R
An Integrated
Approach to
Expository Writing
High School
Writing
Applications
Text Analysis
Academic
Vocabulary
Writing
Process
Assessment
Strategies
LE
Writing
Strategies
P
Writing
Conventions
M
Critical
Thinking
Skills
SA
San Diego County Office of Education
Systematic, explicit instruction using the
reciprocal processes of reading and writing
to support content literacy
HS TOC iii-iv
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Table of Contents
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing: High School
Table of Contents
Preface………………………………………………………………………………………
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………..
Introduction.…………………………………………………………………………………
Lesson Sequence and Teacher Resources
English/Language Arts: Explanatory Essay
Module One: Rationale for Expository Writing
Lesson 1 – Introduction to Expository Writing………………………………………
Writing Types: narrative, persuasive, response to literature and expository..
Definition and Examples of Expository Writing…………………………………
Elements of Expository Writing Tasks (TAPFS): topic, audience, purpose, format and
support or development…………………………………………………………..
Common Features of Expository Writing: thesis or focus statement, organization,
transitional devices, anticipating reader, selecting and crediting sources…..
Strategies for Developing Expository Writing: definition, analysis, classification,
illustration, comparison or contrast, narration and cause and effect……….
Academic Vocabulary: expository writing, strategies, conventions……
Lesson 2 – Analyzing Expository Text…………………………………..
Examples for Core Content Areas: Interdisciplinary Texts……………………
Module Two: Analyzing Expository Text
Lesson 1 – Hip-Hop Becoming a Worldwide Language for Youth Resistance
Practice pre-reading strategies with CAHSEE passage, purpose and audience
Conventions: Parallel Structure………………………………………………..
List of topics: technology, culturally specific events or customs, topic in school,
historical event or person………………………………………………………
Use of examples, comparisons, sequences…………………………………
Analysis of model: Text structure analysis; Hip-Hop Becoming a Worldwide Language
for Youth Resistance……………………………………………………………
Understanding the text and the role/effect of conventions and strategies..
Lesson 2 – The Answer to Stress …………………………………………………
Module Three: Pre-writing
Essay patterns………………………………………………………………….….
Becoming familiar with on-demand writing prompts and rubrics……………..
Module Four: Drafting
Getting a Topic……………………………………………………………………..
Mini-lessons on essay structures, teachers model drafting in a “think-aloud”.
Analysis of student models with feedback………………………………………..
Module Five: Revising
Evaluating factuality, completeness, novelty, specific strategies and organization
©2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Table of Contents
HS TOC iii-iv
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Guided peer and self-assessment and practice of targeted strategies………
Revision vs. editing…………………………………………………………………
Module Six: Editing
Conventions: Parallel sentence structure, compound sentences, complex sentences,
transitional words, semicolons and commas……………………………………
Use of error logs and protocol for peer editing………………………………….
Module Seven: Responding to Student Writing
Common errors and rubrics……………………………………………………….
Scoring Guides and student accountability………………………………………
Module Eight: Preparing for On-Demand Writing Tasks
Timed Writing Strategy and Practice……………………………………………..
Module Nine: Preparing for standardized testing of conventions and strategies
Review writing strategies and conventions; sample topics…………………….
History-Social Science: Essay that synthesizes information from texts
Module One: Rationale for Expository Writing
Module Two: Analyzing Expository Text with focus on History-Social Science
Lesson 1 – Chart: Theme: Famous Assassins and Their Victims: Archduke Franz
Ferdinand of Austria………………………………………………………………….
A combination of primary and secondary sources related to the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife to analyze history from the
perspective of a historian. Examine main ideas, paraphrase, find supporting details,
compare and contrast themes across texts, make connections, summarize and
synthesize sources to see the big picture…………………………………………..
Lesson 2 – Analysis of model: Text structure analysis. Seven Texts.……………….
Additional Modules: Parallel English/Language Arts Modules on the writing process with
emphasis on strategies and conventions using examples from History/Social Science
Resources: Designing Your Own Sequence
Designing Instruction…………………………………………………………………………
Designing focus lessons related to language conventions……………………………
Differentiating Instruction…………………………………………………………………
English Learners and Special Education students……………………………………
Student Activities Pages
Modules 1-9………………………………………………………………………………
Appendixes
Appendix A:
Appendix B:
Appendix C:
Appendix D:
ii
Teaching Tips……………………………………………………..
Glossary……………………………………………………………
Additional Resources……………………………………………..
Order Form…………………………………………………………
©2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
HS PREFACE v
An Integrated
Approach
to Writing,
Expository
An Integrated
Approach to
Expository
HighWriting,
School High School
Preface
Preface
This document, An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School, was
commissioned by the San Diego County Superintendents’ Achievement Gap Task
Force (SAGTF) as a resource to increase student achievement in writing. An analysis of
California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) data showed that in English-language
Arts, most students’ lowest scores were in Writing Strategies, Writing Conventions, and
writing to a prompt on the on-demand Writing Applications task. Furthermore, some of
the largest gaps in achievement between the general population of students and the atrisk sub-groups of English language learners and special education students were
exhibited in these same areas of writing.
Several committees of teachers and curriculum administrators convened during the
spring of 2006 in order to consider the best design for such a resource. They studied
research and current pedagogy and found that:
•
Writing conventions are best learned when they are embedded within a process
approach, where students can understand the rationale for the “rules” and apply
them.
•
It is best to focus instruction on one type of writing at a time. Expository writing
was chosen because of its importance across the curriculum, in college, and in
the workplace. Also, it has been observed that many teachers feel less
comfortable with instruction in this area.
•
Analyzing models of polished expository text helps students see the purposes of
the strategies and conventions and provides models for when to use them.
Recent Australian research shows that an added benefit of expository text
analysis is the increase in students’ subsequent ability to comprehend this type
of text.
•
A cross-curricular connection supports the application of writing principles in
other content areas. History-Social Science was chosen as a focus for this
resource because of the impact on students’ critical thinking skills as they
analyze and synthesize information in order to write different types of exposition.
•
Instruction needs to be explicit, with many opportunities for formative
assessment, to make sure all students are learning the content.
The integrated approach devised by the teams provides teachers with resources to:
•
Integrate instruction in reading and analyzing expository texts with instruction in
writing expository essays.
•
Integrate systematic instruction in written conventions (grammar, etc.) and writing
strategies with a process approach.
•
Integrate preparation for standardized tests of writing with a process approach to
writing instruction.
Integrate instruction about reading and writing expository texts in content areas.
•
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
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© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
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SAMPLER
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School is another in a series of language arts documents
created to support the work of the San Diego County Superintendents’ Achievement Gap Task Force founded by
Dr. Rudy Castruita, former County Superintendent of Schools. This language arts publication is aligned to grade
level standards and designed to increase student achievement on the California Standards Test (CST) and the
California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) in the areas of writing strategies, written conventions, and writing
applications. It has companion documents for Fourth and Seventh Grades. Thank you to the following educators
who are leading the efforts to eliminate the achievement gap and who contributed to the development of this
resource.
ACHIEVEMENT GAP TASK FORCE
PROJECT FACILITATOR
Mark Baldwin, Dean, College of Education
California State University, San Marcos
Win Cooper, former Secondary Language Arts
Coordinator
Joyce Bales, Superintendent
San Diego County Office of Education
Vista Unified School District
Tom Bishop, Superintendent
Kathy Guilfoyle, Secondary Language Arts Coordinator
