When my co-op leaders approached me last semester about teaching a writing class, I happily said yes. I enjoyed a semester of just being helper in the nursery and my daughter’s speech class, but I was ready to roll again. When they asked what level, I requested the upper grades (in our co-op that is grades 7-12). I love being able to really talk and get into topics with that age. I was given my choice of topics to teach, so I chose to do a research reports class, since I’ll only have ten weeks. If we have time, we’ll spend a week or two on essays toward the end.
While most classes begin with essays because they don’t require research, I prefer to begin with research reports. This lets me provide lots of writing instruction while never bumping up against “I couldn’t think of anything to write.” Additionally, I’ve spoken with too many college professors who are frustrated by the lack of research skills in their students. One of our friends teaches nutrition at Cornerstone University—he’s given up on assigning papers because the students don’t research; they use Wikipedia. (Don’t get me going now).
Once the class schedule was posted, I knew I would have to make it interesting for boys, as the only other class offered during that hour was going to be interior design. Sure enough, the boys outnumber the girls 3 to 1. To paraphrase Captain Aubrey, I’m the lesser of two evils.
So, this class is going to look something like this:
Week 1: overview, KWO on robotics in medicine
Week 2: planning a paper, bibliographies, taking notes from multiple sources, how robots work
Week 3: introductions, conclusions, transitions
Week 4: Putting it all together; library workshop
Week 5: planning your paper, gathering sources, working in quotations
Weeks 6-8: Note-taking and writing; revising
Week 9 : Introductions and Conclusions (review); Essays
Week 10: Essays
The first 4 weeks will be a “canned” research report, using sources that I’ve gathered about robotics. The last 4 weeks will be a bit longer research paper, and the students will choose their topics.
The lesson sequence and process are not my own. I’ve learned all this from Andrew Pudewa and the other instructors with the Institute for Excellence in Writing. These materials specifically are taken from Unit 6 of Teaching Writing: Structure and Style. Andrew recently hosted a webinar on Unit 6 and you can listen and learn for free here.
