This document provides an overview of the first day of a unit on writing research reports about Westward Expansion. Students are asked to consider what knowledge they already have about Westward Expansion and write it down on post-it notes. They are then told that organized information is easier to use for writing, just like it is easier to carry organized belongings during a fire. Students will take their post-it notes and organize them into subtopics that could become chapters for their research reports.

1. Organizing for the Journey Ahead
Session 1

2. Day 1

3. Connection:
Today we start a unit on writing research. We will write as historians do.
We will be writing about Westward Expansion
Think about it… If there was a fire in your home and you could only carry out a
few items, what would you grab? The people who went out west had a similiar
question didn’t they? Why?
I’m asking you this question because as writers, you need to think of a similar
questions...What will you bring to help with this project? What kinds of
knowledge will you need?
Can you jot some thoughts about that?

4. Connection
Activity
The one kind of knowledge that
matters perhaps more than
anything when writing a
research report is knowledge
about the topic-- in this case
Westward Expansion
Use your post-it notes to write a
word or phrase that represents
stuff you know about westward
expansion.

5. Teaching Point:
Today, I want to teach you that researchers organize what they are bringing
with them to their writing. When things or organized, it is easier to carry and
use those things -- that is true for information too.

6. Teaching:
So writers, once you’ve written lots of post-it notes that represent ideas
you want to bring to your writing, you will need to organize them into
categories.
Let’s divide your information into subtopics, which will later become your
chapters.
Let’s do this together, and then you can do this on your own.
Let’s look over my notes...look and think with me.

7. Day 2