San Diego County Office of Education
Del Mar Union School District
Carl Cohn, Superintendent
San Diego Unified School District
Janice Cook, Superintendent
WRITING TEAM
Jean Castruita, AVID Coordinator
San Diego County Office of Education
Cajon Valley Union School District
Jesus Gandara, Superintendent
Sweetwater Union High School District
Matt Cunningham, English/ESL Teacher
San Dieguito Union High School District
Kevin Holt, Interim Superintendent
Henry DeGroot, Special Education Teacher
San Marcos Unified School District
Del Mar Union School District
Marc Houle, President
Poway Federation of Teachers
Dianne Jones, Representative
California Teacher’s Association
San Diego Education Association
Peggy Lynch, Superintendent
San Dieguito Union High School District
Lionel “Skip” Meno, Dean, College of Education
San Diego State University
Edward Nelson, Superintendent
Escondido Union High School District
Ken Noonan, Superintendent
Oceanside Unified School District
Don Phillips, Superintendent
Mary Duggan, AVID/English Teacher
San Dieguito Union High School District
Tasha Giffin, History-Social Science Teacher
Poway Unified School District
Marsha Zandi, Curriculum Specialist
University of California Professional Development Institute
CONTENT ADVISOR
Laurie Mosier, History-Social Science Coordinator
San Diego County Office of Education
EDITOR
Poway Unified School District
Chair, Superintendents’ Achievement Gap Task Force
Karen Worley, Enrichment Organization
Luan Rivera, School Board Member
SAN DIEGO COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION
Ramona Unified School District
Nancy Giberson, Assistant Superintendent
Terry Ryan, Superintendent
Learning Resources and Educational Technology
Grossmont Union High School
Carol Skiljan, School Board Member
Encinitas Union School District
Randall Souviney, Director of Education Studies
Jane Meyers, former Language Arts Director
Tony Spears, Senior Director
Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
University of California, San Diego
Randolph E. Ward, Superintendent
San Diego County Office of Education
Raquel R. Tellez, Director
Curriculum and Instruction, Emphasis on Literacy
Graphics Communications Unit
iv
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, Grade Seven
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
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SAMPLER
Acknowledgements
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Acknowledgements
SUPERINTENDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT GAP TASK FORCE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS SUBCOMMITTEE
Sandra Barnes, English Teacher
Ann Johns, Professor, Rhetoric & Writing
Vista Unified School District
San Diego State University
Debra Brody, Resource Teacher
Lis Johnson, Superintendent
San Dieguito Union High School District
Santee School District
Janice Schultz, Superintendent
Karen LaBonte
Special Assistant to the Superintendent
Fallbrook Union School District
San Diego County Office of Education
Janice Cook, Superintendent
Cajon Valley Union School District
Varda Levy, Principal
Vista Unified School District
Sue Coyle, Superintendent
Coronado Unified School District
Tom Pellegrino, Principal
Bonsall Union School District
Ellen Curtin, Assistant Superintendent
National School District
Don Phillips, Superintendent
Chair of the Subcommittee
Cheryl Dorris, former Director
Poway Unified School District
Sweetwater Union High School District
John Roach, Superintendent
Leslie Fausset, Superintendent
Carlsbad Unified School District
Solana Beach School District
Mel Robertson, Assistant Superintendent
Bob Graeff, Assistant Superintendent
Poway Unified School District
Ramona Unified School District
Regina Stremski, Program Manager
Edward Nelson, Superintendent
Escondido Union High School District
Steve Halfaker, Superintendent
Lakeside Union School District
Bob Henricks, Assistant Superintendent
San Diego County Office of Education
Karen Wagner, Language Arts Coordinator
San Diego County Office of Education
Karen Walker, Assistant Superintendent
La Mesa-Spring Valley School District
San Marcos Unified School District
Jennifer Walters, Superintendent
Escondido Union School District
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, Grade Seven
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
HS INTRO ix-xiii
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing: High School
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Introduction
Introduction
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School is designed as a sequence of
lessons which can be integrated into English, content area, and/or study skills classes and
also into special test-prep classes. The first sequence focuses on the explanatory essay
and consists of nine modules. A second parallel sequence uses a historical context and
centers on the essay that synthesizes texts. This type of essay can be used across content
areas to prepare the student for the research paper. When students are guided through all
nine modules, they:
•
Learn critical reading skills to analyze expository texts.
•
Learn how to summarize expository texts.
•
Engage in a process to write an expository essay.
•
Analyze on-demand expository essay prompts.
•
Learn and review key written conventions and writing strategies.
•
Learn academic terms related to content areas.
•
Learn and practice the test-taking strategies they need in order to demonstrate their
mastery of strategies and conventions on standardized tests.
Expository Writing
The main goal of expository writing is to inform, to clearly explain, and to analyze: to
provide a reader with new knowledge about an unfamiliar topic. The writer of an expository
text will generally produce a thesis or main idea and support it with relevant evidence
(factual or based on fact) in order to support assertions and enhance readers’
understanding of the subject. Writers of expository texts employ various rhetorical
strategies, such as analysis, cause and effect, classification, comparison/contrast,
definition, and examples.
Expository writing is one of the “types” assessed on the California High School Exit Exam
(CAHSEE). However, since it is generally not taught as frequently as persuasive writing or
response to literature, when students have encountered prompts requiring an expository
essay on the CAHSEE, some did not know how to approach the task.
Written Conventions
The term, written conventions, is used in the Reading/Language Arts Framework for
California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve and California
standardized tests (California Standards Test [CST] and in the CAHSEE as Writing
Conventions) as a heading to include grammar, usage, punctuation, and manuscript form.
Mastery of written conventions is assessed with multiple-choice questions about short
passages or about de-contextualized sentences. In addition, written conventions are
considered as part of the holistic rubric used in scoring the on-demand writing portion of
the assessments.
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
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© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
HS INTRO Approach
ix-xiii
An Integrated
to Expository Writing, High School
Introduction
The word conventions comes from a Latin word for agreement. Basically, conventions are
certain rules or forms in writing that writers have agreed to use in order to convey their
ideas clearly. As Nancie Atwell reminds us,
“…Throughout history, writers developed rules and forms so others would read their
writing as they intended it to be read. We do our students a big favor by approaching
rules and forms not as minutiae to be mastered, but as means of helping them make
their writing look and sound as they wish it to and in order that readers will engage
with a text and take it seriously.”
“Readers …need conventionality: for a writer to hold up his end of the bargain and
keep the pact. As readers, we count on writers to follow rules and forms so we can
act as readers. As writers, we observe rules and forms so our writing will be read and
understood as we intended it to be, so we’ll be taken seriously, and bottom line, so
we’ll be viewed as intelligent and mature.”
-- Atwell, Nancie, In the Middle: New Understandings about Writing,
Reading, and Learning, 2nd Edition, 1998, pp. 184-185.
Oral Language vs. Written Language
Another interesting aspect of writing is that much of the information we receive in oral
language is absent in written language. There is no vocal tone, facial movement or body
stance to indicate, say, irony or sarcasm. With oral language, explanation, for example,
occurs in conversations, where both the speaker and the listener negotiate the clarification
of meaning. With written language, there also is a negotiation between what the writer
means and what the reader understands based on what the reader brings to the task (prior
knowledge of the subject, for example) and how clear the writer has stated his case;
however this takes place in a disconnected realm, most notably, not in “real” time.
Therefore, the writer must be very clear about what he is trying to get across. He must use
many strategies, organizational structures, and conventions to make sure he is conveying
his precise meaning. The reader must hear his “voice”.
