Bend 1 of this informational writing unit starts after we do our first bend of the reading unit.  We will spend the first bend of the unit focusing on note taking and learning to research our topics.  Sessions 1-4.5 will be about learning all we can about different Teen Activists and different topics that students can work to help make a difference in.  During this bend, students should experiement with researching a topic and taking notes in a variety of different ways to find the best options that work for them. They will flashdraft a practice informational writing in this bend  based on the research they collect during this first part.

Homework in Bend 1 typically looks like this:

• Research and take notes on 3 sources. Usually each source should have an approximate page of notes.

Bend 2 of this unit asks the kids to take their (now) prior knowledge and research from Bend 1, and focus a topic.  They were allowed to choose from the following topics: Animal Abandonment, Malala and Girls' Education, Child Labor, Bullying, or the Environment.  They will continue to research their specific topics as they write their chapters for their information "books."  Each chapter should be approximately 1.5-2 pages, and they will write anywhere from 4-6 chapters.  They will also use skills such as creating a bibliography, in-text citations, quotations, and in-text features.  Their use of Google Docs is really expanded as well by learning about the features they can use as they create these new essays!

Homework in Bend 2 typically looks like this:

• Write a chapter of your essay (usually 1.5-2 pages)

• Write a page or so of notes

Bend 3 Project is to create a website about Teen Activism or Teen Activists and create an information writing piece with chapters and text features.  This bend asks students to rethink how they are presenting their information to an audience as this can be different from writing an essay.  They will use Google Sites (which we have already become familiar with previously) to create our website.

Homework in Bend 3 typically looks like this:

• Work on websites, creating pages, and incorporating the various text features that we explored in our mentor websites. 

• Completion of this website is typically a 3-5 days.

Students are given this checklist to see what skills they need to work on.

Students that are on grade level should be scoring in the 3 range.

Handy for when you're trying to figure out how to do these important skills!