Categories — Organizing Notes into Body Paragraphs (with Tier-2 Set 10 Launch)

Children spread their notes (from lesson 3) on the desk. Teacher asks: 'Could these notes go into groups? What groups?'

• Affirm category suggestions
• Note that one note may fit MULTIPLE categories
• Bridge: 'Each category becomes a body paragraph.'

Today you do two things: ORGANIZE your notes into CATEGORIES, and meet the first 5 Tier-2 Set 10 words. Categories are the body paragraphs of your research report. A category groups notes that go together because they answer the same SUB-QUESTION of your research topic. Watch teacher organize the Sojourner Truth notes into 3 categories: CATEGORY 1 = EARLY LIFE (notes about birth, family, enslavement). CATEGORY 2 = SPEECHES AND ACTIVISM (notes about 1851 Akron, Ain't I a Woman, abolition work). CATEGORY 3 = LEGACY (notes about stamp, statue, continued influence). Each category will become ONE body paragraph. Each note in the category becomes a sentence (or part of a sentence) in that paragraph. Use the MG-8 planner: big box on top for RESEARCH QUESTION + RESEARCH-THESIS; 3-5 medium boxes for CATEGORIES with bullet evidence under each (with source-tag); small box at bottom for SYNTHESIS / SO-WHAT. Now meet 5 Tier-2 Set 10 words: RESEARCH (verb = investigate thoroughly; noun = the investigation itself). INVESTIGATE (verb = look into systematically). SOURCE (noun = where a fact comes from). CREDIBLE (adj = believable, trustworthy). RELIABLE (adj = consistently dependable). These are the words you say when you describe what you're doing.

• Notice: a note about Sojourner being sold goes into EARLY LIFE because it answers 'who was she before her famous voice?'. A note about 'Ain't I a Woman' goes into SPEECHES because it answers 'what did her voice say?'. Categories ANSWER sub-questions.

  model See narrative — 3 categories with bullets and source-tags.

  prompt Teacher categorizes Sojourner Truth notes into 3 boxes.

• What does a CATEGORY group together?
• What is the difference between RESEARCH and INVESTIGATE?

M-4-S-WR-04-A Chart

Reproduction of MG-8 at 11x17: one large RESEARCH QUESTION + THESIS box (blue) at top, 3-5 medium CATEGORY boxes (yellow/orange/red/purple/pink) in middle row, each with 3-5 bullet lines with source-tag space, and one SYNTHESIS box (green) at bottom. Worked example for Sojourner Truth filled in across all boxes. Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

MG-8 Chart

Category-boxes-and-bullets planner anchor (research-mode adaptation): one large box at top labeled RESEARCH QUESTION + RESEARCH-THESIS, three-to-five medium boxes labeled CATEGORY 1, CATEGORY 2, CATEGORY 3, CATEGORY 4 (optional), CATEGORY 5 (optional), each with 3-5 bullet lines for evidence-with-source-tag beneath it, and one small box at bottom labeled SYNTHESIS / SO-WHAT. Worked example: RESEARCH QUESTION: 'How did Sojourner Truth use her voice to change a nation?' CATEGORY 1: Early Life (bullets: born ~1797, sold 4 times, Dutch first language, source: McKissack). CATEGORY 2: Speeches (bullets: 1851 Akron, 'Ain't I a Woman', source: Painter). CATEGORY 3: Legacy (bullets: stamp, statue in Capitol, source: National Park Service). SYNTHESIS: 'Her voice continues to influence movements for women's and Black freedom.' Print-ready 11x17.

• Sort your notes into 3-5 CATEGORIES on the MG-8 planner. Each category gets a label and 3-5 bullets with source-tags.

  scaffold MG-8 planner at 1.5x; note slips (one per row from lesson 3) can be physically arranged before transcribing
• Use each of the 5 Set-10 words in a metacognitive sentence about your own research. Frame: 'My ___ [Set 10 word] is ___.'

  scaffold Tier-2 Set 10 word cards (5 cards in hand); sentence-frame card

M-4-S-VOC-04-B Chart

11x17 anchor showing all 15 Set 10 words (research, investigate, source, credible, reliable, paraphrase, summarize, cite, attribute, category, classify, synthesize, conclude, analyze, evaluate) in a grid; today's 5 highlighted yellow. Each cell has photo + definition + example. Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

• Show your planner. Partner names: research question, 3-5 categories, bullets per category, so-what.
• Use 3 of the 5 Set-10 words in one connected sentence about your research.

• Star the strongest category.
• Predict: tomorrow we meet corroboration — checking facts across sources.

• Use one Set-10 word in dinner conversation tonight. Notice if the adult understood. Bring back example.