Sometimes, students are not aware of the burden that the lack of oral discourse places on
them as writers. They think readers can know what they were thinking when they were
writing. As teachers, we need to be clear in getting them to understand that this is not true.
An interesting way might be to read two texts of differing quality dealing with the same
topic, but have students describe ways in which one’s meaning was clear and the other’s
was opaque.
Writing Strategies
In general, a strategy is an action or series of actions designed to achieve a particular
goal. In the field of composition and rhetoric, the term strategy is often used to refer to a
specific pattern of development, such as comparison/contrast, definition, or example.
In the California Framework and standardized tests (CST and CAHSEE), the term writing
strategies is used to refer to methods of organizing and supporting texts. On those tests,
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
vii
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Introduction
HS INTRO ix-xiii
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
students are asked to read “drafts” of student work and answer multiple choice questions
that assess their understanding of how to support a main idea, how to sequence
ideas/sentences, how to begin or conclude a paragraph or essay, and how to improve the
coherence of the model “drafts.”
Writing in the Content Areas
While the Framework sets guidelines for writing, it is expected that these guidelines will be
used within the content areas to provide students with needed practice in content writing.
This will allow students a venue to demonstrate their knowledge and perform better on
classroom assessments. First, content areas have a wealth of topics to draw from and
second, students need to see the value of writing in each discipline to make connections
as they become articulate about the world. Expository writing is the most critical type of
writing for academic success and scoring well on standardized tests. Examples include
summaries, reports, explanations, instructions and memorandums. Colleges and
universities require expository writing more frequently than any other type of writing. It is
essential to the workplace as well.
Imagine a scientist who has just discovered a new phenomenon or a historian who has
uncovered a journal about an historical event. The skill to communicate this discovery
through this informative, descriptive writing type that draws from a variety of sources is
invaluable. Students also need to learn how to judge and respond to primary sources that
are unbiased and accurate in tone to make true assumptions about a topic. In this
resource, History-Social Science was selected as a focus for sample lessons. Teachers
can use the sample lessons as an example to design instruction for other subject areas.
Instructional Sequence Design
for
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Module One: The sequence begins with a series of lessons designed as an introduction
to expository writing. Lesson activities emphasize the kind of thinking required for
effective explanations, focus on the essential features and common strategies used in
expository writing and compare expository writing to narrative writing on the same topic.
Module Two: In this module students analyze one or more professional models of
expository texts in order to understand the strategies, as well as some key conventions
that authors use to write effective explanations or analyses. The use of the same texts
within several of the modules allows students to focus their cognitive energies on learning
the new strategies rather than expending them on learning to decode and comprehend
more novel texts. Module 2 can consist of several lessons, depending on the number of
texts to be analyzed. Students learn academic terms from the various texts that they are
reading utilizing a specific process.
Module Three: The next module presents a prompt to which students will respond by
going through a process to write an expository essay; students are guided through a series
of pre-writing and planning steps in which they analyze the prompt, and plan how to
organize and develop the essay. Modules 3-7 include “focus lessons” which prepare
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
viii
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
HS INTRO ix-xiii
Introduction
students to incorporate specific strategies and conventions in their drafts.
Module Four: This section offers suggested activities to help students in the drafting
stage.
Module Five: Revision is the focus of this section. In addition to more focus lessons on
strategies for development, the module includes resources for guiding students to provide
and use peer response effectively.
Module Six: When students have revised for content, organization and strategies, they
are ready for this next module, which includes focus lessons on target conventions as well
as resources to guide effective peer editing.
Module Seven: This section includes resources for the teacher to use in responding to
student essays, including an analytical rubric and techniques for treating student errors.
Module Eight: This module provides students with training and practice in strategies for
responding to on-demand writing prompts for expository writing that they will encounter
on standardized tests as well as on in-class essays.
Module Nine: The final section includes instruction on test-taking strategies, as well as
extended practice with the kinds of multiple-choice questions about conventions and
strategies that appear on standardized tests.
Additional Resources
A section of resources for planning and designing new instructional sequences includes
ideas for selecting model texts, for analyzing texts (including those that might already be
part of an existing curriculum) to determine how to teach the strategies used within them,
and for designing lessons to focus on specific written conventions and writing strategies.
There are also teaching tips, techniques for differentiation, a glossary and annotated
bibliography included.
Lesson Design
Lessons are designed in a specific format, and the format is repeated, with minor
variations, throughout the modules:
•
Warm-up activity: In a brief test-like situation, students practice answering a few
multiple-choice questions about writing strategies and written conventions and are
then debriefed on the rationale for correct and incorrect answers.
•
Introduction: The teacher is told what will be happening in the lesson and provides
the students with the objectives for the lesson.
•
Building on Prior Experience: The students are made aware of how the lesson’s
new information fits with what they already know.
•
Explicit instruction: The teacher conducts a systematic lesson in the targeted
skills which are the focus of the lesson. Each lesson contains teacher-provided
explanation, modeling, guided practice and independent practice.
•
Check for understanding: To reinforce their grasp of the targeted skills, at
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
ix
Introduction
HS INTRO ix-xiii
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
strategic points in the lesson, students review key points with a partner, then debrief
as a whole class and/or engage in metacognition by writing (in one of several
formats provided) a reflection on their learning, which the teacher later reviews.
•
Independent Practice/Homework: Working on their own, students apply what they
have learned in the lesson to a new situation; for example, they will analyze a short
text, summarize a text, or write a brief text using strategies and/or conventions
studied.
Explicit Instruction
Each lesson consists of activities using a model of instruction, which includes these steps:
•
Explanation by the teacher about how to apply the concept or procedure. In many
instances, a “think aloud” is used to demonstrate for students how a process is to
be done (in addition to merely showing a finished product).
•
Modeling by the teacher in a “think aloud” of how to apply the concept or
procedure.
•
Guided practice in which students engage in the target activity or procedure,
usually with a partner.
•
Independent practice, in which students engage in the target activity on their own.
This may be assigned as homework.
• Each step can be followed by some kind of “check for understanding” in which
students review and/or demonstrate what they’ve learned.
Academic Vocabulary
To help students access the model texts, and to discuss and write about them with an
appropriate level of academic rigor, teachers should pre-teach some words that are key to
understanding the texts and devote more attention to teaching students the academic
vocabulary they will need to use in their written products. Each of the model texts, as well
as assessment items, has been “profiled” to identify key academic vocabulary (a teacher
version of each text has these words highlighted). Suggestions for pre-teaching those
terms are found in the “Additional Resources” section at the back of this resource.
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
HS M2.L1 LP 1
Lesson Plan
Module 2
Lesson 1
Module 2 Lesson 1: Analyzing Expository Text
Objectives for this lesson – students will:




