INWOOD INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL 52

Mr. D. Gaynor

A WebQuest for 6^th-9^th grade English class

EXAMINING THE SAFETY OF AMERICA’S INFRASTRUCTURE

Throughout the history of the world there have been numerous natural disasters that have impacted the lives of many. There have recently been several natural disasters locally and around the world. Some of these disasters include the earthquake in Haiti 2010, tsunami in Japan 2011 and hurricane Sandy 2012. These catastrophes destroyed infrastructures that were said to be among the best and in some cases even indestructible. Many individuals debate that with the proper public policies in place we could limit the fragility many cities face in the event of a natural disaster. Too often the lives of the masses are affected when these policy driven issues could have been diminished or even in some cases be avoided.

As a concerned citizen, create a letter to an audience of your choice on the lack of suitable infrastructure facing the country that might lead to or can lead to a natural catastrophe affecting our transportation, communication, sewage, water or electric systems. Students will write a persuasive letter on the issue of outdated infrastructure demonstrating their feelings. Within the letter you should identify your position on the argument and provide evidences to support your claim. Students can choose to write to Politicians, Environmentalist, Engineers, Scientists or Community Members, Organizations or Educators.

Step one: Select the infrastructural issue that you feel strongly about. Decide whom you will write a letter to about this issue; such as Politicians (District Leader, Mayor, Governor, Senator or President), Environmentalist, Educators, Scientists, Engineers, Community Members or Organizations.

Here are some ideas:

- Energy use, subway, etc. (in MTA )

- Modes of transportation in the community or city

- Stricter infrastructural laws in the city/state/country

- Look at some websites for ideas, like:

o http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/

o https://www.planning.org/policy/infrastructure/

o http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/

o http://www.nrdc.org/action/

- Any other issue you think is important regarding infrastructure.

Step two: Gather information to include in your persuasive letters.

Do not work unless you have strong facts to back up your opinions. Some suggestion to gather additional resources are http://www.mta.info/capital/servicereliability/infrastructure/lines.php and http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/models/environeng6/websites.html.

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Step three: Draft your letter. Make sure you identify the following:

1.      What is the problem?

2.      What is the evidence of the problem?

3.      What are the causes of this problem?

4.      What were the existing public policies that addressed the problem?

5.      What are your 3 original public policies that would address the problem?

6.      What is your most effective and feasible public policy that would address the problem?

Step four: Refer to http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/welcome.html if you have any questions about the P.P.A. model.

Step five: Edit and revise your letter to make sure it has strong facts and gets your point across. It also needs to have correct mechanics.

Step six: Write a final copy of your letter.

Step seven: Preparation to mail your letter to the intended recipient.

• How well you introduce your claim and acknowledge the opposing view
• How well you support your claim with reasoning/evidence
• How well your writing is organized
• How well you maintain a formal style
• How well you provide a concluding statement that follows from your argument/thesis
• How well you demonstrate a command of the conventions of Standard English

