Tracing Cultural Influences: A Study of Research-Based Report Writing - Grade 9
Students will have completed a round of work with expository text that takes them from an interesting model of reportage through a writing process that culminates in the production of their own research-based reports. Teachers have the option of continuing with sessions focused on developing research-based presentations.
The work sketched out in this unit is inquiry-based and places a strong emphasis on rereading, writing, discussion, and collaboration as students work to read and write texts that are challenging and insightful.
Table of Contents
Writing Tasks
Title: Tracking “Our Secret Latin Heartlands”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Point out to the class that this tracking form is designed to help students monitor, record, and make sense of the chapter.
Review the tracking form with the class and explain that the work of the next few sessions will be set aside so that students can complete this task.
In an effort to model smart approaches to the work of this part of the unit, you might decide to show students a way to mark, as they are reading, passages in the text that feature key people or that contain significant moments.
Negotiate with the class a way to read through the chapter. You might, for example, read the first pages aloud and then have students read the rest of the text silently. Or, you might decide to read the entire chapter aloud the first time through. In any case, students should add notes to the tracking sheet as they read.
Title: “Our Secret Latin Heartlands” Sketching the Sequence
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 4
Review the contents of the “Sketching the Sequence” task with the class and answer any questions students have about the assignment or the work to be done.
Consider taking time to complete the work with the first one or two sections as a whole class. This will ensure that students can move more smoothly into the remainder of the work in their small groups.
Title: “Our Secret Latin Heartlands” Tracing Cultural Influences
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 7
Review the assignment with the class. Consider asking students to help you annotate a display copy of the task to identify clearly what students are being asked to do. Point out to students that Tobar’s text is doing two things at the same time: On one level, it seems as though it is simply informing the reader about the people and places he encounters. On a second level, though, Tobar is also making arguments in the text, connecting facts and ideas to claims, some of which are directly stated and some of which are implied. This task is focused on uncovering and clarifying the arguments Tobar is making in his text.
Take time to identify one place where Tobar reports on how a habit or custom of Spanish-speaking people is reshaping life in a certain place. When you find this place, work with the class to complete the assignment’s work for that particular moment. (Repeat the exercise with another example if necessary.) This whole-class exercise will help ensure that students have a clear idea of how to do this work.
Title: “Our Secret Latin Heartlands” Examining Tobar’s Methods
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 9
Review the assignment with the class and annotate as appropriate. Make clear to students that they probably already have a very good understanding of the text itself, so the point of this work is to look closely at the structure and methods of this kind of writing. Tobar’s text will serve as an exemplar for the writing students will be doing in the next part of this unit.
Tell students that you will lead them through the “methods” work with the first section and that this more guided practice will prepare them to take on the work with the second section.
Title: The Research-Based Report Writing Project
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 10
Review “The Research-Based Report Writing Project” with the class and answer any questions students might have about it.
Next, read through and review one of the sections the class studied closely in the “Tobar’s Methods” work (Sessions 9 and 10). Ask the class to pay attention to the way the section begins, to the sources of information Tobar uses, and
to the ways he reports that information in the text. Also point out moments where Tobar makes claims and then highlight the way he supports the claims he makes. All of this constitutes a review of the work in the first part of the unit.
Title: A “Before You Begin Writing” Task Wrapping Up the Research
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 21
Review the contents of the assignment with the class.
Take a few minutes to show students how to do this work, using your own research-based report writing work as a model.
Answer any questions students have about the task.
Since it is unlikely that many students are ready to complete this task at this point in the unit, negotiate a deadline for the completion of this assignment.
Title: Writing the Report
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 22
Review the assignment with the class and answer any questions students have about it.
Next, take a few minutes to show students the pre-draft outline you constructed for your own report. Walk students through that outline and a draft of your report. Talk them through how moments in your outline correspond with work done in specific sections of your report.
Title: A Brief Revision Task Imitating Sentences
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 25
Place students in pairs.
Tell students that this is independent work, but that partners should help each other during the work as needed. For example, partners might help each other identify interesting sentences from “Our Secret Latin Heartlands” to imitate.