Practice pre-reading strategies
Read and understand an expository text
Analyze an expository text for the role/effect of conventions and strategies
Demonstrate an understanding of specific strategies and conventions
Resource
Teacher
Page
Number
Student
Page
Number
T31 - T37
Lesson Plan
(Warm-up) passage and questions
(transparency and handout)
Annotated version with academic words
T38
S7
T39
T40
Pre-reading steps (transparency)
TAPFS blank chart (transparency and student
handout)
T41
S8
TAPFS for “Hip-Hop…” article – teacher key
T42
Text structure analysis blank chart
(transparency and handout)
T43
S9
T44 - T45
S10 - S11
Article “Hip-Hop Culture becoming a WorldWide Language for Youth Resistance
Text structure analysis chart for “Hip-Hop…”
article (teacher key)
Focus Lesson Notes for Teacher
T46
T47
Multiple choice questions (transparency and
handout)
S12
T48
Reflection – outcome statements
(transparency and handout)
T49
S13
©2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Analyzing Expository Text
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
1
Module 2
Lesson Plan
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
HS M1L1 LP 2-5
Module Two: Analyzing Expository Text
Lesson 1
▶Objectives
Students will:
 Practice pre-reading strategies
 Read and understand an expository text
 Analyze an expository text for the role/effect of conventions and strategies
 Demonstrate an understanding of specific strategies and conventions
▶Warm-Up



