P-1: _______________is/has been 4 sents (including four of the most impactful details/facts from
your research)
P-2: Expert quote: 4 sents. min.
“__________________,” said ________________, a professor of _____________, who works as a
__________ at ____________. “ 3 more sents.”
P-3: There are many aspects to ____________. They include…(list five of the topics you’ve researched
from the encyclopedia)....one sentence. With ________, details/facts related to topic… Include
details/facts from each of topics into the paragraph. (Eight sents. min.)
P-4: (Interview another classmate/adult ---have them be an expert and comment related to P-3)
“______________________,” said Dr. _____________, a Professor of _______ at ________University.
“ Three more sents.”
P-5: Newspaper article citation. Use one of your newspaper articles to continue your story. Connect A
WORD FROM PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH BY USING IT IN FIRST SENTENCE OF THIS PARAGRAPH. Endnote
the article.
A recent newspaper article (Staff, 2009) suggests that easier can cross the line. It described how
teenagers across the country were using cell phones to send inappropriate photos of their classmates.
Some of these situations are ending up in the courts. Another recent article (George, 2009) talked
about how some teens take their cell phones with them to bed, and that teens will send and receive
upwards of 3,000 text messages per day, and 75 billion per month.
P-6: Conduct a poll or survey related to the article. Summarize the results of one of your surveys that
most connects to the newspaper article information. Use at least three quotes from people
interviewed related to that survey question in this paragraph. Notice how those tiny interviews give
more specific information beyond the percentages of the survey.
Surveys of a sample of eighth graders in Bellingham, Washington show that though 70% of teens might
own cell phones, many confine their use to special cases, such as calling parents, friends, or after-school
activities. Amy Han, an eighth grader at Fairhaven Middle School, prefers to borrow a phone if she
needs to make a call. Asa Arena, another eighth grader at Fairhaven likes to play games with his cell
phone. His classmate Jeff Biery wants a cell phone, although he realizes it’s not a necessary tool.
p-7 Blend in background information from a study or interview you researched.
It could be argued that the cell phone, which transmits and receives messages via a radio signal through
a network of radio antennas, is just the next step in the revolution of technology that began in earnest
near the end of the 19th century. Then, it was the introduction of power-driven machinery. Before,
manufacturing was done by hand. Most people worked at home. The industrial revolution spawned
more invention as financial capitalists provided money for further expansion. Although it did raise the
standard of living, it ended up creating overcrowded, unsanitary working conditions. Today, most
industrial countries face problems of air, land, and water pollution. One could also argue that if
technology was capable, then the fact that the most powerful computers can perform trillions of
calculations per second, they would be able to solve these problems.
p-8: Quote from another “expert”; Must go interview classmate for this; have them be
expert/university professor in subject related to topic. 4 sents. Quote.
p-9: Information from newspaper article or encyclopedia, building off of, connecting, transitioning
from previous paragraph. Again reincorporate a key word from last sentence of previous paragraph
into first sents of this paragraph.
P-10 Info paragraph containing one summary sentence from a classmate interviews related to the
above topic. Three sents. Maximum.
Several students were interviewed about their thoughts on technology. One, Drasil Helzer, felt that
television was like a drug. Another ___________ said that. A third __________ believes…
p-11 : Quote from the last person elaborating on that topic. 4 sents. Min.
“I have a television, but I don’t use it,” said Helzer. “When I was little, I used to watch t.v. a lot. Lately
I’ve been finding other outlets. They (the other outlets) give me something more meaningful to do.”
P-12: Info paragraph from another area of research—contribution/study/interview/encyclopedia –4
sents. min.
P-13: Quote from a person elaborating on that topic—4 sents. Min.
“We all think there’s too much of it at too young of an age,” said Hannah. “My brother will just sit in
front of the television. He gets in spaces where he won’t listen to anyone. My parents end up having to
give him consequences.”
P-14: Info from another part of your search. With connecting words for transitions.
That there are consequences of living in today’s world that technology cannot aid has not been lost on
organizations like the “Wilderness Volunteer Corps.” They are part of a growing movement called
‘Wilderness therapy’ which puts kids in nature for up to three weeks. They learn conservation and
survival skills, restoring trails, cooking, instilling in them a sense of responsibility and sense of who they
are. It’s a sense of who they are they don’t seem to be able to get from a computer.
P-15— Conduct a survey related to what you have in the previous paragraph. Summarize the results
of the last of your surveys that most connects to the info in the previous paragraph. Use at least three
quotes from people interviewed related to that survey question in this paragraph. Notice how those
tiny interviews give more specific information beyond the percentages of the survey. Again use a key
word from last sentence of previous paragraph to reincorporate into the first sentence of this
paragraph.
P-16—Find a person’s quote from that survey that you haven’t used yet, but you think can sum up the
overall gist/idea/point you want to make with your story. Use this paragraph to transition into it, by
reincorporating a key concept/question from your opening paragraph.
Maybe technology hasn’t become the new god. Is it possible that it’s like every other new idea that has
graced the trails of human history on this planet—that at first it seems like the sky is falling, and then
after a while, when humans saw the sky was still in place, most learned to put it in its place? Perhaps
Zoe S. summed it up best.
P-17—Final quote from that person—4 sents. Min. You might have to go back and interview them
again to get them to more specifically comment related to P-16.