Charts for Discussion
Title: Class Retelling of “Our Secret Latin Heartlands”
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 6
Once you have discussed the student retellings, invite the class to work with you to generate a whole-class reconstruction of “Our Secret Latin Heartlands.” This retelling should aim to be more comprehensive than some of the individual student retellings, but should still reflect the class’s sense of what is most significant in the text. (For this reason, each class’s retelling will inevitably be somewhat different.)
Capture the results of this discussion on a chart or digital display titled “Class Retelling of ‘Our Secret Latin Heartlands.’” Ask students to recreate a version of the chart in their notebooks as well.
This whole-class retelling will serve as a common reference map to the text for the work ahead and should, as such, include page and line numbers of the moments cited.
Title: Ways to Incorporate Interviews into a Report
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 16
Reread these sections to the class, pointing out the different ways and different places that Tobar used interview data. Create titles for each of these uses and list them on a chart titled “Ways to Incorporate Interviews into a Report.”
Title: Citations
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 20
Distribute a style manual to each student in the class and allow a few minutes for them to thumb through the text (or, alternately, direct students to the Purdue OWL website).
Explain to the class that, in addition to providing information on grammar and punctuation, style manuals also supply writers with helpful information related to research-based writing.
Ask the class to turn to the “Brief Contents” section of Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual and to briefly skim over the items listed under the following sections: “Research,” “MLA Papers,” “APA Papers,” and “Chicago Papers.” On the Purdue OWL website, this is found under “Research and Citation Resources.”
Write on the board the name of the particular citation type students are expected to use in your classroom. Tell students that they should ignore the sections covering other citation types.
Have students take a minute to look over the contents of the citation section they need to learn. Ask them to make a few notes about its contents and its organization.
Afterwards, ask students to share what they found with the class. List their findings on a chart titled “Citations.”
Checks for Understanding
Title: Tobar’s Arguments
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 7
Briefly reconvene the class and invite volunteers to share a few of the claims or arguments they see Tobar making.
Resist the urge to discuss these at this time. Instead, view this as an opportunity to share some examples that will help the rest of the class obtain a clearer idea of what an argument or claim can look like in the text. Capture these arguments in the form of brief statements on a chart titled “Tobar’s Arguments.”
This chart can be used to launch the whole-class discussion that will take place in the next session.
Title: Tobar’s Methods
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 10
Convene a whole-class discussion. Use this time to have groups share their findings with the class.
During the discussion, use a display copy of the second selection to direct the class’s attention to the sources and methods the groups identify.
Afterwards, take time to negotiate a whole-class quick write for the second selection, capturing this on chart paper or another display.
Compare this quick write to the one generated for the first selection. Help the class synthesize the two quick writes by generating a list of statements that, taken together, summarize Tobar’s use of sources and ways of writing in “Our Secret Latin Heartlands.”
Capture these statements on a new chart titled “Tobar’s Methods.” Finally, remind students that this is work they should refer back to as they create their own research-based writing in the next part of the unit.
Title: Short Assignments for the Research Project
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 13
Reconvene the class and ask volunteers to share the short assignment items they have on their lists.
Capture these on a chart titled “Short Assignments for the Research Project.” The goal here is to generate a long list of short assignments. This “master” list will be important as a repository of assignment ideas that students can consult as they map out the work ahead.
Ask students to review their own list of short assignments after several people have shared theirs: What new ideas do they have after listening to each other? What other tasks, assignments, or areas of investigation do they want to add to their lists? Give students a moment to revise their plans.
Title: Things to Work On
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Session 16
Ask volunteers to share the items on their short assignments lists that they completed during the work period. (Add any new items identified to the master “Short Assignments for the Research Project” chart created during Session 13.)
Create a new, two-columned chart titled “Things to Work On.” Use one column to list any problems that arose during the work period and use the other to list possible solutions. Students should play an active role in identifying problems and brainstorming solutions.
Give students a few minutes to review their short assignments lists so that they can decide what homework, if any, they might have this evening. In other words, they should ask themselves the following question: “What do I need to do tonight so that I can accomplish what I need to in class tomorrow?”
Independent Reading
Title: Book Interview
Instructions:
Display a copy of the “Book Interview” sheet for the class to see and distribute copies to students.
