Lesson 4 Writing to Inform: aspects of a topic. Blog...

THEME Media History

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W.4.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

W.4.7: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.Writing to Inform:

Blog Post

Sharing InformationYolanda is watching TV when she sees a commercial for the SkyBlast, a sleek model helicopter. The commercial shows the SkyBlast soaring over mountains and hurtling between skyscrapers. Yolanda orders one instantly!

When the SkyBlast arrives, Yolanda realizes it is only six inches long. Even worse, it doesn’t fly more than ten feet off the ground, and Yolanda has to replace the batteries in the remote after just a few short flights. Yolanda feels cheated. She wants everyone to be aware of the tricks used in the commercial, so she decides to write a blog post. An excerpt from her blog post is shown on the tablet below.

People often write to tell others what they’ve learned. Thanks to Yolanda’s post, people will learn that they can’t always believe what they see on TV.

Lesson 4

4:15 PM 90%

Are you planning to order the cool new SkyBlast? Well, don’t be fooled! The commercial makes the helicopter look like it soars high above trees and over buildings. In reality, the helicopter only flies ten feet high! Plus, the batteries in the remote run out after a few short flights. The commercial makes the SkyBlast seem like the greatest toy ever, but . . .

THEME Media History

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Steps for Writing

On the following pages, you’ll learn the steps for writing your own blog post.

Step 1 Study a Mentor Text

Step 2 Unpack Your Assignment

Step 3 Find Text Evidence

Step 4 Organize Your Evidence

Step 5 Draft Your Blog Post

Step 6 Revise: First Read

Step 7 Revise: Second Read

Step 8 Edit for Conventions

What Is Informational Writing? Informational writing tells or teaches readers about a topic. This type of writing uses facts, definitions, and examples to answer Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? questions about the topic.

KEY FEATURES Informational Writing

• an introduction that clearly states a topic and prepares readers to learn about the topic

• facts and details that are logically organized in paragraphs

• linking words and phrases that connect one idea to the next

• precise language or domain-specific vocabulary that expresses ideas concisely and accurately

• a conclusion that restates the topic and the important ideas, and leaves readers with something to think about

FOCUS Read as a Writer

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Lesson 4 Writing to Inform: Blog Post

Before you write your blog post, you’ll study a model. First, read to understand what it’s about. Then reread to understand how it was written.

As you reread the Mentor Text, do the numbered activities. They’ll help you understand the key features of a blog post.

Is Reality TV Real?by Rico Martinez

1 I watched a new reality TV show last night that was a lot of fun. In the show, eleven pairs of kids are competing to finish a scavenger hunt, and the first pair to finish will win a huge prize! Just about every minute of the show was exciting. (The only boring parts were the commercials.) This made me wonder about something. If real life isn’t always a big thrill, then what makes reality TV shows seem so exciting? To help solve this mystery, I’ll explore what makes two reality shows popular, and what the producers and editors have to do to make them so interesting.

2 Survivor was the first reality show that became really popular. It began its run in the United States in 2000. On this show, a group of sixteen people have to survive in a remote and dangerous place. They have to find food, water, and shelter, and they even have to compete in challenges to win prizes. People get voted off the show each week. Thanks to the success of Survivor, lots of other reality shows have people who compete to survive. Viewers enjoy these shows because they like to watch people argue, make up, work against each other, and help each other. There’s a lot of drama!

3 Another popular reality TV show is The Apprentice, which started in 2004. A person who helps someone else while learning a business or trade is called an apprentice, and that’s how the show got

1 Introduction The writer introduces his topic as a mystery that needs solving. Draw a dashed line under the sentence in which the writer names the mystery.

2 Develop the Topic In paragraph 2, how does the writer make sure his audience understands what Survivor is?

3 Linking Words and Phrases Draw a box around the linking word the writer uses in paragraph 3 to introduce a second reality TV show.

MENTOR TEXT: Blog Post

Step 1 Study a Mentor Text

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its name. This show follows a group of business people who compete to get a job working for the show’s host, Donald Trump. The winner’s job is to help Mr. Trump run one of his companies. In each episode, two teams are given a task to complete. The winning team will get an award, and someone on the losing team will get fired. Viewers love watching people compete against each other on this show. The fact that there are winners and losers in every episode keeps it interesting.

4 These two shows start with a great idea, but that’s not enough to keep things exciting. It takes a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure viewers stay interested. Producers and editors do most of this work. First, the producers plan the focus of each episode. They might make an outline, but there is usually no script. The stars are regular people, not actors. So when the cameras start filming, people may not do or say what the producers want them to. Surprising things can happen, and boring things can happen, too.

