Alison Gopnik, the beginning stages of a newborn, up to and including age four's ability to think and do are brought to attention. Through simple testing and certain experimental activities, newborns have proved to imitate facial expressions; although, ".. no mirrors in the womb... these tiny babies must somehow already understand the similarity between their own internal feeling and the external face they see."(270) Adults, by nature, assist children in attaining the basics and the complexities of their surroundings in everyday life without realizing it.

      During the whole of the essay, Alison goes to solve the anatomy behind the way a baby determines, and the way researchers and scientists determine. "Today, scientists have only recently begun to appreciate just how much even the youngest babies know-and how much and how quickly they learn." (269) There is something similar between a baby and a scientist; they both gather, behold, develop concepts, assemble estimates and bring about an analysis. Although scientists each have their own specialization, babies learn critical everyday things through observing and doing; a major progression since birth. From the very beginning of the essay, Gopnik expresses that learning begins the instant a baby is born; and it is just as important, if not more important that a baby learns the basics of life throughout its childhood from it's surroundings, as a scientist doing research for the wonders of the world. Adults, "appearing to be 'programmed' to unconsciously teach babies and young children just the things they need to know," (269) is of primary importance to early childhood advancements and developments and is a necessity to being brought into the world.

      http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xc/85255603.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=5047FA587DE1CADE98E3C4DE8AE01522846826E7213D22B3367F1759A9A6EA57

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    8. Kiddy Thinks Summary
      Gopnik Alison: Essay Writing for Canadian Students (Canada, Toronto, Ontario: Pearson, 2008)
      Alison main idea of the passage is that people thinking and filling differently than others. Humans sees other people faces, emotions, beliefs like there are, but sometimes it can be different; in the same way eighteen months old baby’s observed the world. For year’s scientist watch how adults are different from the children, and discovered that children think more rationally and emotionally than adults do. Children born with extremely great learning abilities which are helping them easy to remember everything, what they need to know from the adults. More over, adults are not pain attention to the dog’s cats and people emotions they are more considering about the science, children are completely opposite, they interesting in everything new in their lives. Also, children recognize that they have same attitude and emotions towards the objects that adults have, but more disturbing about it.
      By the time kids about one – and- a half they start to be fascinated because sees difference between the people. Many experiments showed that children at eighteen months old begin to understand the differences in requirements, and that they have to get alone and understand others in order to be happy. Next, children understand that they have made wrong predictions and have mistaken beliefs, so they look’s at adults behavior and understand what they need to do to make correct chooses. Kids learn through the time with the care and attention from the adults. In the same way adults learn more after the time throughout life. Humans put a big effort into the children development, which gives us opportunity to develop children from the beginning of his life. On other hand adults should not put to much pressure on kids and give them more time to make them be comfortable.
      In conclusion, adults must to understand that a child sees and recognize this world differently and want care and attention from his parents.

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    9. Lecture 4: Essay Summary
      Amelia Terlecki

      In her essay "Kiddy Thinks" on mental development, Alison Gopnik outlines the learning process of a baby's first few years of life. Alison successfully describes the major stages of change in mindset in a baby's development. She illustrates how infants follow a similar process to scientists, this including strategies of hypothesizing experiments to discover different outcomes. The initial stage of thinking ability is apparent from the moment a baby is born - they are naturally programmed to "understand the similarity between their own internal feeling... and the external face they see" (270). By the time babies are nine months they are able to differentiate between facial expressions of mood, and by twelve months they have "discovered that [their] initial emotional rapport with other people extends to joint attitudes towards the world" (270). At eighteen months, babies realize that people can have different reactions and desires other than their own, and so by age two, they begin to excessively experiment with this concept. Over the following year, toddlers learn about visual perception, and finally, by age three, they understand that they see differently than others.

      Alison informs and explains about these crucial stages through experiences she has encountered in her two most important roles in life: being a mother and a developmental psychologist. She analyzes everyday life situations that most people can relate to, such as a child in their "terrible twos" pulling on a lamp cord while deliberately looking you in the eye. Through these relatable experiences, the reader tries to gain a better understanding of the scientific perspective of a child's everyday psychology.

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    10. Lecture 4: Essay Summary

      Through much research, Alison Gopnik, author of "Kiddy Thinks" reveals interesting facts about the development of infants and young children. How for so many years people have percieved babies as "blank states", incapable of reasonable thought, unable to develop personality and experience without age. This piece of writing begs to differ.

      Alison herself used experimentation and observation to understand the way children think. How they view what and who is around them and what they gather from their surroundings. They are far more observant than people expect them to be, for instance, when holding an experiment where a woman looked into two seperate boxes, she looked at one with disgust and the other with joy. In response to this, the child who had been watching, went over to the box that made the woman happy, and completely avoided the other. Which leads to the understanding that nearly everything we, as adults do effects children greatly, "if the child is a budding scientist, we parents are the labratory rats" (pg. 271). Providing many examples, from actual scientific research to her own experience with children, Alison tries to provide some more insight for those around babies and young children, and taking extra care when we are around them.