		I.S. 52 Argument	Writing Rubric
Dimensions	Exceptional (100)	Capable (85)	Developing (75)	Emerging (60)
Ideas: Shows understanding of unit specific task and text	-Includes an appealing hook: quote, anecdote, question or statistic -Thoughtfully acknowledges the opposing argument -Claim is clear, convincing, original and focused, and makes connections beyond the task -Fulfills all of the requirements of the task 20	-Includes a hook: quote, anecdote, question or statistic -Acknowledges the opposing argument -Claim is clear, convincing, original and focused -Fulfills most of the requirements of the task 17	-Includes a weak hook: quote, anecdote, question or statistic -Attempts to acknowledge the opposing argument -Claim is reasonably clear, convincing, original and focused -Fulfills some of the requirements of the task and/or shows some misunderstanding of the text or task 15	-Hook is missing or unrelated to claim -Does not acknowledge the opposing argument -Claim is unclear or incomplete -Fulfills few or no requirements of the task and/or lacks understanding of the text or task 12
Development: Shows relationship between ideas and evidence	- Supports ideas with elaboration and thorough analysis -Provides relevant and well chosen cited evidence that goes beyond the obvious -Cited evidence is introduced and thoroughly explained using specific details - Explains examples through paraphrase and /or summary, leaving the reader with no lingering questions 25	- Supports ideas clearly and fully with facts and reasons -Provides relevant and well chosen cited evidence -Cited evidence is introduced and explained using specific details - Explains examples through paraphrase and /or summary 20	- Develops ideas briefly -Provides some cited evidence and/or examples that may be unrelated to topic or claim -Cited evidence is not introduced and/or explained using specific details - Examples lack explanation and may include inaccurate details 18	- Fails to develop ideas -Provides no cited evidence and/or includes invented evidence as though cited -Provides no examples and details and/or includes inaccurate or irrelevant information 14
Organization: Shows how the structure builds direction and coherence	- Introduces the claim clearly and originally, previewing what is to follow - Original topic sentences clearly establish and maintain a thoughtful focus for each body paragraph - Connects the claim, reasons and evidence using sophisticated and varied transitional words, phrases and clauses - Title is creative and captures meaning - Writing shows careful planning and revision - Concluding statement strongly reinforces your claim, supports your position and includes an inspiring call to action 20	- Introduces the claim clearly previewing what is to follow - Topic sentences clearly establish and maintain a focus for each body paragraph - Connects the claim, reasons and evidence using appropriate transitional words, phrases and clauses - Title is interesting and makes sense - Writing shows planning - Concluding statement reinforces your claim, supports your position and includes a call to action 17	- Attempts to introduce the claim while suggesting what is to follow - Topic sentences attempt to establish a focus for each body paragraph - Attempts to connect the claim, reasons and evidence using appropriate transitional words, phrases and clauses - Title is simple and hints at meaning - Writing shows some planning - Concluding statement shows little connection to claim and/or call to action may be missing 15	- Fails to introduce the claim and/or preview what is to follow - Topic sentences are not present and/or relevant - Fails to establish a logical sequence -Transition words are not present or are used incorrectly - Title is missing - Writing shows no planning - Concluding statement is missing or unrelated to content 12
Language use: Shows awareness of audience and purpose	- Is fluent and easy to read with a strong sense of engagement or voice - Consistently uses precise and above grade level vocabulary - Varies structure and length of sentences to enhance meaning and hold reader interest - Is sophisticated in style and tone -Writing consistently shows attention to audience and purpose 20	- Is fluent and easy to read with some sense of engagement or voice - Uses precise and some above grade level vocabulary - Varies structure and length of sentences to enhance meaning - Maintains consistency in style and tone -Writing shows attention to audience and purpose 17	- Is readable with little sense of engagement or voice - Uses basic vocabulary - Exhibits some attempt to vary structure and length of sentences but with uneven success - Establishes but fails to maintain consistency in style and tone -Writing shows little attention to audience and purpose 15	- Is difficult to read with little or no sense of engagement or voice - Uses limited or repetitive vocabulary - Sentences lack variety in structure or length - Fails to establish style or tone -Writing shows no attention to audience and purpose 12
Mechanics: Shows command of the conventions of Standard English	Shows control with essentially no errors in: - Spelling - Capitalization - Grammar - Paragraphing - Punctuation even when using above grade level language 15	Shows control with occasional errors that do not hinder comprehension when using: - Spelling - Capitalization - Grammar - Paragraphing - Punctuation 14	Shows some control with occasional errors that hinder comprehension when using: - Spelling - Capitalization - Grammar - Paragraphing - Punctuation 12	Shows little control with errors that make comprehension difficult when using: - Spelling - Capitalization - Grammar - Paragraphing - Punctuation 10

By completing this webquest students will have had the opportunity to integrate the Sciences and English Language Arts as well as utilize technology in their learning journey. Students will be required to doing online research to gather evidences from secondary resources. The process will be interactive thus culminating in students implementing the Common Core Learning Standards through their work products. Students will create an introduction that previews what is to follow, three body paragraphs that make use of appropriate transition words and a conclusion that summarizes the main points of their individual letters all while infusing relevant evidences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.

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