Distribute the short expository passage with CAHSEE-like questions about
strategies and conventions (T38, S7).
Direct students to work individually or with partner to read passage and answer the
questions.
Debrief:
o Note that this was an example of the kinds of multiple choice questions about
writing that students will encounter on the CST and CAHSEE, and on other
standardized tests of writing such as the SAT. Ask students if they can figure out
how a test will measure their knowledge about writing. This may lead to brief
acknowledgement that it is an indirect assessment of grammar (conventions) and
ways to organize or develop ideas in writing (strategies).
o Note that the specific strategies assessed in these sample questions were
touched on in the previous lesson; the conventions assessed in these questions
will be covered in this and subsequent lessons. In future lessons, the warm-ups
will provide opportunities for reviewing conventions and strategies covered
thoroughly in previous lessons.
▶Introduction
2

Explain that in this lesson, students will look at an example of an expository text, one
that appeared in a popular newspaper, in order to understand and appreciate how a
professional author explained a topic to a general audience who would not otherwise
have understood the topic and its importance. Note, perhaps, that this is a topic with
which students may be somewhat more familiar than the audience for whom the
article was written, so they should find it interesting to notice how that topic is
explained to others.

Note that the lesson serves several purposes:
1. Students will practice useful pre-reading strategies which they will be able to
apply in many situations.
2. They will read an expository text analytically – a skill they will apply in many
academic situations.
Analyzing
Expository Text
©2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Lesson Plan
Module 2
HS M1L1 LP 2-5
3. In analyzing how an author uses strategies to explain a complex topic, they will
learn strategies they will use in their own expository writing later.
Lesson 1
▶Pre-reading

Before reading and analyzing the text, it is useful for students to get into the habit of
using a systematic approach to pre-reading to develop a preliminary structure on
which to build their reading. One way to structure pre-reading is to have students
consider the TAPFS chart (T41, S8) as they go through the following steps – refer to
transparency.

Refer to the TAPFS chart: What do you know and what can you predict about the
topic, audience, purpose, form and support for this text?
o Read the title; read the first and last paragraphs only and predict what the text
will be about. (Topic?)
o Note information provided about the author and publication information
(Audience? Format? Purpose? Support?)
o Pose questions you expect will be answered as you read.

Think-aloud: Go through this process with students, leading them through this
process and making notes on the chart (a version on the board) and the text (as
transparency T-42) while thinking aloud so they understand. Possible thoughts to
share:
o Topic: It’s about Hip-Hop, but specifically it seems to be about the fact that HipHop has spread around the world. More than that, there is the word “resistance”
maybe it’s about a political aspect of Hip-Hop.
o Audience: It’s from USA Today Magazine – that’s a popular national
newspaper, so it’s written for a general adult population, who may not know as
much about Hip-Hop as young people do.
o Purpose: Maybe to explain something about Hip-Hop? Maybe to argue for or
against Hip-Hop?
o Form: It’s a newspaper/magazine article. That often means it will be written in
very short paragraphs, but this isn’t. Maybe it has been reformatted?
o Support: In the first paragraph, different aspects are mentioned (sound, rhythm,
attitude, etc.) so maybe analysis will be one kind of support; in the last
paragraph, different albums are mentioned—examples.

Note that, at the pre-reading stage, these are mostly (educated) guesses, but these
guesses will help us pay closer attention to the information and the way it is
presented than if we had simply started reading “cold.”

Academic vocabulary: A few words are worth teaching before the reading
because they are not only key concepts in this text, but they are also high frequency
academic words which students will find useful again and again in academic reading
task. (See Academic Vocabulary in the resources section for more on how to select
and teach high frequency academic vocabulary.) These words are:
o marginal/marginalize
o component
o ethnic/ethnicity
o diverse/diversity
Analyzing Expository Text
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© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
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Module 2
Lesson Plan
HS M1L1 LP 2-5
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
In addition, there are a few words that are important to understand the ideas in this
text, but which are too rare to require students to learn at this time. It will be enough
to simply gloss these words (e.g., write the word and simple definition or synonym
on the board, or, if the teacher is reading aloud the first reading, explain quickly
when the word comes up). These words might be:
o schism (n.) – separation of a group into two groups, caused by a disagreement
o misogyny (n.) – lack of respect for or hatred of women
o antiestablishment (adj.) – against the organizations and people in society who
have a lot of power
o demographics (n.) – information about a specific group of people
Lesson 1
▶First Reading

Students will need to read the text more than once in order to analyze it fully. For
this first reading, after the pre-reading activities, they should keep in mind their
predictions and note on the TAPFS chart predictions that are confirmed and
elements that they are able to identify with more confidence. Depending on the
class, it may be appropriate for the teacher to read aloud, pausing as needed for
clarification, as students follow along, or for students to do the first reading on their
own.
▶Explicit Instruction
Explain how to analyze a model of expository writing