5 That’s when the editors come in. Their job is to turn whatever happens into an interesting show. They watch all the film, and then they get to work. They cut out the boring parts, such as watching people gather fuel on Survivor. Sometimes they even put events in a different order to make the show more suspenseful or exciting. Because they already know who won during the filming of the episode, the editors might give extra screen time to the winner. The creator of The Apprentice has said that 300 hours of film are edited down to just one hour that is shown on TV!

6 The next time you sit down to watch a reality show, remember that it’s not quite real. Producers planned the focus of the episode, and editors chose the best parts and put them together to make the show exciting. Keep these things in mind—and enjoy the show!

4 Develop the Topic Explain why the writer chooses to define the word apprentice in paragraph 3.

5 Domain-Specific Vocabulary The writer uses several words in paragraph 4 that are specific to the topic of television. Underline five of these words.

6 Conclusion Draw a dashed line beneath the sentence in the conclusion that restates the writer’s topic.

FOCUS Identify Task, Purpose, and Audience

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You have just watched a thrilling episode of a new reality TV show, and you can’t help but wonder: How can “reality” always look so exciting? You will research the answer to this question and then share what you learn with other fans of reality TV by writing a blog post.

In your blog post:

• Describe two reality TV shows.

• Explain why viewers enjoy these shows.

• Explain some things producers and editors do to raise the level of excitement in a reality TV show.

Before you begin writing, read your assignment carefully to plan your work. Keep in mind that the style and organization of some types of writing, such as blog posts, can change depending on the writer’s purpose. For example, some blog posts are written to share information or teach a skill, like cooking. Others are written to share humor or opinions. Identifying your purpose will help you decide the most effective way to organize and craft your information.

Modeled Instruction

Rico Martinez, who wrote “Is Reality TV Real?” on pages 92–93, was given the assignment below. He read it closely and marked up some important details.

Read Rico’s assignment. Then read his Think Aloud, which tells how he identified his task, purpose, and audience.

Think Aloud

Purpose My purpose is to “share what I learn” with readers. This is another way of saying I’m going to give them information. I want to organize my writing very clearly so my audience can learn a lot.

Audience I’m sharing this with other fans of reality TV shows. This means my readers already know a little bit about my topic, and are probably interested in learning more.

Task I have to write a blog post—a type of writing that is published on the Internet. In blog posts I’ve read, the writers sound like they’re chatting with a friend instead of writing for school, so I’ll remember to do that as I write. These bullets tell me the information my blog post must include. I will underline the important details that tell me what I need to cover.

RICO’S Assignment

Lesson 4 Writing to Inform: Blog PostW.4.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Step 2 Unpack Your Assignment

Hi, I’m Sweet T, and I’m also going to be doing

this assignment.


Your Assignment

You just fell for the latest Internet hoax: a breaking news story about a law that requires students to go to school on Saturdays. This experience inspires you to make others aware of media hoaxes so they can avoid being tricked, too. Write a blog post for kids your age in which you describe some famous media hoaxes and how people were fooled by them.

To prepare to write your blog post, you will read the following:

• The Night the Martians Landed page 100

• from Fooled You! Fakes and Hoaxes Through the Years pages 101–105

In your blog post:

• Describe two successful hoaxes that have appeared in the media.

• Describe how people reacted to these hoaxes.

• Explain why people were fooled by these hoaxes.

1 Purpose What is your purpose for writing? Explain which details in your assignment help you understand this.

2 Audience Who is your audience? Draw a box around the words that tell who will read your writing.

3 Task Circle the type of writing you will do. Underline any words or phrases that tell what information you must cover in your writing.

Turn and Talk Review the information you need to include in your blog post. How will your blog post help readers avoid being tricked by hoaxes?

HINT Identify the cause and effect relationship in the assignment.

HINT Look for details in the last three bullet points that refer to what, why, or how many.

Guided Practice

Now it’s your turn to write a blog post. Read Your Assignment carefully. Then complete the activities, using the Hints for help.

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The Research PathThe Research PathThe Research PathWriting from SourcesWriting from Sources

Sources

Join me on the path to gather evidence

from sources!

Your Sources

Return to pages 100–105Use your mark-up strategy to identify important details in the sources.

REREAD

Reread as a Writer

READ Your SourcesGo to pages 100–105

• The Night Martians Landed

• from Fooled You!

Find out what these sources are about and what you can learn from them.

Read as a Reader

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Text EvidenceREVIEW Your Assignment

Return to page 95Reread your task to identify the types of details you will need to include in your blog post.

Begin Writing! Go to pages 110–111

FIND Text EvidenceGo to pages 98–99Learn how to mark important details so you can find them quickly later on.

Your Assignment

THINK It Through

Go to pages 106–107Complete the activities to help you connect the ideas from the sources to your assignment.

ORGANIZE Your EvidenceGo to pages 108–109Use a chart to group your ideas and evidence so that you’re ready to write.