      Image (last one on the right):
      http://revelationart.net/gallery/page11.html

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    11. Lecture 4: Essay Summary Justin Wiesinger

      In Alison Goplink’s Essay entitled “Kiddy Thinks”, she overviews a new way of thinking about the importance of childhood mental development. The breakthrough in the science of infant mental thinking has only been tapped into in the past several years. It is conclusive that adults do not give infants the mental credit that they actually deserve. Instead of perceiving the idea that children are born with a clean mental slate, Alison explains: “children know a great deal, literally from the moment they are born.” (269) She goes on to say that babies are born with the ability to recognize the human figure. She explores a major problem with the way adults bring up their children. The problem she expresses is with only teaching children the things that they need to know.
      Alison expresses several important scenarios that she experienced during her career of childhood psychology that concretely establishes her theory of infantile coherence and mental sophistication. A major point that Goplink communicates is the idea that children are able to identify, interpret, and problem solve. The author explains that “…where scientists focus their attention on distant stars and invisible microbes, babies concentrate on everyday things: blocks, pet dogs, words, and most important: Mum and Dad…” (270) The author’s main goal of the essay is to encourage adult readers to play a larger role in their child’s early development, so that these babies will have a rewarding childhood, filled with many unique experiences.

      Picture Link:
      http://baby.more4kids.info/uploads/Image/babies-playing.jpg

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    12. See Picture Link:

      http://praisebaby.com/system/application/assets/images/about_page_baby.jpg

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    13. Lecture 4: Essay Summary, Shelby Welch

      In the essay “Kiddy Thinks” Alison Gopnick examines the development of how children learn about life at different ages and how they compare to the learning strategies of adult scientists. She explains how “scientists have only recently begun to appreciate just how much even the youngest babies know- and how much and how quickly they learn.” (269) Theories such as children already know a great deal from the day they are born, that they are already equipped with very high learning abilities or “adults are “programmed” to unconsciously teach babies and young children just the things they need to know” (269) have been made to predict how these children know so much from such an early age. Gopnick also made the connect of how similar children and scientists think, observe, make predictions and do experiments, then later alter their theories when other counter-evidence emerges. She was also impressed as to how quickly babies are able to mirror and develop facial and emotional connections to other people in such a short time of their lives. That children are able to learn from watching other peoples expressions and reactions. When children are about one year old Gopnick discovered that this was the time that they started derailing from seeing everyones opinions as the same and realizing how different people really are from one another. She continues this thought through explaining how children around the age of two years old will explore their opinions through watching adults reactions to their actions whether good or bad. When children start transitioning to the age of three they start learning about visual perception and how not everything appears as it seems. That children, like scientists will accept this evidence in a new light and consider possibilities as to why this is. Gopnick also considers that adults do play a role in teaching children about life. That through the care of looking after a child the child learns about everyday practices. She says that “anyone who cares for small children and is sensitive to what interests them can teach them what they need to know.” (272)

      http://images.meredith.com/parents/images/2008/01/ss_FAN2012910.jpg

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    14. In the essay “Kiddy Thinks” written by Alison Gopnik, we are introduced to a scientific understanding and detail on children’s mental growth, and how important their ability to learn is. Gopnik goes into detail involving the different ages of childhood, from as early as 42 minutes old, to nine months, to up until four years old. Gopnik lists occurrences from past experiences working with children, and even with her own toddler. At first, when a baby is born, they know that they are just like adults. By nine months, babies understand different emotions, and by one year they “know how they should feel about something by seeing how others feel” (270). Upon reaching eighteens months, babies begin to notice the contrast between other people’s reactions than their own, while at two years of age they begin to experiment with this knowledge. Finally, the toddlers at age three they realize what they see if different from what an adult might see.

      Gopnik has shown us that babies are just like little scientists by using examples and past experiences, and also stating that “they think, observe, formulate theories, make predictions, and do experiments” (270). Scientists have just started to understand just what really goes on in the mind of an infant. And introduce new insight to this picture. From birth babies know a large amount, their learning abilities let them soak up a lot of information, and finally are taught by adults about what they need to know. Gopnik suggests that parents should spend less time giving educational toys to their children, and more time supporting childcare significance.

      http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nIWiKIscZJY/SX-YfL0KxTI/AAAAAAAABqM/wPhAEVMTFGU/s400/smart-baby1.jpg

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    15. Oumnia Benkaddour & Reema El GhazawiFebruary 9, 2010 at 11:36 AM

      Lecture 6 Oumnia Benkaddour & Reema El-Ghazawi

      -Schobas believes that Davis used words such as “Horrifying and shocking a little to freely” (pg337). He believes that fear-mongering is not the answer to this issue. “When it does happen, it will be triggered by genetic recombination of a human virus with one of hundreds of candidate avian viruses, maybe H5N1 but most likely not” (pg338), in a way, he is reassuring the reader, explaining that while it is an issue, it should be taken a little more lightly. He reassures the reader that we shouldn’t be worried about this outbreak unless we are with something that will closely affect us through the following quote; “H5N1 is a bad disease for chickens and a significant concern for people who work or live closely with infected birds. It is not a threat to the rest of us.” (pg338)

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    16. Best essay writing service yahoo answers site:answers.yahoo.com I am impressed. I don't think Ive met anyone who knows as much about this subject as you do. You are truly well informed and very intelligent. You wrote something that people could understand and made the subject intriguing for everyone. Really, great blog you have got here.

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