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RESEARCH WRITING

- MEETS - Writing

STUDENT CHOICE!

Name:
Date: Class: Guided Student Choice Texts Teacher Worksheet
Mentor Text Analysis: Examining Author’s Craft Step 1: Find possible texts
Mentor Text Title: The best resource to use is your friends and colleagues. What nonfiction research are they
The ways an author writes, or crafts, their story. It includes the techniques the reading? What do they love? My go-to groups are the Facebook professional groups I am a part
Author’s Craft
of. Teacher Twitter is also a fantastic resource. You can also use the Recommended Mentor
author uses to explain their research, as well as the storytelling elements they Texts list on page 134 in the Appendix, and resources that curate lists, like Goodreads and
use to make their writing engaging. Step 2: Complete the following checklist:
Amazon lists. Find books and articles that seem like they might be just right for your class.
Directions: Using your mentor text, answer the following questions about author’s craft.
1. Are the authors respected researchers and authors?
2. Are the texts written in the first person?
1. Who is your author’s audience? How can you tell? How does the author appeal to this 3. Is the writing engaging and conversational?
audience?
4. Is the writing reflective?
5. Do the texts include a description of how the research was conducted?
6. Do the texts include anecdotal information and storytelling?
7. Do the texts include the findings of the research?
8. Do the texts appropriately cite or reference information learned throughout the research process?
9. Are the topics intriguing?
2. What is the purpose of your author’s writing? Is there a universal truth that your author is
uncovering? 10. Do the topics explore interesting aspects of human behavior?
11. Is there an interesting variety of topics represented?
12. Is there a variety of text length and difficulty represented?
research? If you have answered “yes” to all of the above questions, you are ready to move on to step 3!
3. How does the author keep track of—and write about—the data that they learn during their
Step 3: Answer the following questions:
1. How many class periods have you set aside for reading and discussion?
2. What are the various reading levels of your students?
3. What topics and elements would not be acceptable in your community?
Step 4: Have you found the perfect text?
findings? 1. Can the texts you found be read in the amount of time you have available?
4. How does the author discuss how they conducted their research? How do they present their
Lesson Plan 4: 2. Will all students be successful in reading and understanding at least one of the texts?
Step 3: Crafting the Research Question and Methods
Investigating the Mentor Text 3. Are all topics and elements in these texts appropriate for your community?heir mentor texts and have learned the
Now that students have spent some time reading and investigating t
4. Are all of the texts high-interest? Will they appeal to your students?
terminology of investigation, it is time for them to start thinking about their own research questions and
methods. Step 3 guides students through the process of figuring out what they want to investigate and how
they might go about it.
5. Are you excited to facilitate the reading of these books with your students?
Overview Student Choice texts!
If you have answered “yes” to all of the above questions, congratulations! You have found your Guided
During this class period, students will review the terminology of investigation used throughout the Throughout this step, students are still reading their mentor texts on the side, and they should be halfway
19
through their mentor text by the conclusion of Lesson Plan 6.
67
unit. They will determine the premise, research question, argument, and methods of their mentor ©2020 American Eagle Co., Inc.
©2020 American Eagle Co., Inc.
text. Developing a Strong Research Question
Objectives In order for students to conduct thoughtful research and write a quality paper, they must begin with a
thoughtful and high-quality research question. This is often difficult for students who don’t know where to
Say goodbye to bland, boring, and formulaic Students will review the terminology of an investigation. start or what questions they want to ask. In addition, students often begin with questions that can easily be
answered with a simple internet search.
Students will investigate their mentor texts.
research papers, and hello to Teaching the Students will begin to brainstorm questions they might want to investigate. One way to help students think beyond easily answered questions is to ask them:
What questions do you have that Wikipedia TM can’t answer?
Vocabulary
Research Paper They Want to Write! This Premise An assumption. It’s a statement that is assumed to be true. The researcher’s These questions can be philosophical in nature, or they can be about sociological or behavioral issues, or
they can explore health or fitness topics. Direct students back to their mentor texts. What questions are the
research-based reading and writing unit Research premise is the underlying ideas and starting assumptions. authors asking? Why are they asking them? It is important to stress that students do not have to ask the same
questions or use the same research methods as their mentor text author.
The question (or questions) that the researcher wants to answer about their topic
provides a framework for you to facilitate Question of study. The research question comes from the premise. Another way to get students thinking is to model what brainstorming a research question looks like, as done
in Lesson Plan 6. This modeling can help students frame their own questions.
Argument
The researcher’s attempt to persuade someone of something, by giving reasons
students’ reading of intriguing, high- Methods for accepting a particular conclusion as evident Crowdsourcing Ideas
The series of steps the researcher took to acquire knowledge
Crowdsourcing is the practice of getting information, input, and feedback on a project from a large group of
quality modern informational texts while Standards Alignment Duration people, and it is a great way for students to refine their ideas. Once students think they have a question, have
them create a presentation proposing their research question with a slide for each of the questions (see Lesson
Plan 7). This will help students solidify and verbalize their plan. Students then present their proposals to the
simultaneously supporting students’ writing CCSS.RI.11-12.2 50 minutes or less resources and ideas to their research plan.
class and crowdsource for ideas. Often, great resources come from the audience, and students can add these
CCSS.RI.11-12.3
of personal and evidence-based research CCSS.RI.11-12.6 Materials In addition, having students crowdsource their ideas creates an interest in the research projects. At the end
of the project, students share their findings and experiences in a final presentation. Crowdsourcing at the
beginning builds excitement and momentum. Students want to know how each other’s projects turned out,
and what their peers learned.
papers. The process uses mentor texts from Students’ mentor text(s)
entertaining, best-selling authors, and teaches Mentor Text Analysis: Outlining the Investigation
students to explore, analyze, and investigate. Teaching the Research Paper They Want to Write 48
Following the model of the mentor texts, 37 ©2020 American Eagle Co., Inc.
students then formulate their own research
questions and crowdsource research ideas. Throughout this unit, students become investigative reporters,
researching what the experts say and investigating phenomena in
their own lives. By the end, students have crafted thoughtful, well-
structured, and evidence-based research papers, and incorporated
their own personal reflections. Their subsequent writing is fresh,
inspiring, and interesting. With this process, teaching research
writing becomes a joy, and the final papers are a joy to read.
Reproducible. 139 pages.
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Sole Source All Levels High School Middle School Common Core Social-Emotional 37