Using one of the books from the classroom library, model for students how to interview a book and how to fill out the sheet. Answer any questions students have about the form and its terminology.
Give students time to interview three books and to enter their findings on the “Book Interview” sheet.
Title: Book Pass
Instructions:
Organize students’ desks into a circle (or, if this is not possible, determine a very clear path for books to pass through the group).
Explain the purpose of a book pass:
A book pass is another way to expose students to the texts available in the classroom library. A book pass requires students to use their book interviewing skills. A book pass is a chance for students to find titles to add to their “Books I’d Like to Read” list.
Display a copy of the “Book Pass” for the class to see and pass out copies to students.
Demonstrate for the class how a person goes about making an entry on the form. Since students will need to write quickly, show how an author can be listed just by last name and first initial, and demonstrate how a student can abbreviate a long title if necessary. What matters is that they have enough information to track down the book again later if they need to.
Give each student one book (or magazine). Tell them it doesn’t matter which text they start with, because they will see all—or at least many of—the books. (Be sure you have one title for each student in the circle.)
Choose a direction for passing.
After students receive a book, they should immediately record the author’s name (if the text is a book) and title on the “Book Pass” form.
Give students one minute to interview each book following the procedure established in the previous session.
At the end of one minute, call “pass.” At this time, students should make an entry in the comments column and pass the book to the next student.
Continue the book pass until each student has interviewed all the books.
Title: Book Recommendation
Instructions:
Distribute copies of the “Book Recommendation” form to students and give them time to craft or begin crafting their first review. Students can choose to write about a book they’ve completed recently or one they remember well from past reading.
Title: Goals for My Reading Life
Instructions:
Display a copy of “Goals for My Reading Life” for the class to see and distribute copies to students.
Use this time to review how to fill out the goals sheet. Be sure to show students how they can use the charts to generate ideas for answers to the “Goals” questions.
Take a moment to stress the value and function of the “Books I’d Like to Read” list. Point out that this list is a tool that serves the same function as a bedside table for some readers: It is a place to store up titles or books that are “next in line.” Remind the class that readers constantly have their eyes open for “next” texts. A “Books I’d Like to Read List” is a way to prevent aimless and unproductive castings around for new reading materials. It’s a planning tool.
Explain that at the beginning of each marking period, each student will fill out a new goals sheet; at at the end of each marking period, students will take a few minutes to review their goals statements and reflect on their efforts to meet them.
Answer any questions students have about the “Goals for My Reading Life” forms.
Give students time to complete the form and set a deadline for submission. You may decide to photocopy these to keep a set for yourself. Return the forms to students during the next session and have them attach the form to a page in their notebook or save it for their student portfolio (see Creating a Student Portfolio).
Title: Reading Log
Teacher Manual Instructions:
Show students how to set up a “Reading Log” in their notebook. They should be sure to enter it in their table of contents. You may decide to distribute sticky notes so that students can flag this page. Use the model on the next page to guide your efforts.
Notice the column titled “Date Completed/# of Pages Read.” This column is a place for students to record, and receive credit for, the reading of texts that did not require a “cover-to-cover” experience. Be sure to point out that reading sections of several texts for specific purposes is not the same as skipping aimlessly from book to book to book. The former often indicates purposefulness and interest; the latter can indicate confusion or disengagement.
After students have set up the reading log—including proper headings, creating the grid, etc.—demonstrate how to make an entry.
Answer any questions students have about the log.
Remind students that the reading log is a tool to be used in conjunction with the “Goals” sheets. Students track their reading in the log and then use the log to evaluate their progress toward their goals.
If you plan to use student portfolios this year, consider introducing them at this time using some version of the information in the section that follows. Review Creating a Student Portfolio in advance to be sure you have thought through some of the important questions for portfolio work.
Unit Resources
Title: Internet-Based Resources: The Scholarly Article
Title: Library Resources: Searching For, and Within, Books
Title: Grades 9 and 10 – Interpretive_Argument Rubric
Title: Grades 9 and 10 – Informational_Explanatory Rubric
Title: Scaffolds and Modifications: Descriptions and Use