Performance Task for Writing A Research Paper
Link Elementary School

Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.

Human decisions and activities have had a profound impact on the physical and living environment

Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.

ELA Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read and write for information and understanding.

As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Speaking and writing to acquire and transmit information requires asking probing and clarifying questions, interpreting information in one’s own words, applying information from one context to another, and presenting the information and interpretation clearly, concisely, and comprehensibly.

MST 4/Key Idea 7/Elementary Level Students:

Identify ways in which humans have changed their environment and the effects of those changes.

MST 2/ Key Idea 1/Elementary Level Students:

Use a variety of equipment and software packages to enter, process, display, and communicate information in different forms using text, tables, pictures, and sound.

ELA 1/Key Idea2/Elementary Level Students:

Present information clearly in a variety of oral and written forms such as summaries, paraphrases, brief reports, stories, posters, and charts

Elect a focus, organization, and point of view for oral and written presentations

Use a few traditional structures for conveying information such as chronological order, cause and effect, and similarity and difference

Use details, examples, anecdotes, or personal experiences to explain or clarify information

Include relevant information and exclude extraneous material

Use the process of pre-writing, drafting, revising and proofreading (the "writing process") to produce well-constructed informational texts

Observe basic writing conventions, such as correct spelling punctuation, and capitalization, as well as sentence and paragraph structures appropriate to written forms.

 

The student will understand how to write a research report.

The student will understand how to analyze, interpret, synthesize and present information and concepts to fellow classmates

The student will understand how organizing information can assist in making an informed decision.

The student will understand how to think critically about a topic to come up with a solution for a problem.

SKILLS:

The student will be able to integrate information from a variety of sources.

The student will use the writing process to use and organize their research notes to write a well-developed research paper.

The student will use Kidspiration to organize their research and brainstorm ideas for a solution to the problem.

The student will write a Baker-Keyhole essay with an introductory paragraph that includes a thesis statement. This will be followed by two to three supporting paragraphs with topic sentences, relevant details and examples, and smooth transitions. A conclusion that restates the thesis and summarizes the details will complete their report.

The student will use statistics, quotes and a primary source in writing the essay.

       The student will use word processing skills to present their essay.

In the fifth grade Social Studies curriculum, the students are required to independently write a research report on a topic of their choice. To properly prepare them for this task, a WebQuest ( http://www.ccsd.edu/link/LMS/galapagos/survivor.htm ) was designed to model how to write a well-developed research paper. The student will be applying the writing process and previously learned word processing skills.

After reading for information and taking notes from at least five resources including an encyclopedia, a primary source, web sites, and a magazine article, the student will write a Baker-Keyhole essay to explain what is threatening the indigenous wildlife on the Galapagos Islands. Based on their research, they will recommend solutions to protect the animals from possible extinction.

Each student should have access to a computer or laptop with Microsoft Word and Kidspiration.

        Students should have their completed research notes on the Galapagos Islands.

        TIME: One Week (a 40-minute block each day)

After students have gathered their research notes from 3 to 5 resources including a primary source, the teacher should have mini-lessons on the parts of a Baker-Keyhole essay. Modeling specific writing skills like summarizing, writing general and thesis statements about the topic, developing introductory and concluding paragraphs and topic and transition sentences are an important part of the process. Kidspiration should be introduced as a great way to organize research notes and as a tool to brainstorm ideas for solutions. Students need to be made aware that not all the facts they uncovered during their research are appropriate for inclusion in their report. They should only include facts that support their thesis statement. This needs to be modeled for them.