User:PrairieKid/Apodtion

Welcome! Happy to have you as my adoptee. So, I am going to start by writing out lessons for you to do. They should have an intro. a few instructions and a few assignments. You can take them at your own pace, and I will stay updated. If you have any extra questions, please let me know. Please complete all assignments on the page I made for you. (That's here for you Yoshi.) Let's get started.

Lesson 1: Who am I?

I want to start by making sure you entirely understand everything you can do on Wikipedia. So this lesson is to familiarize yourself with the website. I want you to go to your page and, under the sentence I already wrote, make a level 2 header. (Level 2 headers are used in all articles. In fact, it is the header at the top describing "Lesson 1: Where am I?") Title that header "Lesson 1: Where Am I?" and begin the assignment.

Assignment:

Under the Level 2 header (use 2 equal signs at each side of the title), write down a paragraph about you in proper Wiki format. I want you to bold the parts that are important to you and italicize the parts you want to emphasize. (There are shortcuts at the top of the editing window, or you can use 2 's surrounding italicized content and 3's around bold content.) The paragraph should just be a way for me to know a little more about you. How old are you? Where do you live? Why did you start editing? If you don't feel comfortable sharing something, I completely understand. The paragraph is just to get you familiar with Wikipedia. But- here's the twist. I want you to write it in 3rd person. Write it just like a Wikipedia article. We'll be slowly building on this throughout the process and going back to it. For now, I'd like you to include a few facts. (For example, if you talk about your home city of New York, New York, add that it is the largest city in the US.) Add citations to the article for all of those facts. Add some links using brackets to other articles on Wikipedia. Make it look purty. If you feel like adding more, please do. I'll give you tips for it and make sure it follows Wikipedia format.

Enjoy. I will add more lessons as we go. PrairieKid (talk) 18:53, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

There you go. You can check it to make sure it's fine. Thanks! Yoshi24517 02:24, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

I'm sorry. I am at a Speech and Debate tournament all day today. (I go Friday nights from 3-8 and Saturdays 10-7.) It's about 9:00am here and I am going to be leaving soon, so I will have to make this brief but I will add more later and we will be continuing to work on this. A few things to note:

The title of an article is (almost) always in bold at its first mention. Sometimes, generally with abstract things, it becomes a bit complicated to make it sound good but there is generally something bolded. So, Yoshi24517 should be bolded.
I wanted to try to make some citations. How about citing the fact that California has the most people of any state. I would also suggest saying "most populous"- the prose, meaning how we write articles, is a bit different on Wikipedia than in your English class and in conversation. "Most Populous state" sounds a little less floppy to me.
Instead of saying "he is 14 years old", how about adding a birthdate at the beginning, which is generally the place we put it. "Yoshi24517 (born 1999)..."
I'd suggest the first sentence starts out with a small description of who you are. Perhaps, "Yoshi24517 (born 1999) is a Wikipedia editor residing in California, the largest state by population..." That way, any one reading it will instantly know what you do, regardless of if they have ever heard of you.
I'd like to see a little more. Maybe link to where in CA you live (you are free to pick a random area, if you are or your parents are not comfortable with you saying where you live). I'll set a goal for you- how about 5 goof links to other articles, 3 citations and maybe another 3 sentences.

Good work so far. I like Minecraft a lot too and I'm from Palmdale, California. Never played Clash of Clans. Maybe I'll give it a try. It is nice to meet another younger editor and you seem like someone who can really contribute to the encyclopedia. If I'm not dying of exhaustion (15 hours of debate/driving in 2 days is a LOT of work), I'll look it over again tonight. Otherwise, it will be first thing tomorrow. Have a good weekend! PrairieKid (talk) 17:06, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

I'm sorry, my parents won't let me do that. Talking about who I am. We'll just have to move on to the next lesson. Sorry. Yoshi24517 18:32, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

Well, can you add a little about California or video games as a whole. It doesn't have to be about yourself.

And- hello to your parents. Please, let them look over my user page. I'm a 15 year old high school junior from the middle of SW WA who works part-time as a daycare teacher. If they have any questions (or might consider editing), have them let me know.