Refer to the handout Text Structure Analysis (T43, S9) and explain the directions
about noting in each column the content/information of each paragraph, the strategy
used to convey the information, and the words or phrases that help the reader
understand what strategies the author is using.
Modeling

Refer to the article “Hip-Hop becomes a Worldwide Language for Youth Resistance”
(enlarged by paragraph or section) on the overhead and highlight/underline on the
text while thinking aloud about what you notice and why you are making notes as
you do. See T45 for an example of how the article might be analyzed. Ask students
to follow along and copy your notes for paragraphs #1 and #2.
▶Independent Practice
4

In class or as homework, have students individually read and analyze the last
paragraph and fill in the chart. In debriefing, if independent work was done in class,
return to TAPFS chart to confirm predictions and clarify how the author addressed
the elements, as well as the strategies used.

Focus lesson: This portion of the lesson provides specific instruction about
strategies and conventions tied to analysis of the model text. Teaching notes for this
part of the lesson are also provided as a chart (T47).
©2006 San
Diego County Office
Analyzing
Expository
Textof Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
HS M1L1 LP 2-5
Lesson Plan
Module 2

Explain concept: Parallel structure is using the same grammatical structure
(part of speech) within a sentence or in several sentences to establish or emphasize Lesson 1
how things are similar or different. Note example in model text: Refer to article
“Hip-Hop…” paragraph #2: lines 5 & 6 series with “similar…” and commas in series.

Explain the task: Write a sentence combining three ideas/pieces of information as a
series of examples, using parallel structure.

Model the first task with a think-aloud, using this or similar example. Combine the
ideas in these three sentences into one sentence, using parallel structure:
1. In the Middle East, most people are practicing Muslims.
2. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion in Latin American countries.
3. Buddhism is the most common religious practice in some parts of Southeast
Asia.
 One way: Most Middle Eastern people practice Islam, most Latin Americans
practice Roman Catholicism, and most Southeast Asians practice Buddhism.
 Another way: The religious practices of most Latin American people, most
Middle Eastern people, and most Southeast Asian people are different.
 Debrief: What’s the difference? What’s the effect of the different sentences?

Guided practice: Give these directions for the first short writing task: Write a
sentence combining three ideas/pieces of information as a series of examples,
using parallel structure (write with adjective + noun). Have students work individually
or in pairs.

Explain the second task: Write several sentences using parallel structure to
compare and/or contrast groups of people. Refer to the model text to demonstrate
the use of parallel structure with a think-aloud:
o Refer to and analyze bulleted section in the second paragraph of the “Hip-Hop…”
article. Point out the parallel structure of each bulleted section:
prepositional phrase (In…) + noun or noun phrase (nationality) + verb (blend
or use) + (melody, style, genre) + [purpose] (as ...protest, to talk about, to defy)
o The task: Write a bulleted list about a topic such as people in different schools,
cities, neighborhoods, etc. using the structure In_____, noun/noun phrase
(category of people) = verb (what they do) = purpose (why do they do it?)
Model the second task with original sentences using the template.


Guided practice: Have students work individually and then share with a partner.
Debrief: Elicit samples from volunteers. Collect student work, assess and return
for quick feedback: Did the student use the targeted strategy (compare/contrast) and
convention (parallel structure)? Determine whether there is a need for re-teaching
the whole class or groups.
Note: In a later lesson, students will apply these strategies to their own writing at the
revising or editing stages. For example, at the revising stage: Find a place where you
list examples and find where you used parallel structure. Share with partners and class.
OR, find a place where you list examples and can revise to use parallel structure.
©2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Analyzing Expository Text
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
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Analyzing Expository Text
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Support: In the first paragraph, different
aspects are mentioned (sound, rhythm,
attitude, etc.) so maybe analysis will be one
kind of support; in the last paragraph, different
albums are mentioned—examples.
Form: It’s a newspaper/magazine article.
That often means it will be written in very short
paragraphs, but this isn’t. Maybe it has been
reformatted?
©2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All rights reserved: Expository Writing: An Integrated Approach, High School
Support or
Development
Format
Purpose
Audience
Topic: It’s about Hip-Hop, but specifically it
seems to be about the fact that Hip-Hop has
spread around the world. More than that, there
is the word “resistance” maybe it’s about a
political aspect of Hip-Hop.
Audience: It’s from USA Today Magazine –
that’s a popular national newspaper, so it’s
written for a general adult population, who may
not know as much about Hip-Hop as young
people do.
Purpose: Maybe to explain something about
Hip-Hop? Maybe to argue for or against HipHop?
Teacher
Resource
 To pass on new ideas and information or
to explain existing information in a new
way
 Depends on audience and topic – ranging
from simple set of directions to an article
for a magazine to a complex and detailed
report or essay
 In general, defining and classifying the
subject and using examples to show how
the subject works.
 Some specific strategies include:
definition, analysis, classification,
illustration, comparison or contrast,
narration and cause/effect.
 Someone who knows or understands less
about the topic than the writer
Topic
Expository writing in general
“Hip-Hop Becoming Worldwide
Language of Youth Resistance
Elements of Expository Writing Tasks
Annotated Answer Key
Lesson 1
 New information or information that is
unfamiliar to the reader
Elements of a
writing task
HS M1L1 TAPFS TR 6
Module 2
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Teacher
Resource
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
HS M2L1 TEXT STRUCTURE ANAL TR 7
Module 2
Lesson 1
Text Structure Analysis
“Hip - Hop Becoming a Worldwide Language for Youth Resistance”
Annotated Answer Key
Paragraph
Content: What is being
said? What information is
conveyed?
Strategy/structure/
evidence: How is the
information conveyed?
Hip-Hop continues after
30 years and is
worldwide

1
2
3
4
5
6
Rap was popular in US
in 1990, and began in
black and Latino
communities. Now in
other countries, adapted
to local conditions.
Hip-Hop is about talking
back to the mainstream,
but there are splits in the
culture.
“Gangsta” style rap was
authentic expression of
poverty, etc. but now it is
commercialized by
“studio playas”.
“Studio playas” become
rich and are criticized for
not helping the
community.
Hip-hop is diverse;
underground artists
produce social criticism
that supports or prompts
youth activism.



