Today we tied together four of our Essential Academic Words with our study of The Great Gatsby. The following image was posted on the blog with the following directions:

Today’s exit ticket is to leave a comment in which you Describe the image above,  Explain how this applies to The Great Gatsby and, Determine why you prefer one (the book, the movie) over the other. Be sure you Organize your thoughts in your comment. 

In class we reviewed the precise meaning of each word:

Describe – to report what one observes (sees) or does by illustrating, reporting or representing what is seen. For this example, that means looking at the image and telling us what is seen or observed.

Explain – providing reasons or interpretations for what or of what has been observed by clarifying, demonstrating, or discussing the meaning of (the why, what, or how). For this example, what does the image mean.

Determine – to make a decision or arrive at a conclusion after considering all possible options, perspectives, or results. This may include establishing, identifying, or defining. For this example, which do you personally prefer movies or books.

Even after making these distinctions about what you were being asked to do as an exit ticket, everyone did not get all of their points.  This is important because specifically determining what a test question is asking for will result in how accurate your response is.

You have another exit ticket for Tuesday – To make up any points you lost on Monday’s exit ticket, review your score and comment from Monday’s exit ticket. If you did not score full credit (10 points) leave a comment today that explains specifically what steps you missed in your response from yesterday.  For example, if you only received 3 points you only answered 1/3 of the required comment. You may have jumped right into determining whether you like movies or books best.  If you received 7 points you missed one of the three requirements. You may have explained the image and determined which you prefer but not described the image. Leave a comment on this post fully explaining what you missed in your first response.