Think It Through

Need More Information?

FOCUS Gather Information


From “The Night the Martians Landed” page 100

. . . Before the program began, Welles explained that the “news broadcast” was fiction. But many listeners tuned in late. Therefore, they missed Welles’s explanation that this was a radio play. As a result, thousands of people thought that the Earth was really being invaded by Martians!

As people listened, some began to panic because the broadcast seemed real. Some people called their friends and relatives to warn them.

You’ve unpacked your assignment and identified the information you need to include in your blog post. As you reread your sources on pages 100–105, mark the details you can use to inform your readers about two famous hoaxes in media history. Each detail should support one of the following ideas that you will develop in your blog post:

• Description of each hoax. Underline details that will help you describe each hoax to your readers. Mark these details with a D, for describe.

• How people reacted. Underline details that show what people did as a result of each hoax. Mark these details with an R, for reacted.

• Why people were fooled. Underline details that tell why each hoax successfully fooled people. Mark these details with an F, for fooled.

Modeled Instruction

To gather evidence for his blog post, Sweet T underlined details and marked up the text as he read the first source, “The Night the Martians Landed.”

Read the text and Sweet T’s Think Aloud to learn more about the reading and mark-up strategies he used.

Think Aloud This detail tells exactly why the hoax fooled people:

“many listeners tuned in late.” They missed the very important announcement that the broadcast was fictional. I’ll mark this detail with an F.

This detail says “the broadcast seemed real.” It also explains why people were fooled. Some people couldn’t tell the difference between a real radio announcement and Welles’s radio play, so they got scared. I’ll mark this with an F, too.

This paragraph tells about how some people panicked after hearing the hoax. It describes how they reacted, so I’ll mark these details with an R.


Step 3 Find Text Evidence

F

F

R

W.4.8: . . . gather relevant information from print . . . sources. . . .


Guided Practice

Read the following excerpt from Fooled You! Then complete the activities, using the Hints for help.

From “Fooled You!” page 105

Poe made his story believable by including the names of real people. Monck Mason, for example, had actually sailed a balloon from London to Germany in 1836. Poe copied the drawing and description of the craft from a pamphlet that described similar balloons. The details made it easy for readers to accept that ballooning’s great goal had been reached. Neither they nor Poe knew that the east-to-west balloon crossing he described was all but impossible. The jet stream, the major upper-air current across the Atlantic, blows west to east. But the jet stream hadn’t been discovered yet.

1 Read the underlined sentence. Mark the sentence with a D, R, or F to tell which idea it supports. Explain your answer.

2 Underline and mark another detail that supports the same idea as in Item 1. Explain your answer.

3 Which sentence describes how people reacted to Poe’s story? Underline it, and mark it with an R.

Turn and Talk Using the excerpt above, discuss how you chose what to underline and what to leave unmarked.

HINT Believable means “able to be believed.”

HINT Did readers have all the information they needed to decide the accuracy of Poe’s story?

HINT What did readers believe had been accomplished?


Source 1: Magazine Feature Article Lesson 4

1 October 30, 1938, was perhaps the most frightening night that thousands of Americans would ever experience. It was the night that the science fiction novel The War of the Worlds was presented in the form of a radio news broadcast.

2 Orson Welles, who would later become a famous movie actor and director, made the broadcast from a studio in New York City. The story was about Martians invading the Earth. Before the program began, Welles explained that the “news broadcast” was fiction. But many listeners tuned in late. Therefore, they missed Welles’s explanation that this was a radio play. As a result, thousands of people thought that the Earth was really being invaded by Martians!

3 As people listened, some began to panic because the broadcast seemed real. Some people called their friends and relatives to warn them. Others alerted local police stations to the danger. Still others reportedly ran out into the streets, into parks, and into their cars, hoping to escape the “invasion.” Newspapers reported huge traffic jams and overloaded telephone lines. It was a terrifying night for both citizens and police alike.

4 The next day, the newspapers told of the “fake” news broadcast. The headlines claimed that thousands of people had heard and believed it—but none of it was true.

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Source 2: Book Chapter Lesson 4

1 If you use e-mail, you’ve probably received at least one message beginning like the above. Maybe it told you about Internet “cleanup day,” when all Web servers are shut down for cleaning. Maybe it warned you of the death-ray virus, which can cause your computer to explode. Maybe it said that the U.S. Postal Service wants to charge a five-cent fee for every e-mail sent over the Internet.

2 And maybe you believed it. But you won’t have to pay postage for sending e-mail, and there is no Internet cleanup day or death-ray virus. Those e-mails are hoaxes, made up just to trick people.

