COMMON CORE INFORMATIONAL WRITING UNIT GRADE 7-LOOKING AT GRADE 6/YEAR 1

OBJECT SORT ACTIVITY Sort the objects in a way that makes sense to the group at your table.

PRE-UNIT ASSESSMENT PROMPT: Choose a topic of interest to you that involves a cause and effect relationship. Write a well-organized piece explaining the cause and effect relationship.

RUBRIC FOR SELF-ASSESSMENT

INFORMATIONAL UNIT PROGRESSION 6th grade Cause & Effect Prescribed Research 7th grade Chronological (summary + description) Bounded Research 8th grade Compare & Contrast Scaffolded Research

INFORMATIONAL UNIT PROGRESSION Year 1 Cause & Effect Prescribed Research Year 2 Chronological (summary + description) Bounded Research Year 3 Compare & Contrast Scaffolded Research

RESEARCH WRITING PROGRESSION Prescribed Research teacher provides highly structured directions extensive modeling by the teacher research question & sources pre-determined & pre-selected students focus on selecting & organizing information for a particular text structure Bounded Research teacher sets boundaries & provides directions to channel research modeling by teacher as needed student develops research question & selects sources within prescribed boundaries organizational pattern selected from provided option(s) Scaffolded Research teacher shapes & scaffolds independent research modeling by teacher as needed student develops research question & selects sources organizational pattern selected from multiple options

IDENTIFY & RESEARCH A TOPIC

1. Informational Writing Strategies: Cause and Effect Writers of informational essays use many different strategies to convey information to the reader, including cause and effect, definition, compare and contrast, and classification. Cause and effect explores how and why something happened and what occurred as a result of an event. Cause and effect links situations and events together in time, with causes coming before effects. 2. Informational Text Models: Cause and Effect Writers examine pieces by other writers to learn about informational essay strategies. Writers use cause and effect in informational essays to show the relationship between related events, people, and issues. TEACHING POINTS – MENTOR TEXT STUDY

TEACHING POINT #4: Writers perform research to increase their knowledge of the chosen topic. They sort through their prior knowledge and research information, categorizing facts, details, quotations, and examples into categories and sub-categories. RESEARCHING & ORGANIZING INFORMATION

DEVELOPING A RESEARCH QUESTION Consider: What is the organizational pattern? What is the topic? Example: The Sinking of the Titanic 6th - Cause & Effect What were the causes and effects of the Titanic sinking? 7th - Chronological What were the key events leading up to and following the Titanic sinking? 8th - Compare/Contrast What were the similarities and differences between 1st and 3rd class passengers' experience on the sinking Titanic? Create a research question about Hurricane Katrina based on the organizational pattern your grade level.

SIFT & SORT ACTIVITY The information (research) corresponds to your organizational pattern by grade level. 7 th Grade: Chronological (summary and description) Use small post-it notes to define and organize categories on the large post-it paper. Sort and re-sort until you’re happy with your main categories and the order you’ve put them in

Record prior knowledge on a topic & develop a research question Research and sort information Develop a central idea Select, and analyze key details, facts, examples Experiment with organization to reflect the text structure & central idea Revise & edit for clarity of content, strength of analysis, & organization Share text w/ reader & reflect on writing & research process Information Research & Writing Process

SYNTHESIZE INFORMATION & DETERMINE AN ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERN

DEVELOPING A CENTRAL IDEA Central Idea – The overarching idea behind an informational essay that answers a research question. The term central idea can also be used in relation to a paragraph, where the central idea should sit in the topic sentence. In a cause and effect-based essay, a central idea probably looks like this: Cause(s)  Event/Issue  Effect(s) Teaching Point #5 (T.P. #6 in 7 th grade): Writers determine a central idea to focus the drafting of their essay. In a cause and effect-based essay, the central idea will explain these relationships: Cause(s)  Event/Issue  Effect(s)

DEVELOPING A CENTRAL IDEA Using the handout, develop a 2-3 sentence central idea about Hurricane Katrina for your given organizational pattern.

FINDING A STRUCTURE Teaching Point #6: Writers of informational essays select a logical structure for their piece as they draft. With the cause and effect strategy, the structure is determined by the nature and number of the causes and effects. Effect Cause 1 Cause 2 Cause 3 Cause #1 Effect AEffect B Cause #2 Effect CEFfect D Cause Effect 1 Effect 2 Effect 3 CAUSE & EFFECT CHRONOLOGICAL Event #1 Event #2 Event #3

FINDING A STRUCTURE TOPIC A Perspective #1 Perspective #2 TOPIC B Perspective #1 Perspective #2 TOPIC C Perspective #1 Perspective #2 COMPARE/CONTRAST Point by Point Block

CREATE A PRODUCT TO INFORM AN AUDIENCE

REVISION – REVERSE OUTLINE Teaching Point #9: When they have completed a draft of their essay, informational essay writers may use a reverse outline to determine the effectiveness of their piece, make a revision plan, then make changes accordingly. **** Using your pre-unit assessment write, experiment with the reverse outline activity.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? Key similarities & differences between ARGUMENT & INFORMATIONAL WRITING? Stance of the writer Research Claim/Central Idea Organizational patterns For more information, see CCSS Appendix A, p. 23.

FORMATIVE & SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT How do we use the unit’s formative rubrics to guide instruction (plan future mini-lessons, glean conferring teaching points, etc.)? How would we grade the reader’s/writer’s notebook? What other tools do we find helpful as formative assessments?

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT  How do we judge growth?  Would any aspects of the rubrics be more valued than others?  How do we assign grades based on process and product?