English10

UNIT:
SynthesisEssay
LESSONTOPIC:
CloselyReadingSourcesandEvaluatingResearch
AIMQUESTION:
WhatmoredoIneedtoknowaboutmyareaofinvestigation?
SCAFFOLDING
:Studentsareorganizingtheirevidenceandclaimsusinggraphicorganizers.

CENTRALFOCUS:
Thecentralfocusofthislessonisforstudentstosynthesizetheinformationfrom
theirsourcestodeterminewhattheyhavelearnedandwhatmoretheyneedtoknowabouttheirareaof
investigationtocompletetheirinquiry.Studentswilldothisbypresentingtheirclaimstotheirpeersina
debateandtheirpeerswillquestion,commentandmakesuggestionsthatwillguide/extendresearch.

A.LEARNINGTARGETS

Studentswillbeabletoreviewinformationinnotesforpatterns,ideasandevidencerelatedto
researchquestionsandrefineinquiryquestionsaccordingly.Studentswillaccomplishthisby
synthesizingtheinformationfromthesourcesandevaluatingingroupsthematerialwithrespect
totheirResearchFrame.

Studentswillbeabletopresenttheirclaimsfromkeysourcesinadebate,referringtotextual
referencestosupportclaimsanddeepentheirunderstandingofthetexts.

B.COMMONCORESTANDARDS
W.7:
Conductashortaswellasmoresustainedresearchprojecttoanswerorsolveaproblemnarrowor
broadentheinquirywhenappropriate,synthesizemultiplesourcesonthesubjectanddemonstrate
understandingofthesubjectunderinvestigation
W.8:
Gatherrelevantinformationfrommultipleauthoritativeprintanddigitalsources,assessthe
usefulnessofeachsource,integrateinformationintothetextselectivelyandcitesources
W.9:
Drawevidencefrominformationaltextstosupportanalysis,reflectionandresearch
RI.7:
Analyzevariousaccountsofasubjecttoldindifferentmediums,determiningwhichdetailsare
emphasizedineachsource
SL.1:
Initiateandparticipateeffectivelyinarangeofcollaborativediscussionswithdiversepartners,
buildingonothersideasandexpressingtheirownclearlyandpersuasively
SL.2:
Integratemultiplesourcesofinformationpresentedindiversemediaorformats,evaluatingthe
credibilityandaccuracyofeachsource

C.VOCABULARY

Credibility,Relevance,Accessibility,InquiryPath,Analyze,Synthesize,Areaof
Investigation,ResearchFrame,Assessing,EvidenceBasedClaims,Details,Paraphrase,
Counterclaim
D.MATERIALS
SMARTboardpresentation,WhyShouldSchoolsHaveaLiteratureCurriculum?Article,
NewYork
Timesarticle,
FormingEvidenceBasedClaimsHandoutandtheTakingNotesHandoutthatwas
completedforhomework

E.MOTIVATION
Studentswereaskedtointerviewtheirparentsabouttheirschooling.Basedontheirresearchthusfar,
studentswillsharewithapartnerhowandiftheirparentseducationwassimilarordifferenttothe
IndependentProjectschoolinMassachusettsthatstudentswatchedin
TheWashingtonPost
video.
Studentsalsoaskedtheirparentswhetherornotschoolshouldbestructuredornotstructuredstudents
willdiscusswhetherornottheydisagreewiththeirparentsbasedontheresearchandsourcestheyhave
gatheredwithapartner.

F.DONOW
GrammarActivity:Itisimportanttovarythestructureofyoursentencesinyourwriting.Combinethe
followingsimplesentencesintoonetwosentences:
Theycouldforeseeatime.
Thetimewasofsoldiersendingtheirbattles.
Theycouldforesee,inaddition,aperiodofpermanenttruce.
Theywouldbenegotiatingtheirdisputes.
Thedisputeswereaboutpolitics.
Thedisputeswereabout,inaddition,manyoftheoldarguments.
Theywouldbelivingpeacefullywithindissent.

G.ACTIVITIES
1) Workinginpairs,studentswillsharetheevidencebasedclaimstheydevelopedforhomework.
2) Volunteerswillcomeuptotheboardandsharetheirclaims.Studentswillaskeachotherifthey
agreewiththeclaim,orhadasimilarclaimwithdifferentevidencefromthetext.Teacherwill
emphasizehowclosereadingofatextcanbringaboutmultipleclaimsandhowtheForming
EvidenceBasedClaimshandoutcanbeusedmultipletimesforthesamesource.
Itisimportant

thatstudentsdevelopclaimsthatanswertheirinquiryquestionandselectkeysourcesthatwill
answertheirinquiryquestion.
a) Teacherwillsuggestthatstudentsmightwanttousedifferentcolorhighlighters/pensto
annotatefordifferentinquiryquestionsontheirsecondreadingofatext.Thiswould
enablestudentstoseerepeatedinformationfrommultiplesources,identifygaps,make
connectionsbetweenthedetailscollected,andidentifynewinvestigationpathsasneeded.
Teacherwillencouragestudentstohaveasourcethatanswerseachinquirypath.
3) DEBATE:WhoShouldDesignCurriculum?StudentswilldebatethequotefromSenechalsarticle
Schoolsshouldselect,arrange,andteachspecificworksofliterature,(Senechal2)usingtextual
evidencefrommultiplesourcestomakeclaimsandengageindiscourseaboutthedesignofthe
schoolcurriculuminastudentleddiscussion.
a) Theteachersetsparametersforthedebate:
teacherwillcallonstudentstospeak,but
thisispredominantlyastudentleddiscussion.Studentsmustnotcalloutandmustwait
fortheirpeerstofinishtheirthoughtsthisistoavoidstudentsgettingcutoff.
i)