Either way, I'll begin writing your second lesson shortly. PrairieKid (talk) 18:30, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

Ok then. Yoshi24517 22:02, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

There, deleted stuff about me. Yoshi24517 03:31, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

@PrairieKid: All that's there is the California thing. Would you like to move on now since I can't talk about myself? Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 03:16, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Hello, are you there? If not I will ask for a different mentor. Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 16:36, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

OH! I'm sorry! I thought you meant in your posts above you couldn't do this at all. Great! Really sorry that I misunderstood. Give me a minute to look at what you've done recently and I'll start writing Lesson 2! PrairieKid (talk) 17:44, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Lesson 2: Finding my first article

I think one of the best ways to figure out the basics of Wikipedia is to to create an article. In this lesson, I want you to find an article that is at stub-class (basically a few sentences). We will be working on that article to bring it up to a higher level. (More on that later...) So, here are the steps:

1) Find an article. I will accept anything! (The real rule is that your parents approve.) The only requirement is that it has less than 150 words and 3 or fewer citations. Let me know what article you choose below.

2) Make a plan. Tell me what you want the stucture to be. If it is a biography, decide if you want to go chronologically (Early life, adult life, later life, death, etc...) or if you want to go by topic (Early Life, work, personal life, etc...). Let me know what you decide below.

3) Gather sources. Find everything and anything that you find reliable and write them in reference format below. Look at WP:RS which will say what is a good source and what is not a good source.

Then STOP! We will continue working on the article in lesson 3. I just want to have an article in mind. We'll be doing everything here. It should be fun and, in a month or two, you will be VERY proud of your work. I brought Ann Rivers from a sentence to being a WP:Good Article and I am very happy with it. Good luck! PrairieKid (talk) 17:54, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Article:

Double Dutch

1 KB 145 Words Plan: Add a little bit about how it was invented, and when it was invented. Maybe add the places where it is played OR who usually plays the game (or rope)

That article is a disambiguation page. Basically, a bunch of things are known as "Double Dutch". The article about the jump roping thing, which I think is what you mean, is already pretty big. Could you try to find another? PrairieKid (talk) 02:59, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

I can't find one. Suppose you can help? Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 05:42, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Sure! So, you like videogames, right? What is your favorite video game? Maybe the main character in that game...? Maybe the designer of a game you like? Maybe you might want to build the article of the town you live in or the nearest major city? Think of stuff that interests you and go from there. PrairieKid (talk) 06:09, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Here is a list of stub level videogame articles. There are a few thousand but it might help. Here is a list of slightly-above stub level articles. Again, there are 25,000 articles I just gave you. Lots to chose from. Hope you can find one. PrairieKid (talk) 06:13, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Yoshi Plan: Maybe add a little bit about what games he is in.

Yoshi is already a large article. I need one that is only a couple of sentences to a couple of paragraphs. PrairieKid (talk) 01:39, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Quick Question: What lesson are we going to get into vandalism? Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 20:11, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

I think vandalism is pretty straight forward. Vandalism is the intentional disruption of a page on Wikipedia. We'll talk about dealing with vandalism soon, as well as how to avoid making wrong/bad edits by keeping to Wikipedia's policy. If you have a particular question about vandalism, LMK and I'll answer it now. PrairieKid (talk) 01:39, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Bejeweled (series) Plan: Add more.

I'll take Bejeweled. I would like something smaller but I think we're having trouble finding an article fitting that scope. So, I need a bigger plan. I gave you an example of what I mean in #2 above. How do you want to structure the article? What gets focus and what does not? After that, we will focus on citations. PrairieKid (talk) 17:56, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

I said I wanted to add more. But what should I add? Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 18:34, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

That's the question, Yoshi. :) How about we look at similar serues that are doing well like Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros. or Metroid. Look at the structure of those. Tell me what you find is common and make a plan. I know I'm making you play "read PraireKid's mind" but I hope you'll find your way. And, remember, Wikipedia is one of those places where- despite being several thousand wrong answers- there are a hundred right answers. You just need to find one. PrairieKid (talk) 18:49, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Ok! I'll add a little bit about when the series started and who was it made by. I think maybe I should also add stuff about the gameplay and how to play Bejeweled. Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 19:48, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Article Change:

