Informational+Writing+Unit+of+Study

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Submitted by Alicia Vilas IWT= independent writing task

Day 1: SWAT: hear and discuss expository nonfiction; explore how informational organized and presented; list countries and topics that interest them MINILESSON: paring students and discussing working together; introducing nonfiction; reading //Australia// aloud; discussing the book; discussing countries of interest; IWT: writing independently on any of the following choices · Write a list of countries that interest you · Write things you’d like to know about a country · Write about anything you choose SHARING & REFLECTING: Q What did your partner write about today? Q What did you and your partner do to work well together when talking and sharing writing? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.1; 3.2.A.2

Day 2: SWAT: hear and discuss expository nonfiction; explore how information is organized and presented; list questions they could ask about other countries; cultivate curiosity MINILESSON: discussing curiosity; reading and discussing parts of //Rwanda: A Question and Answer Book//; doing a quick-write: brainstorm questions about countries IWT: writing independently on any of the following choices · Add to the list of questions you started in the quick-write · Add to the list of countries that you started yesterday · Write something you know about a country · Write about anything you choose SHARING & REFLECTING: Briefly sharing writing and reflecting on curiosity Q What did your partner write about today? Q What did your partner write that you are curious to know more about? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.1; 3.2.A.2

Day 3: SWAT: hear, read, and discuss expository nonfiction; explore how information is organized and presented; write about what they learned and what they are curious about; MINILESSON: briefly reviewing; reading and discussing parts of //Look What Came from Mexico// aloud; discussing nonfiction resources; IWT: reading nonfiction texts about countries; writing about what they read; writing independently on any of the following choices · Write one or two interesting things you found out about a country · Write one or two things you are curious to know · Add any new topics you are interested in to your writing ideas section SHARING & REFLECTING: Reflecting on sharing materials fairly Q What did you do to share the books and materials fairly today? Q What problems did you have sharing the materials? What can we do tomorrow to avoid those problems? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.1; 3.2.A.2; 3.2.A.3

Day 4: SWAT: hear, read, and discuss expository nonfiction; explore using topics to organize information; write about what they learned and what they are curious about; MINILESSON: briefly reviewing; reading and discussing parts of //Find Out About Italy//; brainstorming topics IWT: reading nonfiction texts about countries; writing about what they read: writing independently on any of the following choices · Write one or two interesting things you found out about a country · Write one or two things you are curious to know · Add any new topics that interest you to your writing ideas section SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on writing Q What did you hear your classmates share that makes you curious? Q What did you do to share the materials fairly today? How did that work? Q What problems, if any, are we still having with sharing materials fairly? What else can we do to avoid those problems next time? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.1; 3.2.A.2; 3.2.A.3

Day 5: SWAT: hear, read, and discuss expository nonfiction; write about what they learned and what they are curious about MINILESSON: briefly reviewing nonfiction; reading parts of //Afghanistan to Zimbabwe// aloud and discussing IWT: reading nonfiction texts about countries; writing about what they read; writing independently on any of the following choices · Write one or two interesting things you found out about a country · Write one or two things you are curious to know · Add any new topics that interest you to your writing ideas section SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on nonfiction Q You’ve had a chance so far to hear and read several nonfiction texts. What have you learned about nonfiction? Q What are some different ways that you’ve noticed authors organize and present nonfiction information? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.1; 3.2.A.2; 3.2.A.3

Day 6: SWAT: hear, read, and discuss expository nonfiction; write about what they learned and what they are curious about; quick-write about things they want to know about countries MINILESSON: discussing curiosity; reading and discussing parts of //Japan//; doing a quick-write: What I want to know about a country IWT: reading nonfiction texts about countries; writing about what they read; writing independently on any of the following choices · Write one or two interesting things you found out about a country · Write one or two things you are curious to know · Add any new topics that interest you to your writing ideas section SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on writing Q What is a topic that you explored? What did you find out? Q What else would you like to add to our “Things We Want To Know About Countries” chart? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.1; 3.2.A.2; 3.2.A.3

Day 7: SWAT: hear, read, and discuss expository nonfiction; write about what they learned and what they are curious about; MINILESSON: revisiting //Afghanistan to Zimbabwe// IWT: reading nonfiction texts about countries; writing about what they read; writing independently on any of the following choices · Write one or two interesting things you found out about a country · Write one or two things you are curious to know · Add any new topics that interest you to your writing ideas section SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on writing Q What can we ask about what he wrote? Q What did you hear that makes you curious to learn more? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.1; 3.2.A.2; 3.2.A.3

