Through an online writing project, students develop their reading skills, and build their knowledge of the qualities of ordinary people who lead extraordinary lives. They learn about the structure and language features of informative/explanatory texts, and then through the writing process, they draft, provide peer feedback, revise, and submit their own work for publication.

Main CCSS Focus

W.7.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

The activity aims to:

• Engage students in the topic by valuing their interest in different kinds of people.
• 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 Community 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.

Updates of the CNN Heroes videoclips are available each year.

CCSS Focus

SL.7.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

SL.7.1c: Pose questions that elicit elaboration and respond to other' questions and comments with relevant observations and ideas that bring the discussion back on topic as needed.

SL.7.1d: Acknowledge new information expressed by others and, when warranted, modify their own views.

Use the TED talks to further develop students’ understanding of the concept of what makes a person extraordinary and how to practice the reading strategy of inferring. Encourage students to read/view and respond to the texts through comments in Community. If students are unable to find their own TED talks, they can refer to one in the list provided.

As students research a topic, they have the opportunity to develop their reading and research skills, focusing on reading strategies such as inferring. Inferring is difficult for many students as it may require knowledge not presented in the text.

It is important that students read and respond to the whole text so that they understand the text at the literal level. Provide an example of evidence and an inference from the text as a model for students as they complete the table.

Students may refer to their completed charts when they write their own texts. However, for accountability, students may also be required to submit them to the teacher through Submissions in Community.

CCSS Focus

RL.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

RL.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and provide an objective summary of the text.

This survey will provide baseline data on students’ reading comprehension. It also introduces a model of an informative/explanatory text and vocabulary to describe the extraordinary qualities of ordinary people. Students could consult a dictionary as they complete the survey as a way of extending rather than just testing vocabulary knowledge.

Survey Results: Go to the Survey Tool in Publisher. Then go to Find a Survey => Already Distributed Surveys => Results.

To provide extra support to students, post the following Overt Instruction Update from the Writer’s Toolkit: Strategies for Writing Informative /Explanatory Texts in the New Media to Community if they need to focus on this aspect of writing at this time. Alternatively, individualized or small group support may be provided through structured mini-lessons.

• Vocabulary and Spelling

CCSS Focus

RL.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

RL.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings.

Assigning the project to the students at this stage is important to set clear expectations, and also so students understand how the activities that follow will support them.

Students may begin their writing task on the person in their Community Update, and after researching further, continue to develop it for their final informative/explanatory text. Alternatively, they may select someone else as the focus for their project. Encourage each student to choose a different person. That way, they will be reading something interesting and new when they do their peer reviews, then finally read published works.

As students will be sharing the focus of their research in Community, they will not be completely anonymous in the review process. However, in setting up the project, reviewers can still be anonymous.

As students begin to draft their work, encourage them to use the Structure tool to organize some of the key ideas they have gathered from the reading and inferring activities. The Structure tool supports students to develop an initial structure for their text, including notes based on their background knowledge. As they continue to research their focus person and collaboratively come up with the qualities that make an ordinary person extraordinary through the following activities, they add more notes, refine the elements of their text, and draft new versions, transforming their notes into well written text.

Students should also refer to the rubric as a guide as they write in Creator. If necessary, look through the rubric with students.

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
• Planning Using the Structure Tool

Project Rubric

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

CCSS Focus

W.7.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

W.7.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose and audience.

W.7.6: 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.

As students research their focus person, they continue to practice and develop their reading and research skills, focusing on inferring and summarizing. Some students may need to revise summarizing. To provide extra support to students, post the following Overt Instruction Update from the Writer’s Toolkit: Reading Strategies for Writing in the New Media to Community if you believe they need to focus on this aspect of writing at this time. Alternatively, individualized or small group support may be provided through structured mini-lessons.

• Reading and Summarizing

The Comment in Community is an example of collaborative knowledge building as students will generate suggestions and vocabulary to describe extraordinary qualities that other students might find useful.

CCSS Focus

SL.7.1: Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; refer to evidence on the topic, to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.

RL.7.1: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

RL.7.2: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and provide an objective summary of the text.

In this activity students use internet search skills to find more information about their topic. Encourage students to check the reliability of the link they have found by finding out the author and the date it was written, and cross referencing it with other sites and their prior knowledge of the topic. Support individual students to locate and evaluate the information.

However, if this Overt Instruction Update is omitted, students could simply include the reference in the body of the text where it has been used. Source: [Title of text or website].

CCSS Focus

SL.7.1b: Pose questions and respond to others’ questions and comments.

W.7.6: 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.

W.7.8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

Survey Tip: This survey will provide baseline data on students’ knowledge of the structural and language features of an informative /explanatory text. It will also provide definitions of terms which students can refer to as they complete the activities that follow.

Survey Results: Go to the Survey Tool in Publisher. Then go to Find a Survey => Already Distributed Surveys => Results.

Based on the Survey results, post the following Overt Instruction Updates from the Writer’s Toolkit: Strategies for Writing Informative/Explanatory Texts to Community if you believe students need to focus on this aspect of writing at this time. Alternatively, individualized or small group support may be provided through structured mini-lessons.

• Transition Words
• Structure of Informative/Explanatory Texts

Alternatively, individualized or small group support may be provided through structured mini-lessons.

CCSS Focus

W.7.2a: Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g. headings), graphics (e.g. charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

W.7.2b: Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.

W.7.2c: Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

W.7.2d: Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

W.7.2e: Establish and maintain a formal style.

W.7.2f: Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.

In this activity, students reflect on what they have learned about definitions of grammatical features from the surveys about Harriet Tubman. They also refer to the Rubric and an information sheet on transition words in order to learn about choices they can make when they write their text in Creator.

Information about Transition Words, is posted in the Community Update so students can refer to it as they annotate the online text of Harriet Tubman’s biography. This activity supports students to revise transition words in order to create cohesion in texts. Students can insert transition words in the Tubman text, writing in their suggestions, or with a partner, rereading paragraphs with their suggested transition words.

The structure of an informative/explanatory text helps to achieve its purpose by:

• Clearly stating an idea through the topic sentence.
• Including elaboration supported by evidence in the form of relevant facts, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
• Ensuring the writer does not go off on tangents which are not relevant to the topic.

To provide extra support to students, post the following Overt Instruction Updates from the Writer’s Toolkit to Community if they need to focus on this aspect of writing at this time. Alternatively, individualized or small group support may be provided through structured mini-lessons.

• Paragraphs in Informative/Explanatory Texts
• Writing Different Kinds of Informative/Explanatory Text Sentences

CCSS Focus

W.7.2c: Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion.

SL.7.1c: Pose questions that elicit elaboration and respond to others’ questions and comments with relevant observations and ideas that bring the discussion back on topic as needed.

This update covers two stages of the writing process in Scholar: Review and Revision.

The following Overt Instruction Updates from the Writer's Toolkit 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.
• Revision Phase - this focuses on how to use the feedback students receive to improve their writing, and includes writing a self review.

Before the students submit their final work, run the Analytics. Check the percentage of text revised between one draft and the next, the number of words currently written and the grade level of the writing. You may wish to ask some students to do more work before they submit.

CCSS Focus

W.7.5: 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.7.6: 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.7.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing.

L.7.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation and spelling when writing.

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

This reflection activity promotes student metacognition about what makes quality writing by reading and reflecting on other students’ writing. 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.

Refer to the Analytics to see how students have performed.

CCSS Focus

W.7.6: 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.