Address
misconception (“just
a fad”)
Analysis
Authority
Authority

Examples
Signals: What words or
phrases signal the
strategy?



“However…
“…mixture of …”
“…faculty member…”

“Ousmare points
out…she has
found…”

In London…In
Paris…In Japan…
“Universal…however”
graduate student at
Berkeley, teaching
assistant, disc jockey
“gansta persona …
health, possessions,
crime…”
underground rappers
vs. “studio playas”
“authentic
expression” vs.
“appropriated”
Quotes or
paraphrase of lyrics


Contrast
Authority



Analysis


Classification


Contrast


Examples


Examples

List of albums on
specific issues
Analyzing Expository Text
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
©2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
7
Module 2
Teacher
Resource
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
HS M2L1 FOCUS LESSON TR8
Lesson 1
Focus Lesson (notes for teacher):
“Hip-Hop Becoming a Worldwide Language for Youth Resistance”
Elements of mini-lesson:
Explain concept (and the task)
Model (the first task) with thinkaloud
Guided practice (first short
writing task)
Model (the second task) with
think-aloud
Guided practice (second short
writing task)
Reinforcement and/or
assessment (sample multiplechoice questions)
Application – in student drafts,
revisions, or editing
8
1.
2.
3.

strategy: examples and comparison/contrast
conventions: signal words and punctuation
parallel structure and punctuation for items in series
Parallel structure: using the same grammatical structure (part of
speech) within a sentence or in several sentences to establish or
emphasize how things are similar or different.
Parallel structure #1:
 Refer to paragraph #2: lines 5 & 6 series with “similar…” and
commas in series.
 Teacher model: Combine the ideas in these three sentences into
one sentence, using parallel structure:
o In the Middle East, most people are practicing Muslims.
o Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion in most Latin
American countries.
o Buddhism is the most common religious practice in parts of
Southeast Asia.
 One way: Most Middle Eastern people practice Islam, most Latin
Americans practice Roman Catholicism, and most Southeast
Asians practice Buddhism.
 Another way: There are differences amongst the religious
practices of most Latin American people, most Middle Eastern
people, and most Asian people.
 Debrief: What’s the difference? What’s the effect of the different
sentences?
 Write a sentence combining the following three ideas/pieces of
information as a series of examples, using parallel structure:
o Sample sentences --- write with adjective + noun
Parallel Structure #2:
 Refer to and analyze bulleted section: prepositional phrase (In…)
+ noun or noun phrase (nationality) + verb (blend or use) +
(melody, style genre) + [purpose] (as .protest, to talk about, to
defy).
 Teacher demonstrates analysis of paragraph #2.
 Teacher models original sentences using template.
 Write a bulleted list about topics such as people in different
schools, cities, neighborhoods, etc. using the structure In_____,
noun/noun phrase (category of people) = verb (what they do) =
purpose (why do they do it?).
 Partners talk through and share.
 Debrief.
 Teacher collects + returns.
 Heads-up: This is a way to check your understanding of the
concept of parallel structure in the format you will see on
standardized tests.
 Given a “student draft” what would be the best substitute for
sentence # 2 (3 or 4 questions).
 Individually, partners share, Debrief as class – focus on the
concept and on the test-taking strategy (key words).
 Revising stage: Find a place where you list examples and find
where you used parallel structure. Share with partners and class.
OR, find a place where you list examples and can revise to use
parallel structure.
Analyzing Expository Text
© 2006
Diego
County
Office
of Education/LRET.
RightsReserved.
Reserved.An
AnIntegrated
IntegratedApproach
Approachtoto
ExpositoryWriting,
Writing,High
HighSchool
School
©2006
SanSan
Diego
County
Office
of Education/LRET.
AllAllRights
Expository
An
ApproachTR
to 9Expository Writing, High School
HS Integrated
M2L3 HISTORICAL
Lesson Plan
Module 2
Lesson 3: Analyzing Primary and Secondary Historical Documents Lesson 3
▶Objectives
Students will:
 Understand the difference between primary and secondary documents.
 Identify strategies more commonly used in primary documents than in secondary
documents.
▶Warm-Up

Teacher-led class discussion: What is the difference between primary and
secondary sources?
▶Explicit Instruction

Put chart on the overhead for students to see. Give students a copy for their own
resource.
Primary Source
Definition
Sources
Secondary Source
First-hand account of an
A summary, interpretation, or
event, an original work
analysis of something else
• Autobiographies, letters,
• Articles, books, biographies
e-mails, diaries, speeches,
that summarize, interpret the
interviews
original statements,
documents
• Documents, laws, treaties
• Encyclopedias, dictionaries,
• Raw data that has been
textbooks
collected
• Analyses of statistics
• Works of literature, art,
music
• Criticism, of literature, art,
music
• Newspaper accounts of
events, by someone on
• Secondary accounts of events
the scene
by those who compile and
synthesize the original
accounts
Source: The California State University of Stanislaus, http://library.csustan.edu

Think Aloud: Review types of secondary sources and have students recall the
strategies they typically encountered while reading these types of documents. Then
review the type of primary sources that students may encounter. With the class,
create a list of strategies that might be found in these documents. Looking at the two
lists, point out the similarities and differences in the strategies used.