Warradale, South Australia
Not that one. This one: Rocklin, California Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 04:48, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

That article is too long. We need an article that is a stub. Let me see if I can find you one that works... PrairieKid (talk) 05:10, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

How about Tom McClintock, the US Rep for Rocklin or Mariko Yamada, the state Assemblywoman? PrairieKid (talk) 05:15, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

Im Sorry, I'm not that really into politics but I'll give it a try! Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 05:46, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

@PrairieKid: I'll do it. Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 00:34, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

OK, which one? What are you going to do with it? What needs to be expanded? All I'm looking for is a clear plan and then we can move on to the next step of gathering sources. I was hoping to move a little more quickly through this lesson but this is fine too. 15:29, 14 February 2014 (UTC)

So sorry for not responding. I'm going with Mariko Yamada. I added a little bit about her life, early life, and you can go check it out and see what you think. Thanks. Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 21:18, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

Hello? Are you there? Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 03:39, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Perfect article. Sorry for not getting back sooner. So, now let's move to the final step in the lesson. Find sources. I'd suggest reading through WP:RS (a really quick scan will do) and getting together some information. Let's see if you can find me 5 reliable sources and give me a sentence or two for each about what they are and how you can use it. Let's see how good you are at Googling. Best of luck! PrairieKid (talk) 03:49, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

@PrairieKid:HAHAHA!!! That's funny. Googling. But I'll do it. I'll find some resources for you. Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 17:19, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

@PrairieKid:Sorry, I'm still here. I haven't posted for about 2-3 months because I was busy with school. Where did you want me to find the :@Peter Chastain:? Also, a user, Peter Chastain, said that I copied to much and it could be a copyright issue. Any idea how I could fix this. Please see the review history from 2-3 months ago to check it out. Thanks! Yoshi24517 ^Chat _Absent 04:17, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

A little about PrairieKid

I just realized that you (and your parents) don't know much about me. Here is my basic Wikipedia biography: (I will be going into detail here, but won't have citations.)

PrairieKid (born July 14, 1998) is a Wikipedia editor, teacher and political activist from Vancouver, Washington. Since beginning his work on Wikipedia, he has contributed widely to articles on political topics like the articles on Ann Rivers, Ron and Rand Paul as well as local events in the Pacific Northwest. A daycare teacher and college student, PrairieKid has future plans of becoming a lawyer and running for political office later in life.

Early Life

PrairieKid was born on July 14, 1998 in Palmdale, California to PrairieMom, an American Sign Language interpreter for the deaf, and PrairieDad, a schoolteacher. PraireKid was the second of two boys and the fourth child in his family. He attended Cimarron Elementary School until the third grade when he transferred to Guidance Charter School in 2007. In 2009, the Prairie family moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he currently lives.

Education

PrairieKid currently attends Clark Community College in Vancouver as a Running Start student. He is a Business Administration major. In the future, PrairieKid plans on attending either Georgetown University or University of Washington to major in Political Science before receiving a Juris Doctor and becoming a lawyer in juvenile court. He is President of his school's Future Business Leaders of America chapter and has announced his candidacy to become the State President in the April 2014 election. He is also the captain of his school's Speech and Debate team.

Political Career

A constitutional conservative, PrarieKid currently volunteers on the Michael Delavar for Congress Campaign to unseat two-term incumbent Jaime Herrera Beutler. He worked for a short time as a Senate Page for the Washington State Senate under his State Senator, Ann Rivers. He has attended rallies for political figures like Ron Paul and has Libertarian political views. PrarieKid plans on running for political office later in life.

Teacher

In August 2013, PrairieKid got a job as a daycare. He teachers students age 6 to 12. He plans on teaching elementary school while he his getting his J.D.

END: If you (or your parents) have any questions, feel free to ask. I hope you're all comfortable here. I'm a 15 year old college student and future politician. I am on my school's FBLA and Debate teams. I work with kids regularly and want to teach for a few years while I'm in law school. Yes, I'm a future politician. No, I'm not a crook. What I didn't include in this is that I also volunteer for the Vancouver Wine and Jazz Festival and other organizations. Please, let me know if you want anything else. Have a good one! PrairieKid (talk) 18:15, 7 February 2014 (UTC)