Day 8: SWAT: identify and list countries they are curious about; narrow their list; MINILESSON: making a joint list of countries; identifying other countries of interest; IWT: identifying other countries that interest them; narrowing the lists SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on pair work; Q Today you and your partner worked together to make the first of many decisions you will make during the next few weeks. What did you do to make sure you both agreed before making a decision? Q How are we doing with building a caring writing community in our class? Why do you think so? Q What can we do to continue to make this a safe place for everyone to write and share their thinking? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.3; 3.2.B.2

Day 9: SWAT: select a country to research and write about; do pre-research writing about their country; cultivate curiosity MINILESSON: briefly reviewing; discussing and selecting topics; modeling pre-research writing about a country IWT: doing pre-research writing SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting in pairs on pre-research writing Q What did your partner write about your country that you didn’t write? Q What are some things that you and your partner are both curious to know about your country? NJCCCS: 3.2.B.2; 3.2.D.8

Day 10: SWAT: review and discuss pre-research writing; choose topics about their country to research; identify and use various sources of information; cultivate curiosity MINILESSON: discussing pre-research writing; reviewing pre-research writing and identifying research topics; discussing searching for resources IWT: searching for information SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on taking responsibility during the information search Q What did you and your partner do today to act responsibly as you looked for resources? Q What problems did you have? What can you do tomorrow to avoid those problems? Why will it be important for you to try to avoid those problems? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.3; 3.2.B.2; 3.2.D.8

Day 11: SWAT: identify and use various sources of information; take notes in their own words; MINILESSON: briefly reviewing; deciding on the topic each partner will research; modeling researching and taking notes; IWT: researching nonfiction topics and taking notes; SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on what students learned Q What is one interesting fact you and your partner learned about your country today? Q As you listened to (___) share about their country, what did you hear that makes you curious? Q What was (interesting/challenging) about doing research today? What suggestions do you have that might help someone else with this challenge? Reflecting on sharing work fairly NJCCCS: 3.2.A.3; 3.2.B.2; 3.2.D.8

Day 12: SWAT: identify and use various sources of information; take notes in their own words; MINILESSON: discussing research process; modeling researching and taking notes; getting ready to work together; IWT: researching nonfiction topics and taking notes SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on researching and taking notes Q Who has an example of a confusing note? What did you do to make the note more understandable? Q What have you learned about taking notes? What suggestions do you have to help others? Q What did you and your partner do to share the work fairly today? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.3; 3.2.B.2; 3.2.D.8

Day 13: SWAT: continue to research topics; take notes in their own words; suggest ideas for their partner’s research; check each other’s notes for understanding; MINILESSON: reviewing notes; IWT: researching nonfiction topics and taking notes; SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on research and taking notes Q If one of your partner’s notes is confusing to you, what are some ways to discuss it respectfully? Q What did you find out today that you thought was particularly interesting? Q Who an example of a confusing note? What did you do to make the note more understandable? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.3; 3.2.A.6; 3.2.B.2; 3.2.D.8

Day 14: SWAT: review and revise their pre-research writing using their notes; continue to research topics and take notes in their own words; MINILESSON: discussing pre-research writing IWT: researching nonfiction topics and taking notes SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on researching and taking notes Q What did you find out today about your pre-research writing? Q Do you feel ready to write your piece? Why or why not? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.3; 3.2.A.6; 3.2.B.2; 3.2.D.8

Day 15: SWAT: agree on and write headings for the topics in their informational piece; organize their notes by topic; MINILESSON: briefly reviewing ways to organize nonfiction; modeling how to write headings and organize notes; discussing how partners will work together; IWT: Writing headings and organizing notes SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on partner work Q Was it easy or hard to think of headings? Why? Q Did you and your partner disagree about anything today? If so, what? What did you do to disagree in a caring way? How did you reach agreement? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.5; 3.2.A.6; 3.2.B.2; 3.2.D.8

Day 16: SWAT: finish their preparation for writing; decide what each partner will write; work responsibly to draft their piece; check each other’s writing for understanding MINILESSON: briefly reviewing; modeling beginning a draft; discussing how partners will work together; IWT: beginning drafting informational pieces; having students work on the following tasks · Finish your research and organize your notes, if necessary · Decide which topic each partner will write about · Begin drafting your own section SHARING & REFLECTING: conferring in pairs about drafts Q Do you understand everything your partner wrote today? If not, what can you ask your partner to help you understand? Q If your partner is confused about something you wrote, how can you revise it to make it clearer? Reflecting on partner work NJCCCS: 3.2.A.5; 3.2.A.6; 3.2.B.2; 3.2.D.8