3 E-mail hoaxes are the latest twist in an old game. There have always been people who cooked up unbelievable tales—and other people willing to believe them. Many hoaxes are funny. Others have a darker nature; they’re meant to ruin reputations or spread fear. Some are created to cheat people out of money. That’s fraud, and it’s a crime.

4 Hoaxes differ from practical jokes and other kinds of trickery, though. A practical joke is aimed at one person or, at most, a few people. Con artists who carry out frauds usually pick their victims carefully. But a hoax is meant to fool the world. . . .

THIS IS TRUE—PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT, AND PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN E-MAIL ADDRESS. . . .


Source 2 continued Lesson 4

5 On April 13, 1844, the New York Sun rushed out a broadside, a special edition, trumpeting a surprising story.

6 “Astounding News by Express, via Norfolk! The Atlantic Crossed in Three Days,” read the headline. The report that followed was written by Edgar Allan Poe. It began:

7 The great problem is at length solved! The air, as well as earth and the ocean, has been subdued by science, and will become a common and convenient highway for mankind. The Atlantic has actually been crossed in a Balloon!

8 A group of daring British adventurers, the account said, had made the amazing trip. Their leader was one Monck Mason, a well-known balloonist. Their craft was the “steering balloon Victoria,” an egg-shaped, gas-filled balloon with a car hanging below it, something like a modern blimp. It had a spring-driven propeller and a rudder for steering.

9 The balloonists hadn’t intended to cross the ocean, Poe’s account revealed. They had meant to cross the English Channel from Britain to France. But the balloon’s propeller broke, and a fierce northeast wind swept the craft out over the ocean. Traveling sixty miles an hour, and sometimes faster, the Victoria made the crossing in seventy-five hours. It landed safely on the coast of South Carolina.

English aviator Thomas Monck Mason built this airship, the Victoria, in 1843. Edgar Allan Poe used it as the basis for his hoax.


10 The newspaper story included excerpts from a diary kept by Mason during the trip and a drawing of the Victoria. It caused quite a stir. As word of the news spread, people jammed the square in front of the Sun building, all eager to get a copy of the broadside. Enterprising newsboys made a profit by charging as much as fifty cents for a paper that usually sold for a penny.

11 Those who bought a copy thought they were holding a bit of history in their hands. Actually, they were being had.

Flight of Fact or Fancy?12 Edgar Allan Poe is famous today as the author of short

stories, such as “The Tell-Tale Heart.” But he was not so famous in 1844. In fact, he was broke. In early April he arrived in New York from Philadelphia with five dollars in his pocket. He had a sick wife and a mother to care for, and he needed money quickly.

13 For a writer at that time, newspapers were the most likely source of quick cash. New York’s three daily newspapers—the Sun, the Herald, and the Tribune—competed hotly for readers. Each wanted to be first with the next big story. And as Poe knew well, they did not always worry whether the stories they printed were true.

14 The Sun in particular was famous for this. In August 1835, for example, the Sun ran a series of articles claiming that a noted British astronomer had used a powerful new telescope to observe the moon. He had seen oceans, forests, animals, and—most amazing of all—furry, bat-winged moon people! It was all fiction, of course. But in those days people knew little about conditions on the moon, and the stories were widely believed. The Sun’s circulation tripled before the hoax was exposed.

Edgar Allan Poe


Source 2 continued Lesson 4

15 So Poe picked up his pen and wrote a story that the Sun couldn’t pass up. Ballooning was a perfect topic—a balloon craze was sweeping the United States and Europe. Ballooning was the only way to fly, as airplanes hadn’t yet been invented. It was new and exciting. People had been going up in hot-air and gas balloons for only about fifty years. Crowds turned out to watch balloon ascents, and daring balloonists tried to set new distance records. Crossing the Atlantic was the great ballooning dream. Just a year before Poe wrote his story, the American balloonist John Wise had described a plan to ride a “current of air” across the ocean. He hadn’t been able to raise money for the flight.

Balloon flights were exciting events in the 1800s. This print shows the French balloon Le Tricolore in flight, carrying three passengers.


16 Poe made his story believable by including the names of real people. Monck Mason, for example, had actually sailed a balloon from London to Germany in 1836. Poe copied the drawing and description of the craft from a pamphlet that described similar balloons. The details made it easy for readers to accept that ballooning’s great goal had been reached. Neither they nor Poe knew that the east-to-west balloon crossing he described was all but impossible. The jet stream, the major upper-air current across the Atlantic, blows west to east. But the jet stream hadn’t been discovered yet.

17 The Sun could have uncovered the hoax before printing the story. Its editors could have tried to contact Mason in South Carolina, where he supposedly had landed. They would have learned that the story was a fake. But in 1844 there were no telephones and no telegraph between New York and South Carolina. Checking the story would have taken days—and cost the Sun the chance to be first with the news.

