Students finalize the text of their informational articles. Students are going to:
- Examine the details' arrangement and the article's overall structure.
- Analyze how well an informative article's introduction and conclusion work.
- Read other students' writing and comment on it.
- Revise their articles for content and organization.
- Polish and release their own works.
- What is the most effective way to present findings?
- How can readers decide which information from what they hear, read, and see to believe?
- How do literary and informational texts become meaningful to strategic readers?
- How does interaction with text elicit thought and response?
- What is the objective?
- What is the true purpose of this text?
- What makes writing clear and effective?
- Why do authors write?
- Who is the target audience?
- What will appeal to the audience the most?
- How can a reader find what they're looking for?
- How can a reader determine whether a source is reliable?
- Author’s Purpose: The author’s intent either to inform or teach someone about something, to entertain people, or to persuade or convince the audience to do or not do something.
- Conclusion: The ending of the story or the summarization of ideas or closing argument in nonfictional texts.
- Focus: The center of interest or attention.
- Informational Text: Nonfiction, written primarily to convey factual information. Informational texts comprise the majority of printed material adults read (e.g., textbooks, newspapers, reports, directions, brochures, technical manuals, etc.).
- Introduction: The first paragraph in an essay; it introduces the topic and states the main idea.
- Outline: A point form or list of short sentences that describe the action or major ideas in a written work.
- Point of View: The angle from which the writer writes a piece, particularly in fiction.
- Revise: To make changes to improve writing.
- Style: The manner of expression of a particular writer, produced by choice of words, grammatical structures, use of literary devices, and all the possible parts of language use.
- Text Structure: The author’s method of organizing a text.
- Works Cited: An alphabetical list of works that were cited, works to which the student has referred in his/her writing.
- projector to show transparencies of student writing
- class copy and student copies of a peer review worksheet (LW-6-3-3_Peer Review)
- copies of a sample of student writing for each student
- proofreading exercises like those at http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/edit.shtml
- a copy of a proofreading exercise for each student (LW-6-3-3_Proofreading Exercise and LW-6-3-3_Proofreading Exercise KEY)
- a blackboard and/or an easel with a large sheet of chart paper and markers
- PSSA Informational Scoring Guidelines (LW-6-3-3_INFORMATIONAL SCORING GUIDELINES 6-8)
- While reading and commenting on the drafts, move around the groups. You can identify students who require additional assistance with research, narrowing the focus of their details and discussion, or organizing their material by keeping an eye on them. Gather them into a different group if you need to give them help. If you have the time, go through each draft and make notes on at least two questions and/or observations for each writer.
Explicit instruction, modeling, scaffolding, and active engagement
W: Students know from the start of the unit that they will write their own informational article. They will edit and polish their article for publication during this lesson.
H: After receiving feedback on their drafts, students are encouraged to respond to the drafts of their group members. This gives them a personal stake in the process.
E: Students collaborate in groups to discuss each other's drafts and get input on their work. To help students produce the best possible final draft, you can offer assistance as needed. Additionally, giving students specific examples of effective focus, content development, organization, and style when using a well-written student article as the foundation for the Scoring Guideline discussion benefits them.
R: Students have the chance to reconsider their own articles—the focus, content, organization, and style—and to rewrite them at least twice before turning in the final draft. This is because they can observe how other students wrote their articles and get feedback on their own.
E: After hearing feedback from others and comparing it to other articles, students evaluate their writing and have the chance to make improvements to their pieces. Additionally, they list the precise adjustments they made to enhance a particular piece of their article (like organization or focus).
T: Before using what they have learned in their own writing, students rehearse in groups. Students who are having trouble can get assistance from the teacher and other group members.
O: After studying examples, getting feedback on their own articles, and revising them at least twice, students are ready to write the final draft of an informational article.
Topic: How should a cause-and-effect article be revised before it is published?
Part 1
"In this lesson, you will edit and revise your article on causes and effects in preparation for publication." Use a peer-review worksheet (LW-6-3-3_Peer Review) or a class copy of an article to model the peer-review process on a sample of writing. Students can assist you in choosing the specific examples from the article that best support each point. Examples include an engaging introduction that targets the right audience, a main idea statement that focuses on the causes or effects of the topic, well-structured body paragraphs with supporting details, and a succinct conclusion (three to four sentences) that keeps the reader interested, summarizes the main points, and employs a writing technique (such as concluding with a narrative, a thought-provoking question, a quotation, or a prediction). Make sure the students comprehend that one of the main goals of these guidelines is to help them learn how to improve the quality of their own writing.
Distribute copies of a student writing sample. As you document their responses on a class copy, ask students to assess the student sample and offer their opinions on the peer review worksheet or scoring rubric.
Verify that every student has a draft of their article on causes and effects. Give each student a copy of the scoring rubric, which can be found at the end of the unit, and go over it together. "This article draft is merely the beginning for you. As you read your classmates' articles, consider your own, and consider their comments, you may decide to make significant changes to them. Making your article the best it can be and assisting others in achieving the same goal with their articles are the two main goals of the revision process. Keep in mind that the primary goal of this initial reading is to ensure that writers are submitting their work.
keep their attention on the topic of the article,
provide adequate information and an explanation of the main points,
arrange the content to make it comprehensible and easy to read, and
address the appropriate audience.
"Ask the writers any questions you may have. Additionally, keep in mind that this reading is not primarily focused on any spelling, usage, phrasing, or other errors, even though you may bring them up. You'll focus on those in a subsequent reading."