Teacher Reference: Strategies most often found in secondary historical documents
include: Sequencing, Definition, Cause and Effect or Reasons, Analysis, Additional
information. Strategies most often found in primary documents include: Sequencing,
Cause and Effect, Additional Comments Anticipating Audience, Narration, Compare
and Contrast.
©2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
Analyzing Primary and Secondary Historical Documents
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
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Appendix An
B Integrated Approach
An Integrated
Approach
to Expository
Writing, High School
to Expository
Writing:
High School
Glossary
Each module in the instructional sequences includes suggested activities and techniques for
teaching the reading and writing skills, including specific strategies and conventions, necessary
for expository writing. This section includes more detailed explanations of those and other
relevant activities and techniques, as well as references to additional sources of information about
them.
Expository Text Structures: Expository
writing can take many forms. Within a
single expository text, a writer will choose
from a variety of strategies (sometimes
called text structures) to most effectively
convey information and engage a reader’s
interest. Except in specialized situations,
such as, perhaps, answering a specific
question on an essay exam, a piece of
expository writing is not limited to a single
text structure. It will be helpful to encourage
students to think of these structures as
strategies to use in organizing and
developing parts of an expository text,
rather than as “types” of writing.
Generalizations about Expository
Writing:
• Expository writing presents writing
challenges significantly different from
other forms.
• Expository writing is more than a
formula such as a five-paragraph
essay.
• Expository writing needs a context and
a well-developed topic.
• Good exposition flows from an “area of
authority” where the student develops
a knowledge base before writing.
Focus Statement: the main organizing
premise around which a piece of expository
writing is organized. A focus statement is
different from a thesis statement in a
persuasive essay; a thesis statement makes
a claim or expresses an opinion, which the
writer supports.
Organizing and planning:
NAEP data shows that students who
organize and plan out their ideas and writing
before they begin drafting are producing
higher quality writing. Planning could include
such activities as outlining, clustering, using
a graphic organizer, or freewriting.
st
a. “Five Expository Text Structures” in Literacy for the 21
Century: A Balanced Approach. Tomlins, Gail 1997.
Prentice-Hall: Chart showing pattern, cue words, graphic
representation, and sample passages of description,
sequence, comparison, cause & effect, and problem &
solution.
b. INSIDE OUT: Developmental Strategies for Teaching
Writing. Kirby and Liner 1981. Boynton/Cook Publishers,
Inc. Pp. 174-175.
c.
“Defining a Focus Statement” and “Drafting a Focus
Statement” in SDUHSD Guide to Expository Writing.
d. Writers Inc. sections 552, 118-119, 506, 249, 257, 119,
527, 118, 17, 21, and 124.
©2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
10
Glossary
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
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0Rubrics: Rubrics, also known as scoring
guides, are helpful in assessing student
work and/or performance on an assigned
task. The rubric outlines the criteria that
students must meet in order to earn a
specific score. Rubrics can be used to
assess anything from essays to oral
presentations to group work.
Appendix B
Glossary
http://its.monmouth.edu/FacultyResourceCenter/rubrics.htm
A holistic rubric is used to give students a
single score based on a general impression
of their work.
An analytic rubric is used to give students
scores in several discrete areas. Analytic
rubrics are more helpful for giving specific
feedback.
Teaching implications:
It is helpful to review the rubric with students
when an assignment is given. This ensures
that students understand what they must do
and to what level they must do it before they
begin their work.
It is often effective to have students help
create rubrics. Once they are familiar with
the characteristics of expository writing, for
example, they can make a list of what an
expository essay should include, which will
end up being the adequate level of the
rubric. Once the adequate level has been
established, the upper and lower levels of
the rubric can be constructed.
Verb tense (consistency)
Verb tense indicates when an event or
action took place (past, present, or future).
Writers need to maintain verb tense
throughout a piece of writing; shifting verb
tense can cause readers confusion.
Consistency of verb tenses is an example of
proper sentence construction that is
th
th
emphasized in the 9 and 10 grades.
Mechanically Inclined: Building Grammar, Usage and Style
into a Writer’s Workshop. “The Verb: Are We All in
Agreement?” pp. 117-120 and 127-129. Jeff Anderson
(2005). Stenhouse Publishers (ISBN 1-57110-4127)
A focus lesson on this convention would
provide an explanation of this concept with
several examples of sentences for the
teacher to model for the students. Guided
practice with partners would be followed by
reinforcement and/or an assessment and
application with feedback.
Glossary
©2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
© 2006 San Diego County Office of Education/LRET. All Rights Reserved. An Integrated Approach to Expository Writing, High School
11
7.Back.sampler.doc
SAMPLER
San Diego County Office of Education
6401 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111-7399
San Diego County Board of Education
Nick Aguilar
Susan Hartley
Sharon C. Jones
Robert J. Watkins
John Witt
San Diego County Superintendent of Schools
Randolph E. Ward, Ed.D.
Learning Resources and Educational Technology
Nancy Giberson, Ph.D., Assistant Superintendent
Copyright © 2006 San Diego County Office of Education. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,
or any information storage or retrieval system, except for those who
are reproducing student activities or worksheets
for classroom use, not for resale.