18 It wasn’t long before the truth came out, however. Two days after the story appeared, the newspaper admitted its mistake with a simple line: “The mails from the south . . . not having brought confirmation of the balloon from England . . . we are inclined to believe that the intelligence is erroneous.”

19 No flying machine would cross the Atlantic until 1919, when a U.S. Navy seaplane made the trip. No balloon would cross until 1978, when the Double Eagle II sailed from Maine to France.

In this group portrait, Thomas Monck Mason (far right) consults with advisors and sponsors prior to an 1836 balloon voyage.

Think It Through


Complete the following activities to check your understanding of each source.Your answers will help you write your blog post.

1 On the lines below, list three details you will use to describe the hoax you read about in “The Night the Martians Landed.”

Detail:

Detail:

Detail:

2 On the lines below, list three details you will use to describe the hoax you read about in Fooled You!

Detail:

Detail:

Detail:

HINT Focus on the cause and not the effects.

HINT What was Poe’s strategy for the trick?

W.4.9b: Apply grade 4 Reading standards to informational texts.

Think It Through


3 What was similar about the way people reacted to the “War of the Worlds” broadcast and the news of the hot air balloon crossing the Atlantic? Use details from each source in your answer.

4 Think about both hoaxes together. Explain two things that Welles and Poe both did that made it possible to trick people.

1:

2:

HINT How quickly did people react to each hoax?

HINT How did they plan their hoaxes?

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Now that you’ve gathered information on your topic, it’s time to organize it. Start by grouping each detail you marked in your sources with the idea it tells more about. Once you have collected and sorted your evidence, you can decide how you want to organize the paragraphs in your blog post. You may decide to write each paragraph about a single idea, or you might consider combining ideas within a paragraph, like the Mentor Text writer did on pages 92–93.

Modeled Instruction

To organize his evidence about each hoax, Sweet T created the chart below.

Notice the organization of Sweet T’s chart. Then read the excerpt and choose a detail to add to each of the last two rows in Sweet T’s chart.

Step 4 Organize Your Evidence


From “The Night the Martians Landed” page 100

Orson Welles, who later became a famous movie actor and director, made the broadcast from a studio in New York City. The story was about Martians invading the Earth. Before the program began, Welles explained that the “news broadcast” was fiction. But many listeners tuned in late. Therefore, they missed Welles’s explanation that this was a radio play. As a result, thousands of people thought that the Earth was really being invaded by Martians!

As people listened, some began to panic because the broadcast seemed real. Some people called their friends and relatives to warn them. Others alerted local police stations to the danger.

Sweet T’s Chart

Hoax 1: The Martian Invasion

Details • Orson Welles made a radio broadcast about Martians invading Earth.

How did people react?

• Some people panicked.• Some people called friends and relatives.

•

Why were people fooled?

•

W.4.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning. . . .

W.4.8: . . . take notes and categorize information. . . .

FOCUS Plan Your Blog Post

R

F

D

Write Time

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Guided Practice

Read the following excerpt from Fooled You! Continue helping Sweet T fill in his chart by completing the activities. Use the Hints for help.


Poe made his story believable by including the names of real people. Monck Mason, for example, had actually sailed a balloon from London to Germany in 1836. Poe copied the drawing and description of the craft from a pamphlet that described similar balloons. The details made it easy for readers to accept that ballooning’s great goal had been reached. Neither they nor Poe knew that the east-to-west balloon crossing he described was all but impossible. The jet stream, the major upper-air current across the Atlantic, blows west to east. But the jet stream hadn’t been discovered yet.

Sweet T’s Chart

Hoax 2: Hot Air Balloon Crosses the Atlantic

Details • Poe wrote a story about a balloon crossing the Atlantic.

How did people react?

• The people accepted that the goal of the balloon trip had been reached.

Why were people fooled?

•

•

In your own chart, record the evidence you marked in each source. Organize the evidence according to the idea it supports.

1 Find two details that tell why people were fooled by Poe’s hot air balloon hoax. Underline the details and mark them with an F. Then add them to the correct place in the chart.

2 The excerpt says, “Neither they nor Poe knew that the east-to-west balloon crossing he described was all but impossible.” Where should Sweet T put this detail on his chart? Explain your answer.

Turn and Talk How do you think you will organize your blog post? Explain your reasons to your partner.

HINT What made Poe’s story believable?

HINT The sentence describes what people did not know.

R


Use this chart to learn more about the main parts of a blog post. You can refer back to this chart as you write your own draft.

W.4.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

W.4.2a: Introduce a topic clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections. . . .

Step 5 Draft Your Blog Post


FOCUS Write an Introduction

Parts of a Blog Post

INTRODUCTION

Grabs the readers’ attention and

identifies the topic

Your introduction should get readers interested in learning more about your topic. You should:

• Capture the readers’ interest with an anecdote, description, or question.

