Plagiarism Checker

If you want to try for plagiarism, this site looks to be a good, free plagiarism checker.  (Thanks to Cody W. for finding it.)

http://smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker/

You want to have a high percentage of unique content. 

Researching Skills: Helpful Tips

We discussed in class today the importance of good research skills.  Researching well will help you write a better paper.  Hopefully we now know more about plagiarism and understand how to properly cite and paraphrase sources.

Remember the importance of evaluating websites.  Look for:

• a bibliography
• author
• a credible source (like a university)
• keep in mind when it was last updated

We also discussed academic vs. non-academic sources.  Academic sources are things like journals that have been peer-reviewed.  While Wikipedia can be a good starting point, keep in mind it is open-source and should not be used in your paper.  Go to the original source for information.  Here are a couple of sources for finding journal articles: http://www.doaj.org/ and http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/dean/peer_reviewed.htm  You can also go on the library wiki site http://libertyhslibrary.wikispaces.com/Before+you+go+a-Googlen%27 and try the Gale search engine, specifically the Criminal Justice one.  

And maybe one of your best discoveries today for this paper, Google Scholar.

Remember to keep a list of your sources linked to your notes.  General formatting guidelines for APA can be found here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/  Remember that Word can do citations and keep a bibliography for you.  

If you don't have Word on your computer, OpenOffice is an open-source free word processing program. 

Research Skills: Plagiarism Activity

As we begin work on our Supreme Court Analysis Papers, we are going to start by learning more about plagiarism.  

1. First go to this website:  http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/plagiarism/ Be sure to click on the red boxes to answer the questions on find out more information.
2. Next check out this PowerPoint on plagiarism.  http://www.lycoming.edu/library/instruction/tutorials/plagiarism.aspx
3. Now go to this site http://www.lycoming.edu/library/instruction/tutorials/plagiarismGame.aspx and play the game.  When you finish, take a screen shot.  Paste it in Word and under the picture tell me 5 things you learned about plagiarism today.  This will be graded.  If you do not know how to take a screenshot, there are directions on the Dropbox site, called, “to save a screenshot” in the AP Gov folder. Also directions on http://take-a-screenshot.org/
4. Finally upload the document from Word with your screenshot and 5 things you learned onto dropbox.  Directions for uploading on dropbox can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/help/90/en (scroll down for the on the website directions).

Go to www.dropbox.com

Username: cgdelong@bedford.k12.va.us
Password: ilovegov
Folder: AP Gov, then Plagiarism Activity 

Afterwards, you can research court cases.  Narrow down to the ones you are interested in.  You could start here:  http://www.streetlaw.org/en/Landmark/Cases

Gerrymandering

Go to the following website: http://www.redistrictinggame.org/index.php?pg=game

Your task is to complete as many missions as you can correctly by the end of class.  Start basic and if you complete all the missions, then start over on advanced.  At the end of each mission, take a snapshot of the screen, past in Word and save in dropbox at the end of class. Hit the Ctrl and Print Screen buttons at the same time.  This takes a snapshot.  Then go to Word and hit Ctrl-V

www.dropbox.com
username: cgdelong@bedford.k12.va.us
password: ilovegov

Congressional Committees

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/committees/
http://www.house.gov/committees/
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/committees/d_three_sections_with_teasers/committees_home.htm
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/LegislativeData.php?&n=Reports&c=111
Current legislation in Senate: http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/g_three_sections_with_teasers/legislative_home.htm
Current legislation in House: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php
All bills currently in Congress: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/all

• My e-mail cgdelong@bedford.k12.va.us
• Go to www.dropbox.com and login with my email and the password is "ilovegov".
• Save your work on dropbox.  You'll have to upload your document.  Prezi presentations can be emailed to me.
• The review your classmates work.  The document to review is called "Review".

Don't forget citations! www.easybib.com

Background on committees:
http://www.polisci.ccsu.edu/trieb/Cong-3.html
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/6c.asp
http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/congressional-committees-and-legislative-process#sect-preparation

Electoral College Map

Create your own Electoral College map here...
http://electoralmap.net/2012/myPrediction.php
OR here to get tally numbers...
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/calculator.html

Links for the Election Prediction Project

Here are some great links for the Elections Prediction Project:
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2012/
http://www.issues2000.org/default.htm
http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/electoral-map - This one is on the swing states
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/senate/2012_elections_senate_map.html - This deals with the hotly contested seats in the Senate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/in-massachusetts-senate-race-warren-and-brown-take-off-the-gloves/2012/09/24/e63a985c-0669-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_story.html - Deals with Senate race in Massachusetts
http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/ratings/house - This one deals with hot races in the House of Representatives
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/22/university-of-colorado-pr_n_1822933.html - A prediction favoring Romney
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/wacky-ways-predict-presidential-election/story?id=17293644#.UGIzv7JlRcQ - Funny unscientific ways of predicting election winners
http://www.gallup.com/poll/156914/americans-predict-obama-win-2012-election.aspx - Gallup Poll supporting an Obama win

This is just the top of the iceberg folks!

The Wonderful World of Dropbox

Join the wonderful world of dropbox!  It functions like cloud player or think of it as an online flash drive.  You can link it to your computer or simple go to the website.  You can join through here http://db.tt/td0OouG or just go to www.dropbox.com and sign up!

LHS Webpage

Here is the correct link to my page on the LHS website:
http://bedfordlhs.sharpschool.net/our_staff_/social_studies/crystal_de_long/

Making your life easier...

Here is a simple, fast and easy way to create a bibliography for all of your assignments. Check out http://www.easybib.com/