Distribute copies of the LW-6-3-3_Peer Review worksheet to the students for peer review. You can read the instructions aloud to the class, or students can use this worksheet as a guide for their review. The latter approach might be useful if you have to conduct a peer review and teach a mini-lesson at the same time (like one on transitions or integrating quotations).
Choose if students should write on other people's papers, discuss their observations with the writer, or write their questions and comments on a separate sheet that they return to the writer. What you decide will depend on the class's attitude and interests, as well as how much experience the students have had with peer editing and the writing process.
Additionally, go over the points that the students used to double-check their outlines with them if necessary. As they read the drafts from their group members, ask them to keep an eye out for the problems listed below. (Make sure the students have copies of these to work from or that they are posted in the classroom.)
A couple of important points contradict the main idea statement.
To bolster the main idea statement, the article needs to include more important points.
There is confusion in the arrangement of the paragraphs.
The information is given in the incorrect paragraphs or the incorrect sequence within the paragraphs.
The article needs more proof to support its claims.
Request that each group choose an especially powerful introduction to read aloud to the class. Additionally, if there is time, have any group read aloud an entire article that they believe is very effective, and then have the class discuss why it is effective.
After that, assign or have students edit their articles in class, stapling the updated copy over the original. You may choose to have them revised during the following class session if you see a lot of issues as you watch (especially if you are using a file-sharing program) so that you can help them then. As a great resource for the student, you and your parents or guardians should keep a folder with all of the student's work, including drafts. Student efforts and progress are documented in the drafts and comment sheets/rubrics.)
Part 2
Go over some of the problems students will be looking for in brief before they proofread the most recent versions of the cause-and-effect articles. They will be examining usage and mechanics in addition to spelling and word choice issues. Try your proofreading skills with some exercises from http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/edit.shtml.
After the following mini-lesson, use the following proofreading exercises (LW-6-3-3_Proofreading Exercise and LW-6-3-3_Proofreading Exercise Key) as an assessment.
Language Skills Mini-Lesson
"To assist you in peer editing the papers of your classmates, we have completed exercises that check for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, usage, and mechanics errors. Let's examine a very particular kind of mistake: pronoun shifts. What does a pronoun mean?" (a term that is substituted for a noun) "Therefore, using the incorrect kind of pronoun, either in number or person, is known as a pronoun shift in writing. The reader will become perplexed, for instance, if you use a plural pronoun when the pronoun should be singular." Put these phrases in writing on the board. "Observe this instance."
Lisette brought the salamander home because she liked its spotted skin.
Lisette brought the salamander home because she liked their spotted skin.
"Which of these sentences strikes you as odd or unclear?" (The second) "Why?" (The reader may be curious as to whether Lisette brought more than one salamander home or if she preferred the spotted skin of the salamander she brought home over that of the others.) "There is a pronoun shift in number in this sentence. Like in the first sentence, the pronoun for the salamander's skin should be singular because the sentence starts with one salamander."
Put these sentences in writing on the board. "This is an illustration of a person-to-pronoun shift."
Since painting pictures makes me happy, I do it often.
Since painting pictures makes me happy, he does it often.
"Which of these sentences is unclear?" (The second) "Why?" (Since the speaker enjoys painting, the reader may wonder if he is content when he creates pictures for the speaker.)
"The reader could infer the writer's intended meaning if these sentences were included in a paragraph or story, but that shouldn't be necessary. When utilizing pronouns, the author should be precise and consistent. Let's use this exercise to practice identifying shifts in pronoun number and person." Students should complete the top half of the proofreading exercise (LW-6-3-3_Proofreading Exercise and LW-6-3-3_Proofreading Exercise Key) about cousin Becky on their own, identifying shifts in pronouns in person or number. Once they're done, have them meet with a partner so they can compare their responses. After that, go over the paragraphs and responses as a group, providing evidence for each pronoun adjustment.
After that, let the students independently mark any corrections in the passage by Walter Dean Meyers. Inform students that there are several other errors, including pronoun shifts, in this passage. If they discover any kind of error, they ought to note the corrections. Gather these and assess comprehension.
"When you edit the papers of your classmates, keep an eye out for any of these kinds of problems."
Part 3
Students should think about transitions that they may need to use in their articles and those of their peers (see http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/style/transitioncues.html).
Move among the students to assist with questions and to identify any reoccurring issues while they proofread the drafts in their groups. Stop them and give a quick mini-lesson about a particular error type if it seems to be occurring frequently. Please, if at all possible, let the writers ask questions during class after they receive their papers back (which have been read by all group members).
Part 4
Request that students complete a final works-cited list and a polished copy of their articles. They also need to submit their earlier drafts at the same time. The final versions of the articles should be made available, either on the school website or as a physical copy compilation for the classroom or library.
Extension:
In a format appropriate for a website, students can edit the article's final draft before it is published. Talk about some of the variations between articles meant for websites and print magazines. The latter are frequently succinct, dividing content into short paragraphs or a list of bulleted items that would normally be presented as a single paragraph in print. Additionally, web articles frequently lack a conclusion. To encourage site visitors to read at least some of the content, their information is presented clearly and concisely. Require students to read an article from a website that was created specifically for it, such as http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/adopt/tips/adoption_process_what_expect.html.
Students can visit a website such as http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/language_arts/pmp/interactive_guide/g05/g05home.htm if they feel they need more practice proofreading.
Organize a short workshop centered around a specific issue if you feel that the class as a whole or the students themselves need more practice proofreading.