• Transition to your topic to connect your opener with the focus of your blog post.

• Clearly state your topic.

BODY

Supports thetopic presented

in the introduction

The body of your blog post should include information to develop your topic. You should:

• Group related information into paragraphs.

• Include facts, definitions, details, and examples to develop your ideas.

• Use precise language or domain-specific vocabulary to present ideas accurately.

• Use linking words and phrases to connect your ideas and make them easier to follow.

CONCLUSION

Sums up what readers should know

Your conclusion should restate your topic and directly address your purpose for writing. You should:

• Restate your most important ideas.

• Leave readers with an idea to think about.


Draft Your INTRODUCTION

Practice writing different parts of your introduction. Study each example from the Mentor Text. Then try writing a similar part for your blog post.

Capture the Readers’ Interest

Mentor Text

I watched a new reality TV show last night that was a lot of fun. In the show, eleven pairs of kids are competing to finish a scavenger hunt, and the first pair to finish will win a huge prize! Just about every minute of the show was exciting. (The only boring parts were the commercials.)

Your Blog Post

Transition to Your Topic

Mentor Text

This made me wonder about something. If real life isn’t always a big thrill, then what makes reality TV shows seem so exciting?

Your Blog Post

State Your Topic

Mentor Text

To help solve this mystery, I’ll explore what makes two reality shows popular, and what the producers and editors have to do to make them so interesting.

Your Blog Post

Turn and Talk Why is it a good idea to begin a blog post with a personal story?

HINT Has someone you know ever experienced a media hoax?

HINT What question are you trying to answer in your blog post?

HINT Revisit the bullet points that describe your task on page 95.

Draft Your INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

BODY

CONCLUSION

Write TimeUse your ideas from this page to begin drafting your introduction. Then begin drafting your body paragraphs.


W.4.2b: Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.Lesson 4 Step 5 Draft Your Blog Post continued

Draft Your BODY

In previous lessons, you’ve learned to develop your topic with evidence such as facts, definitions, details, and examples. Sometimes you will quote evidence directly from your sources. Other times you will paraphrase it, or express it in your own words. When you paraphrase, you:

• Take the role of an expert, choosing only the information your readers need and expressing it in a way that will make sense to them.

• Think of ways to combine several related details into one statement or description.

• Keep the important ideas, but change the wording to your own.

Modeled Instruction

Read the excerpt from a source Rico used to write his blog post. Then read the Think Aloud to see how Rico decided to paraphrase details from the source.

From “The History of Reality TV”

. . . For example, on the CBS show Survivor, you might see sixteen contestants in constant competition, carefully strategizing every move. But what you don’t see are the five days of the week when contestants aren’t doing much of anything. Sometimes they’ll work with producers to film interviews. Other times they’ll go look for food, or just sit and chat. These events are a lot more like what the viewer would consider to be “real life,” which is exactly what makes them dull. The Survivor crew skillfully edits hundreds of hours of footage down to twelve hourlong, heart-stopping episodes.

Think Aloud The details in this paragraph support the topic of my blog

post, so I want to use them. But I don’t want to repeat everything that’s here. That would take up too much of my blog post. I need to paraphrase it instead.

I’ll ask myself: How are these details connected? The answer will help me paraphrase. I see that Survivor looks like constant drama, but it’s not. Contestants actually spend most of their time doing boring things, which then get edited out of the show. So I could say, “‘The nonstop drama on Survivor only takes place during two days of the week. The rest of the time is normal, everyday life that gets edited out.” I paraphrased that whole paragraph in just two sentences.

The last sentence directly supports an idea I need to cover. The way it is phrased gives concrete evidence, so I don’t want to change it. I think I will use it as a quotation.

INTRODUCTION

BODY

CONCLUSION

FOCUS Paraphrasing from Sources

Write Time



Poe made his story believable by including the names of real people. Monck Mason, for example, had actually sailed a balloon from London to Germany in 1836. Poe copied the drawing and description of the craft from a pamphlet that described similar balloons. The details made it easy for readers to accept that ballooning’s great goal had been reached. Neither they nor Poe knew that the east-to-west balloon crossing he described was all but impossible.

Guided Practice

Read the following excerpt from Fooled You! Then complete the activities, using the Hints for help.

1 Read the underlined sentences in Sweet T’s draft. Explain why these sentences are not a good example of paraphrasing.

2 On the lines below, rewrite the underlined section of Sweet T’s draft to paraphrase the ideas from his source.

3 Read the underlined sentence in Fooled You! Should Sweet T paraphrase this sentence or use part or all of it as a quotation? Explain your answer.

Turn and Talk Practice paraphrasing small sections of your source texts. Give your partner feedback about whether the wording is too close to the original.