Day 17: SWAT: draft their informational pieces; make decisions about the completeness of a draft; check each other’s writing for understanding; give feedback in a helpful way MINILESSON: briefly reviewing; discussing how partners will work together; IWT: continuing drafting informational pieces; having students work on the following tasks · Complete the drafts you began last week · Read any finished drafts together and decide whether they are complete and understandable · Choose another heading with notes to work on  SHARING & REFLECTING: conferring in pairs about drafts Q what do you want to remember when giving feedback to your partner? Q What was confusing to your partner? Read that part to us. How did you change it? Read that to us. Reflecting on partner work NJCCCS: 3.2.A.5; 3.2.A.6; 3.2.B.2; 3.2.B.11; 3.2.D.8

Day 18: SWAT: explore and write an introduction for their piece; explore the format of a letter; finish drafting their informational piece; check each other’s writing for understanding; give feedback in a helpful way MINILESSON: exploring introductions; modeling writing a “Dear Reader” letter to introduce your piece; discussing how partners will work together IWT: finishing drafting informational pieces; SHARING & REFLECTING: conferring in pairs and reflecting Q what type of introduction did you decide to write? How did you share the work of writing it? Q Did you and your partner disagree about anything today? If so, what did you do to reach agreement? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.5; 3.2.A.6; 3.2.B.2; 3.2.B.11; 3.2.D.8; 3.2.D.9

Day 19: SWAT: finish their introductions; decide the order of topics for their informational piece; give feedback in a helpful way MINILESSON: modeling ordering information; discussing how partners will work together; IWT: completing drafts and ordering headings SHARING & REFLECTING: preparing for group conferences; conferring in groups; reflecting on feedback received NJCCCS: 3.2.A.5; 3.2.A.6; 3.2.B.2; 3.2.B.3; 3.2.B.10; 3.2.B.11; 3.2.D.8

Day 20: SWAT: proofread for spelling, grammar, and punctuation; use apostrophes to show possession; explore various uses of commas; listen for periods as they read their drafts aloud MINILESSON: briefly reviewing; proofreading: listening for periods and exploring punctuation; reviewing using the word bank and proofreading notes; discussing how partners will work together; IWT: proofreading and writing final versions; SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on proofreading Q What words did you find in your word bank today? How did you check on words that were not in the word bank? Q what corrections did you make in your draft after reviewing your proofreading notes? NJCCCS: 3.2.A.7; 3.2.B.2; 3.2.C.1; 3.2.C.4; 3.2.D.8

Day 21: SWAT: write the final version of their pieces; explore and develop a table of contents; MINILESSON: exploring table of contents; discussing how partners will work together; IWT: writing final versions and a table of contents SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting and ‘previewing” pieces as a class Q What sentences did you hear that made you curious? NJCCCS: 3.2.B.2; 3.2.D.8

Day 22: SWAT: complete final versions of their informational pieces, including tables of contents; MINILESSON: preparing to publish stores; discussing how partners will work together; IWT: working on final versions of informational pieces SHARING & REFLECTING: reflecting on sharing materials fairly and being helpful; Q What did you do today that was helpful to another student or to the class? How did it help? Q What did you do to use our materials fairly? What problems did you have? How can we avoid those problems next time? NJCCCS: 3.2.B.2; 3.2.D.8

Day 23: SWAT: publish their informational pieces; make decisions about how they will present their piece from the author’s chair; ask one another questions about their writing MINILESSON: discussing handling and sharing materials; discussing how partners will work together IWT: publishing pieces and preparing to share SHARING & REFLECTING: reviewing sharing writing from the authors’’ chair; conducting author’s chair sharing; reflecting on audience behavior during author’s chair sharing NJCCCS: 3.2.B.2; 3.2.D.8

Day 24: SWAT: review and reflect on writing nonfiction; finish publishing their pieces; present their pieces from the authors’ chairs; ask one another questions about their writing MINILESSON: reviewing and reflecting on writing nonfiction; IWT: finishing publishing pieces and preparing to share SHARING & REFLECTING: conducting author’s chair sharing; reflecting on interactions and thank one another NJCCCS: 3.2.A.11