I have chosen to write a unit which will help foreign-born students to develop their skills in writing reports. I feel that the foreign-born students are at a disadvantage because they are not made aware of resources available to them and how to put them together. They must be exposed to all the available materials before they can begin their assignment. Those students born in the United States are exposed to these skills during grammar school and in junior high school and also in high school.
After a great deal of reading and studying, I have devised a unit which has five basic steps to report writing. It must be understood that students should not attempt writing a report unless they know how to use the library and its available materials such as, a card catalog, an encyclopedia, an atlas, an almanac, and the Reader’s Guide. A separate unit should be taught on this before a report writing unit. Once the child can utilize these research materials, then my unit can be taught.
The first step or objective is
to chose a topic
. A child is usually given several general subjects to write about. The child must learn how to narrow down these subjects and choose a related topic.
The second step or objective is
to research your
topic
or gather information about your topic. At this step the student must be able to use the reference materials available and also to gather information by writing away for information and setting up personal interviews where possible.
The third step is
to take notes on what you’ve researched
. This may be the most difficult task for foreign-born and may require a little more attention. The students at this step must be aware of how to write direct quotations and keep bibliographic information.
The fourth step or objective is
to outline your
notes
. This will be the student’s writing plan. It will help the students to organize what they want to write about in a logical order.
The final step or objective is
to write the report
. Once the outlining is completed, this should be simple to do. At this step two other things must be covered: how to write a bibliography to list sources and how to proofread your report.
If the teacher follows the five basic steps, the students will have a successful experience writing their first report and won’t moan and groan every time a report writing assignment is assigned.