Studentswillconferwiththeircaucusgrouptogoovertheirstrategy/evidence.

ii)

Studentswillmakethecasefortheirside.

iii)

Halftime:Studentswillconferagainwithcaucusgrouptopreparerebuttal.

iv)

Rebuttalandconcludingthoughts

H.DIFFERENTIATEDINSTRUCTION

Duringgroupwork,teacherwillmeetwithgroupstoreteachanidea/skilland/orextendthe
thinkingofadvancedlearners.

Astudentintheclasshasadeficitinprocessingspeedthatcanimpactstudentperformance.
Studenthasdifficultywithpentopapertasks,whichimpactsabilitytotakenotesstudentwillbe
providedwithcopyofclassnotes.PowerPointPresentationwillbeuploadedtoGoogle
Classroom.

Advancedlearnersmaypursuethetopicingreaterdepththroughresearchfindingsourcesthey
canusefortheiressay.Studentsmayalsobeginsynthesizingsourcesandwritingtheiressay.

Accommodation:Passagesanddirectionsforassignmentsarereadaloudtostudents.

Strugglingreadersareprovidedwithvocabularytoassisttheirreadingofthearticle.

Samplenotetakingandclaimsaredoneinclasstoprovidestudentswithanexampleofthetask
theyaretocomplete.

Visuallearnersusedifferentcoloredpenstoorganizeresearch

Strugglingreadersareprovidedwithparaphrasesofdifficultsectionsofthearticle

I.H.O.T.(KEY)QUESTIONS

Whereistheevidencethatsupportsyourclaim?Askanotherstudentiftheyagreeordisagree
withtheclaim,andhowtheirclaimdiffered.

Howdoesthisclaimaddressyourinquirydifferentlythananothersourceyouexamined?

Howdoestheauthorsacknowledgementofcounterclaimsaffecttheirargument?

Whathaveyoulearnedaboutthepresentersareaofinvestigation?

Howwouldyourespondtothatclaimandtheopposingsidescounterclaims?

Doyouthinkitisacceptableforateachertodictatewhichnovelsarejunkandwhicharenot?

J.ASSESSMENT
InformalAssessment:Teacherwillcircleroomasstudentsconferbeforethedebate.Teacherwill
informallyassessstudentsclaimsaboutthearticlesandaskquestionstopromptstudentstoconsider
howtheopposingsidewillargue.
Howwillyourespondtoopposingsidescounterclaim?
FormalAssessment:FormingEvidenceBasedClaimshandoutandtheTakingNoteshandoutthatwas
completedforhomeworkwillbeincludedinthestudentsresearchportfolios.Teacherwillbeableto
assesshowstudentsareabletomakeinferencesanddrawconclusionsfromsources,communicatetheir
claimstotheirpeersinthedebateandselfevaluationofresearchintheexitticketaretoolsthatwill
informteacherifstudentsneedextendedtimeindevelopingtheirclaims,assistanceinfindingsources,
and/orredirectionforResearchFrame

K.CLOSURE
Onanexitslip,studentswillanswer:
Whatdidyouheartodayinthedebatethatyoudidnotconsider
beforehand?Howcanitbeusedinyourpaper?Aftertodaysdebate,whatresearchmustyoudoto
strengthenyourargument?

L.HowwillIreinforceandextendstudentlearning?
1.

CLASSROOMAPPLICATIONS:SMARTBoard,GoogleClassroom,sourcesfordebate,andhandouts
adaptedfromJudsonOdellssynthesisunit.Vocabularyisreinforcedfrompreviouslessonsandthe
donowreinforcesstudentlearningofsentencevariety.Studentlearningisextendedwhenstudents
collaborateandengageindiscussionaboutcontrastingopinionsaboutthedesignoftheschool
curriculum.

2.ENRICHMENTACTIVITIES:Studentsmaybeginsynthesizingtheirsourcesandwritingadraftof
theiressay.Studentsmayalsousesourcesbeyondtheminimumrequiredbytheteacher.
3.HOMEWORK:Bringintwosourcesyoufoundforyouressay.Pleasereadandtakenotesonthe
sourcesandformaclaimforeachsource.Bepreparedtosharewithapartner.

M.Whattopicscomenext?
1.TOMORROW:SynthesisUnitOrganizingEvidenceBasedClaimsandEstablishingaPosition
2.DAYAFTER:SynthesisUnitPeerReviewofDraftEssays