HINT Has Sweet T changed enough of the words to make it his own?

HINT What do the details in the sentences have in common?

HINT Read the draft and try adding this detail both ways.

Sweet T’s DraftIn 1844, Edgar Allan Poe convinced people

that the Atlantic Ocean had been crossed in a hot air balloon. People were easily fooled by Poe’s balloon hoax. This is in part because he used Monck Mason’s name. Monck Mason sailed from London to Germany in 1836. He also copied details from a pamphlet.

Finish drafting the body of your blog post. Then draft a conclusion using the tips from the chart on page 110 for help.

Step 6 Revise: First Read


Then the editors come in. Their job is to turn what happens into an interesting show. They look at all the film, and then they get to work. They cut out the boring parts, such as watching people gather fuel on Survivor. Sometimes they put events in a different order to make the show suspenseful and exciting. Because they already know who won during the filming of that episode, the editors give extra show time to the winner.

The next time you sit down to watch a reality show, remember that it’s not quite real. Keep these things in mind—and enjoy the show!


W.4.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

W.4.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by . . . revising. . . .

As you revise, use your Informational Writing Checklist to check your writing. Work through the checklist one line at a time. Reread the related parts of your blog post to decide whether you did your best possible work for each trait described. In this step, you will practice checking your blog post for three of the traits in the categories of Organization and Elaboration.

Modeled Instruction

The Mentor Text writer, Rico Martinez, used the same checklist to evaluate his draft.

Read his Think Aloud to see how he checks his blog post.

Think Aloud Elaboration Do I include enough facts, details, and

examples to support my main idea? I have details telling what editors do, but adding a fact would make my supporting evidence stronger. I’ll add this sentence: “The creator of The Apprentice has said that 300 hours of film are edited down to just one hour that is shown on TV!”

Organization Does my conclusion restate my topic? My blog post discusses how reality TV isn’t exactly true to real life. My conclusion states this pretty clearly, so I think I can leave it the way it is.

Organization Does my conclusion restate my important ideas? Not yet. My blog post explains how producers and editors make reality TV interesting. I’ll restate those ideas by adding these sentences: “Producers planned the focus of the episode, and editors chose the best parts and put them together to make the show exciting.”

MENTOR TEXT Draft

Guided Practice

Read the excerpt below from Sweet T’s draft of the assignment. Then complete the activities. Use the Hints for help.FOCUS Organization and Elaboration

Write Time


Guided Practice

Read the excerpt below from Sweet T’s draft of the assignment. Then complete the activities. Use the Hints for help.

Sweet T’s Draft

Why did people believe the Sun’s claim that a balloon had crossed the Atlantic? There were a couple of reasons. First, Poe made his story believable by including the names of real people. Second, he included a drawing of a similar balloon that was used to sail from London to Germany. These details made the story’s claim convincing.

When you hear a story that sounds too amazing to be true, it just might be. If you do get fooled by a hoax, just remember: You’re not the first person to be tricked, and it must be a pretty good story to have fooled you!

Use the Informational Writing Checklist passed out by your teacher to evaluate your draft for Ideas, Organization, and Elaboration.

1 Elaboration How could Sweet T strengthen the evidence in his draft?

2 Organization Does Sweet T’s conclusion restate his topic? Explain your answer.

3 Organization Part of Sweet T’s purpose is to warn kids about being fooled by media hoaxes. Does his conclusion show this? If not, what could he add?

Turn and Talk Take turns reading aloud your conclusions. Discuss whether your conclusions restate your important ideas in an interesting way.

HINT What different types of evidence can you use to support an idea?

HINT Sweet T’s blog post covers hoaxes, how people react to them, and why people are fooled by them.

HINT What are some ways to avoid being fooled by hoaxes?


W.4.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by . . . revising. . . .

Once your ideas are organized and developed, it’s time to check your word choices. In this step, you’ll look for ways to vary your sentences and make your ideas flow more smoothly.

Try these methods for varying your sentences:

• Use an introductory phrase to begin a sentence.

With the technology now available, creating a hoax is easier than ever.

• Combine two short, related sentences into one longer sentence.

People usually believe what they read, but they should think twice.

• Add a dependent clause, which includes a subject and a verb but is not a complete sentence.

Orson Welles, who broadcast a radio play of The War of the Worlds, created a famous hoax by accident.

Modeled Instruction

Read the following excerpt from “Is Reality TV Real?” Note how Rico used sentence variety to make his writing flow more smoothly. Then complete the activities.

Survivor was the first reality show that became really popular. It began its run in the United States in 2000. On this show, a group of sixteen people have to survive in a remote and dangerous place. They have to find food, water, and shelter, and they even have to compete in challenges to win prizes. People get voted off the show each week.

