Through an online writing project, students develop their research skills, and build their knowledge of the topic. They learn about how to write an information report, and then through the writing process, they draft, provide peer feedback, revise, and submit their own work for publication.

This Update aims to:

• Engage students in the topic by valuing their background knowledge about the topic.
• Develop their confidence to post to the Scholar learning community, interact with others, and express their thoughts in full sentences in blog-like interactions.
• Establish working collaboratively, using their collective intelligence in an online learning community.

While students work collaboratively and independently on completing this Update, the teacher can support students who require extra help to think about the topic and compose their responses. Encourage students to read other students' posts so they don't repeat comments.

Posting comments is a form of accountability, promotes reflection, and develops students’ writing skills and confidence to work in Scholar.

Main CCSS Focus

W.5.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

This Update supports students to explore vocabulary and spelling in the context of a short videoclip. The aim of the Update is for students to establish an Interesting Words file/spelling journal at the beginning of this module so that students can add words to it throughout the activities that follow. At the same time, by viewing the short videoclip about Ellis Island, they are also increasing what they know about immigration to the USA.

Ask students to set up an ‘Interesting Words’ file. This can be a digital file or a vocabulary/spelling journal that is a record of frequently used words, personally significant words, topic or domain specific words. To use this file effectively, students need modelling and overt instruction through ‘think alouds’ in which the teacher pretends to be a student as he she/he tries to work out the meaning of a word from context, looks up sources to define words, and uses spelling strategies. This overt instruction can be with a whole class or small groups, and should be limited to five to 10 minute sessions at different times throughout the module. Students may work collaboratively with their peers to discuss definitions and spelling strategies, and do partner testing of spelling words. This will enable the teacher to offer further individualized support and focused mini lessons for students who require it.

Model how to use contextual clues such as looking at words, phrases and sentences that immediately follow the word, which might provide a definition through a restatement, example, contrast, comparison, cause/effect relationship or condition. A word's position or function in a sentence can be a clue. Transition words such as similarly, on the other hand, and if can also be clues.

Model and display spelling strategies such as using spelling patterns, generalizations, sounding out, chunking, visual memory, and analogy. Use ‘think alouds’ to identify and highlight the difficult part or special feature that will help students to remember how to spell a particular word. Teach students to use a Look, Say, Cover, Visualize, Write, Check strategy in partner testing of spelling words.

Use word study to explore word origins and discover generalizations about English spelling. Word study also increases specific knowledge of words – the spelling and meaning of individual words. Focus on word origins, base words, prefixes, suffixes, morphemes and uncommon plurals.

CCSS Focus

L.5.4a: Use context (e.g., cause/effect relationships and comparisons in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

L.5.4b: Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g.,telegraph, photograph, autograph (grade 4); photograph, photosynthesis (grade 5); audience, auditory, audible (grade 6); belligerent, bellicose, rebel (grade 7); and precede, recede, secede (grade 8)).

L.5.4c: Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of keys words and phrases.

L.5.6: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships (e.g., however, although, nevertheless, similarly, moreover, in addition).

RL.5.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

The project information is introduced at this early stage of the project so students know the focus of their research and to make it purposeful and relevant to them. The next Update, Update 4, supports students to use the Structure Tool to outline their work so they can add notes from their research directly into Scholar.

At this stage students will have only limited information to start their work, so encourage them to create a title and to look at the rubric. If necessary, look through the rubric with students.

Rubric for Immigration Writing Project

For first time users of Scholar, the following Overt Instruction Updates from The Writer's Toolkit: Strategies for Writing in the New Media may be useful to add to Community:

• How to Write in Scholar
• Using the Rubric and Checker

CCSS Focus

W.5.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

W.5.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose and audience.

W.5.6: Use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing, and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

The Structure Tool supports students to develop an initial structure for their text and add more notes as they research, refine the elements of their text, and draft new versions, transforming their notes into well written text.

Emphasize to students that now the structure of their information text is done, they can add notes as they research. The next two activities focus on researching information. More able students should be encouraged to change the structure of their texts as they research more information.

