1. Comparative Essay
Topic: Bullying

2. TASK
You are a newspaper editor in charge of deciding which articles pertaining to bullying will appear in the local paper.
To do this, you must analyze how different writers present information on the topic.

3. TASK
Compare and contrast one writer’s presentation of the topic to that of the other.
Pay close attention to each author’s use of text structure and elaboration techniques.
Identify the central idea of each text and the ways they were developed.

4. TASK
Write a comparative essay explaining how each writer used text structure and elaboration techniques to develop their central ideas.

5. CENTRAL IDEA DERIVATION
How is the central idea of informational texts determined?
Read each article. In a sentence, state the central idea.
Discuss in collaborative groups and with the class.

6. Compare/Contrast Text Structure
Scan the article “Victims of Bullying Live with the Consequences” to determine the text structure. Cite text examples to justify your choice.
Scan the article “Bullying in Schools” to determine the text structure. Cite text examples to justify your choice.
Conference with your collaborative group. Come to a consensus as to the text structure of each article and text examples to justify your choices.
Share with the class.

7. Compare/Contrast Text Structure
Create a Venn diagram for “Text Structure.”
Label one “Victims of Bullying” and label the other “Bullying in Schools.”
Individually, compare and contrast each article. Be sure to list textual evidence for each text structure.
Share with remix group/class.

8. Compare/Contrast Elaboration Techniques
Informational text articles usually use several techniques to elaborate upon the facts that they present. Some techniques are as follows:
Use of facts and figures.
Citing of research studies.
Anecdotal information.

9. Compare/Contrast Elaboration Techniques
Create a Venn diagram for “Elaboration Techniques.”
Label one “Victims of Bullying” and label the other “Bullying in Schools.”
Individually, compare and contrast each article. Be sure to list textual evidence for each elaboration technique used.
Share with remix group/class.