From MENTOR TEXT page 92 1 Draw a box around an introductory phrase in the text.

2 In an earlier draft, the underlined sentence was broken into two sentences. Why did the writer combine them?

3 Find a sentence in which some of the words could be turned into an introductory phrase. Draw a box around those words.

Step 7 Revise: Second Read


FOCUS Varying Sentences


Guided Practice

Read the following paragraph from an early draft of the Mentor Text. Then use the Hints to help you complete the activities that follow.

4 Read the following sentences from the draft.

Donald Trump is the host. He owns a lot of companies.

Which of the following combines the sentences by using a dependent clause? Circle the correct answer.

A The host is Donald Trump, and he owns a lot of companies.

B Donald Trump, who owns a lot of companies, is the host.

C The host, Donald Trump, owns a lot of companies.

D Donald Trump owns a lot of companies and is the host.


Here’s what happens each week. Mr. Trump gives two teams a job.

Combine these sentences by using an introductory phrase.


The winning team gets rewarded. Someone on the losing team gets fired.

Combine these sentences into one longer sentence.

Turn and Talk Take turns reading aloud paragraphs from your articles. Point out where your partner could add variety to sentences by using introductory phrases, dependent clauses, and combined sentences.

HINT Remember, a dependent clause has a subject and a verb, but is not a complete sentence.

HINT When does Mr. Trump give two teams a job?

HINT Use a comma and a conjunction to put the two sentences together.

Another reality TV show is The Apprentice. Donald Trump is the host. He owns a lot of companies. People on the show compete to work for him. Here’s what happens each week. Mr. Trump gives two teams a job. The winning team gets rewarded. Someone on the losing team gets fired.

MENTOR TEXT Draft

Write TimeUse the Informational Writing Checklist passed out by your teacher to evaluate your draft for Language.


W.4.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by . . . editing.

L.4.1a: Use relative pronouns (who, whose, whom, which, that) and relative adverbs (where, when, why).

Now you’ll make sure that your spelling, grammar, and punctuation are correct. In this step, you’ll focus on a group of words called relative pronouns and adverbs.

• The words who, whose, whom, which, and that are relative pronouns.

Pronoun Refers to Example

who, whose, whom

peopleDonald Trump, who owns a lot of companies, is the host.

which, that places or things

Reality TV shows, which feature non-actors, have been popular since 2000.

• The words where, when, and why are relative adverbs. A relative adverb connects the main clause of a sentence with another clause that describes it.

Survivor first aired in the United Kingdom, where it became a big hit.

Modeled Instruction

Read the following excerpt from a draft of “Is Reality TV Real?” Then complete the activities.

1 Rico needs to replace the underlined word in the first sentence. What relative pronoun correctly replaces the word?

2 On the lines below, combine the underlined sentences using a relative adverb.

3 Identify an additional error in the use of a relative pronoun or adverb. Cross out the incorrect word. Then write the correct word above it.

Survivor stars a group of people that are competing

for a million dollars. They are sent to live in the

wild. They have to find their own food, water, and

shelter. Each week, people get voted off the show.

The winner is the last person left, which name is

announced in the final episode. Lots of other

reality shows feature people competing for a prize.

MENTOR TEXT Draft

Step 8 Edit for Conventions


FOCUS Relative Pronouns and Adverbs

Language Handbook To learn more about relative pronouns and adverbs, turn to page 182.

Write Time


Guided Practice

Read the following excerpt from an early draft of “Is Reality TV Real?” Then complete the activities. Use the Hints for help.

4 The writer wants to combine the following sentences into a single sentence.

The Apprentice is another reality TV show. It started in 2004.

On the lines below, combine the sentences using a relative pronoun.

5 The writer wants to revise the following sentences by combining them into a single sentence.

Mr. Trump chooses the winner. That person gets to become his apprentice.

Which of the following revisions is correct? Circle the correct answer.

A When Mr. Trump chooses the winner, that person becomes his apprentice.

B Mr. Trump chooses the winner when that person becomes his apprentice.

C When Mr. Trump chooses that person to become his apprentice.

D Mr. Trump chooses the winner and becomes his apprentice.

Turn and Talk Take turns reading aloud paragraphs from your blog post. Listen closely for relative pronouns and relative adverbs. Discuss whether you are using these words correctly.

HINT The subject of the sentence is a thing.

HINT Read aloud each answer choice and think about its meaning.

The Apprentice is another reality TV show. It started in 2004. An apprentice is a person who learns a job from an expert. That’s how the show got its name. This show is about business people who compete to get a job. The host is Donald Trump. He owns a lot of companies. Mr. Trump chooses the winner. That person becomes his apprentice.

MENTOR TEXT Draft

Use the Informational Writing Checklist passed out by your teacher to evaluate your draft for Conventions.

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