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Norwalk-La Mirada School District

11th Grade

Writing Unit of Study
Unit 4- Historical Investigation Report
16 Instructional Days
Unit Overview (Descriptor):
Students go through the writing process and produce a historical investigation report. Similar to the expository writing demands in ninth and tenth grade, this unit requires students to research a single historical event. Students will select an event from American history in 11th grade and world history in 12th grade. Working in small collaborative inquiry groups, students analyze primary and secondary sources representing a variety of perspectives on the event. Students use a variety of writing strategies to collect, choose, and develop ideas to aid in the crafting of a historical investigation report.
They then go on to revise, edit and publish their writing. Accountable talk, including active listening, is expected as an integral part of the learning community. Teachers confer with individuals to support and stretch writers and use those conferring notes to plan further instruction. Writers’ Notebooks are maintained as a vessel for collecting and developing ideas and tracking writing growth and process.
How this unit builds on previous learning and builds to future learning:
Previous Work
11th/12th Grade
Future Work
Students have written expository
Students will write historical compositions each year beginning in investigation reports including: third grade – increasing in length and • Using exposition, narration, complexity over the course of time description, argumentation or
In elementary school, writers:
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Quoted and paraphrased sources using appropriate citations
Authored research reports, framing questions to direct the investigation, establish a controlling idea or topic, developed topics with simple facts, details, examples, and explanations

In middle school, writers:

Norwalk-La
Mirada research
Unified School
District
• Produced reports 11th Grade English Language Arts Framework
• Narrowed the scope of research
January 2011

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questions
Defined a thesis and supported main ideas with facts, details, examples,

some combination of rhetorical strategies to support the main proposition • Analyzing several historical records of a single event, examining critical relationships between elements of the research topic
• Explaining the perceived reason(s) for the similarities and differences in historical records with information derived from primary and secondary sources

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In middle school, writers:
• Produced research reports
• Narrowed the scope of research questions • Defined a thesis and supported main ideas with facts, details, examples, and explanations from multiple, authoritative sources
• Conveyed clear and accurate perspectives on a subject
• Included evidence compiled through the formal research process and documented reference sources
• Recorded important ideas, concepts, and direct quotations from sources and paraphrased and summarized as appropriate • Used a variety of primary and secondary sources and distinguished the nature and value of each
In 9th and 10th grades,
• Authored expository compositions
• Conveyed information and ideas from primary and secondary sources in support of a thesis and related claims, including information on all relevant perspectives
• Made distinctions between the relative value and significance of specific data, facts, and ideas

Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District
11th Grade English Language Arts Framework
January 2011

Explaining the perceived reason(s) for the similarities and differences in historical records with information derived from primary and secondary sources to support or enhance the presentation Including information from all relevant perspectives and taking into consideration the validity and reliability of sources
Including a formal bibliography

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Indicators:
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