The videoclip: Group research into categories to plan informational writing is from the Learn Zillion library of resources.

For first time users of Scholar, the following Overt Instruction Update from The Writer's Toolkit: Strategies for Writing in the New Media may be useful to add to Community:

• Planning Using the Structure Tool

CCSS Focus

W.5.5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.

This Update supports students to research and add facts about immigration to the Structure Tool in Creator. It is the first opportunity to gather information for the information report. Encourage students to record notes using bullet points rather than pasting text from the primary source materials. Some students should be encouraged to focus on one country, or one immigration center, while others may be extended to focus on more.

Other interesting resources that you might point your students to include:

• Library of Congress Immigration Resources

CCSS Focus

W.5.7: Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

W.5.8: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize of paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.

This Update builds on Update 5, moving students from researching facts to focusing on the experiences of immigrants. This will provide two different focus points for their research. Encourage students to collect direct quotes by immigrants as a form of evidence.

Complementing this Learning Module through suggestions of books for students to read or through reading a story to students will help them to understand the experiences of immigrants. Some suggestions:

Children's Books about the Refugee/Immigrant Experience

Books about Angel Island

Immigrant Kids by Scott Foresman

Journey to Ellis Island by Carol Bierman

Ellis Island (True Books - American History) by Elaine Landau

Hannah's Journal: The Story of an Immigrant Girl by Marissa Moss

If Your Name was Changed at Ellis Island Ellen Levine

How Many Days to America? A Thanksgiving Story by Eve Bunting

One Green Apple by Eve Bunting

The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland

CCSS Focus

W.5.7: Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

W.5.8: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize of paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.

This Update focuses on building students skills to write information reports. Having recorded bullet points in the Structure Tool, this video from the Learn Zillion English Language Arts resources will help students to expand the bullet points into complete sentences.

Students can rewatch the video as often as is needed to reinforce the skill. Provide further individualized support to students who require it.

CCSS Focus

W. 5.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

W.5.2a: Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically, include formatting (e.g. headings), illustrations, and mutlimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

W.5.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

This Update focuses on building students skills to write information reports, particularly focusing on how to write an introduction. This video from the Learn Zillion English Language Arts resources will help students to introduce the topic with a hook question and write a preview.

Students can rewatch the video as often as is needed to reinforce the skills. Provide further individualized support to students who require it.

CCSS Focus

W. 5.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

W.5.2a: Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically, include formatting (e.g. headings), illustrations, and mutlimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

W.5.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

This Update focuses on building students skills to write information reports. These two videos from the Learn Zillion English Language Arts resources will help students to write a conclusion and add text features.

Students can rewatch the videos as often as is needed to reinforce the skills. Provide further individualized support to students who require it.

CCSS Focus

W. 5.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

W.5.2a: Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically, include formatting (e.g. headings), illustrations, and mutlimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

W.5.2e: Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented.

W.5.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

This update covers the review and revision phases of the writing process in Scholar:

The following Overt Instruction Updates from The Writer's Toolkit: Strategies for Writing in the New Media may be useful to add to Community. They may be used with first time users or it may be appropriate to introduce them in a second writing project so students learn about the features of Scholar over time.

• Constructive Feedback: Annotations - this guides students in how to provide specific feedback through Annotations.
• Constructive Feedback: Reviews - this describes types of feedback such as critical, cheerleader and constructive feedback.

Refer to Analytics to monitor how students are progressing with their writing and reviews.

CCSS Focus

W.5.5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.

W.5.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

L.5.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing.

L.5.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation and spelling when writing.

This Update focuses on metacognition of what makes quality informational writing. It also provides students with access to models of successful writing.

Notifications of publication are provided to the creator and all reviewers.

Ask students to look over other people’s published works - have them read at least two or three works. Ask them to comment on something interesting they learned from reading other students’ work.

CCSS Focus

W.5.5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.

W.5.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

L.5.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing.

L.5.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation and spelling when writing.