Informational Text Unit

Class Wikibooks
http://mseap.wikispaces.com/Grade7

What I Learned (L of K-W-L chart):
In EAP class, we've been studying informational texts (non-fiction) and learning how to write our own informational text in the form of a Wikibook.

Some things I learned while teaching this unit:
I have never been a big fan of reading non-fiction but I have to say that I have a new appreciation for both reading and writing non-fiction. The reason we (Woo Hee, Dana and I) chose to teach this unit on non-fiction texts came from the students' needs to access and comprehend the content in their core classes and instructional materials, whether a text book, non-fiction informational text, web sites, and more.

I tried to teach the content as explicitly as possible and learned that good writing takes time, lots and lots of time. Not only does it take lots of time but it takes a ton of drafts and mini-lessons and an environment where we, as writers, can take lots of risks even if it means making mistakes. I also learned that the mini-lessons (transitions, lead sentences, word choice, ideas, organization, etc.) were most effective when we were able to apply the learning and practice to our own writing. Mentor texts are good models but without the comparison of and to our writing, they wouldn't be as meaningful.I used the teaching model of the gradual release of responsibility--first developed by Pearson & Gallagher (1993)--with the goal of supporting and empowering the grade 7 writers.

The end result? The students were able to produce authentic texts that were just as good if not better than the mentor texts here.