This article describes how to guide elementary students through writing a research report. The first article in this series described how to organize information.

The identification of clay mineral assemblages in soils provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate how basic principles of petrology and geochemistry are applied to engineering design criteria in construction site preparation. Specifically, the problem investigates the conditions leading to the formation of smectite in soils and the resulting construction risk due to soil expansion. Students examine soils developed on igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks near Denver, Colorado. The field locations are areas of suburban growth and several have expansive soil problems. The 2-week exercise includes sample collection, description, and preparation, determining clay mineralogy by XRD, and measurement of Atterberg Plasticity Indices. This problem develops skills in X-ray diffraction analysis as applied to clay mineralogy, reinforces leacture material on the geochemistry of weathering, and demonstrates the role of petrologic characterization in site engineering.

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Web Writing (2023) by Dr. A Nicole Pfannenstiel is designed to provide a practical, rhetorical approach to web writing and content strategy analysis for students completing advanced writing courses. The eTextbook uses the rhetorical situation and key concepts to help readers/students understand how to write within specific web spaces for specific audiences drawing on appropriate discourse community conventions. It includes a chapter devoted to the rhetorical situation and key concepts to help students analyze and build their understanding of existing communication. It also includes a chapter outlining approaches to content strategy analysis, using the rhetorical situation and key concepts to understand the rich public data provided through social media accounts to support learners understanding effective web writing. The content analysis overview helps students build skills for analyzing writing, for collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative social media data, and for drawing conclusions about content strategy best practices.

A rubric in student language written for middle school students to self-assess their writing on their Websites.

About once a week, which approximately corresponds to each chapter covered, students are required to write a 2-3 paragraph reflection on the material covered in class. They may use information found in the book, or their experiences during lecture and lab, but they need to discuss their thoughts on the material. This written assignment encourages students to think more deeply about the material discussed, as well as to become more comfortable with the writing process.

This resource was created by Sally Kneifl, in collaboration with Dawn DeTurk, Hannah Blomstedt, and Julie Albrecht, as part of ESU2's Integrating the Arts project. This project is a four year initiative focused on integrating arts into the core curriculum through teacher education, practice, and coaching.

Students will learn and be able to practice how to write a good sentence using punctution!

Johnson, L., & Lafferty, I. (2014, September 2). What is academic writing? [Video Tutorial]. Retrieved from Lisajohnsonphd on YouTube: http://youtu.be/Zn8Ja92b3ZI

This lesson plan addresses the ways people learn about events from the past and discusses how historical accounts are influenced by the perspective of the person giving the account. To understand that history is made up of many people's stories of the past, students interview family members about the same event and compare the ifferent versions, construct a personal history timeline and connect it to larger historical events, and synthesize eyewitness testimony from different sources to create their own "official" account.

This is a introductory lab exercise that is intended to convey the concept of the logarithmic scale used for earthquake magnitude. The students will visualize magnitude as a distance over the ground, by using a contrived conversion between magnitude and distance. Using distances helps the students understand how logarithmic scales, like magnitude, work because this is one of the few scales that students are familiar with that spans several orders of magnitude. Students typically use calculators to determine the distance associated with each magnitude. Maps should be provided in the lab/classroom that are on several scales: campus maps, city maps, state maps, and a national map work well. This activity gives the students practice in making unit conversions and in developing arguments by analogy.
Addresses student fear of quantitative aspect and/or inadequate quantitative skills
Addresses student misconceptions

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

A good story includes who the story is about (the characters), what it is about (the plot) and where it takes place (the setting). A storyteller can create any story with these building blocks. As readers, when we can identify these elements in a story, we can better interpret, understand and respond to it. Additionally, it's entertaining when we can tell it in different ways, such as through the rhyming style of rap. In this video segment from JAKERS!, a storyteller tells a story in the form of a rap and incorporates the story elements of who, what and where.

Students will watch a video of a storyteller coming up with a rap that tells a story. They will identify story elements (who, what, and where), and record significant details. The next lesson plan ,Using Story Elements to Write a Rap, has students creating their own rap with the story elements.

This writing piece is an introductory writing assignment for 7-12 students to explore their strengths while demonstrating their writing abilities, as well as how to do basic MLA format and a citation.Although it is natural for humans to focus on their defects and become overly critical, this writing piece requires students to focus on their assets and celebrate them while supporting these traits with specific examples to bring them to life. This writing lesson was created by Janelle Coady as part of the 2020 OER English Language Arts Workshop by NDE. The attached plan is designed for Grade 9 English Language Arts students but could also be used for any students 7-12th.It is expected that this plan will take students 3-5 days to complete."This is Who I Am" by Wallpaper Flare is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Why Writing Works: Disciplinary Approaches to Composing Texts is an open-access, online textbook resource for college writing. It is written for an audience of second-year college students with a focus on writing in the disciplines.

First and second grade students will study diverse historic characters that have contributed to improve the community they lived in. Students will be guided to reflect on how these characters’ work has changed the world. Students will synthesize learning in writing and create a visual representation of their understanding of the topic. Consequently, they will present it to their classmates to receive and provide feedback to each other. The second part of the unit will incorporate students’ personal perspective about how to improve the community and what they would do to contribute to it. Students will follow same process as in the first part of the unit. They will complete the writing and visual piece to present to their classmates, explain their rationale and receive feedback from peers. During this unit, students will learn how to provide feedback and receive feedback in a respectful way that contributes to the learning environment.

This resource contains an overview of the resource, printable forms, and student samples.

A town board based classroom scenario where students decide what to do with a parcel of land on the shoreline of a lake. Various interested parties try to purchase, but must answer town board questions in the process. Real issues of land-use, resource allocation, ethics, planning, and impacts.

An instructor resource to accompany The Word on College Reading and Writing, which is an open educational resource (OER) for developing college readers and writers.

Use wordless picture book, Mirror by Jeannie Parker, to teach writing skills. Even though this lesson is aligned to 6th grade, it can be used across grade levels.

This handbook is designed for a generalized business writing course that seeks to meet the needs of a variety of student majors and career interests. In it you will find: descriptions and discussions of common genres, both routine and formal, print and electronic, and in-class activities and sample assignments. You will also find commentary on how to adapt the writing process to the rhetorical constraints of a workplace as well as how to think about, conduct, and use research outside an academic setting. Throughout you will note a persistent emphasis on audience awareness and direct style.