The severity of US-Russia relations

Please create a discussion and then answer the questions, ( How severe do you think the situation between the United States and Russia is? Do you think we need to worry about a new cold war in the future? Do you agree with the Donald Trump's withdrawl from the INF treaty or his attempted exit from Afghanistan?) at the end of the attached print screen of the discussion post.
Please follow the outline of the Reply Rubric file also attached.

Discussions
This page explains the purpose and expecations for student participation in discussions. It includes the purpose of discussions, how you will be evaluated, and it concludes with tips on how to reply to the posts of other students.
Purpose of Discussions
One of the goals in our course is to learn and build meaningful and helpful connections through discussion activities. Issues studied in the course will be discussed and debated. It is important that you can explore an issue, and take and defend a position. To do so you must develop and support that position with evidence or contemporary or historical examples.
Evaluation of Discussions
Each discussion posting will be evaluated out of 15, in two unequal parts (see rubric below).
Part I -10 marks: Your original posting will be marked out of 10. This represents the Thoughtfulness mark. Your posting must answer all the questions and complete all instructions presented in the descriptor. Keep in mind that quality of writing, spelling and grammar do count! And cite your sources! (See Supporting Evidence; Paragraphs; and Citing Sources pages in the Student Tools section of Content for help with these skills.)
Part II - 5 marks: Your Participation through replies to other students' original posts is essential. This represents the other 5 marks. Return to the topic often to reply to the postings of others, or to reflect and add more consideration to your own post You should also respond to questions and prompts of others. See Reply Tips below to maximize your Participation marks.
Frequency of replies to other students
Reply to at least two other students' posts for every one of your original posts.
Once you have posted your initial message, check back in regularly to see what responses have been made and post your own responses to other classmates’ messages (see Reply Tips below). For the Current Events discussion, post regularly throughout the term (see that discussion descriptor in the course Intro).
Remember it is important to:
■ respect each other
■ help each other to learn
■ ask appropriate questions
■ build on each other's ideas
■ think in new ways
■ communicate using proper spelling and grammar See detailed discussion rubric and reply tips below.

Discussion Rubric:Original Post - Thoughfullness 10 marksAnswered all questions and completed all instructions in the assignment descriptor. Completed with depth, thought and meaning. Solid connections made to specialized terms and concepts from the course content. Well written and presented. Sources cited in APA format. 10Completed thoughtfully, but may not have responded to all of the assignment descriptor. Connections made to specialized terms and concepts. Sources cited. 8General and straightforward. The student demonstrated an adequate understanding of the topic. May have overlooked part of the descriptor. 6Limited, with little understanding of the topic shown. 4Poor with misunderstanding of the topic evident. 2Replies to other Students’ Posts - Participation (see Tips below) 5 marksPonders the posts of others and interacts with other students by  • building in ways to probe the topic further  • provides resources or additional opportunities for learning (purposeful prompts- websites, readings, for example)  • probing consequences 5Interacts with other students by  • seeking clarification  • requesting samples/ example  • building some understanding and/or community with replies 4Interacting in a general way; demonstrating a general understanding of concepts. 3Replies to others in a limited way. 2Responds but contributes little understanding or community. 1TOTAL /15
Reply TipsHere are a few ways to maximize your marks when replying to the posts of other students in discussions (1/3 of your discussion mark):
• Ask the student a question and provide at least one realistic or possible answer to that question (ie. don't just ask the question).
• If you agree or disagree with the student’s post, explain why and support your opinion with examples/evidence (ie. don’t just say you agree or disagree. Explain beyond what the student may have contributed).
• Relate their post or topic to a concept you learned about in the course or a similar issue you read about.

When your teacher assesses this discussion forum at the end of the term, they will be looking at both your new posts and replies to other students' current events; level and frequency of participation; how you interact with others; leadership in this student-led forum - whether you tried to help other students identify additional connections or if you made more connections in replying to their post; solid connections made to what we are studying in the course; and the sophistication of your replies to other students.
Please remember to be respectful and use proper grammar and spelling in your posts and cite your sources in APA format (See Student Tools section of content).
Tips for Current Events Discussion
• Post current events that you find interesting to you but also A find the relationships to the concepts in this course. Explain the connections (do not just say they are connected or post the link to a story and leave it at that). In these discussions, it is essential that you make connections to the concepts learned in the course.
• Check in regularly and respond to other classmates' posts. You don't need to post a new message to current events every week.A Once every two or three weeks would be great!A But the more you do participate the deeper will be your understanding.
• For Replies to other students, see Discussion Tips in the Student Tools section of Content to maximize your reply marks.
• There are no prompts for a reason: It is your responsibility to demonstrate evidence of citizenship and leadership by initiating current events discussions and responding to the posts of other students every 2-3 weeks or so.
• For every post of yours, aim to reply to 2 posts made by other students. 1:2 Post/Reply ratio! Total minimum of 4 posts and 8 replies to other students1 posts (plus responding to questions about your posts).
©2019 CBe-learn - Calgary Board of Education