Mentor research-text close reading — Nakate, Adichie, and Kimmerer as models of source-grounded writing

Quick-noticing: read the first paragraph of Nakate's chapter 3. What does she DO with sources? Name any moves you see.

• Listen for student noticings of signal phrases, statistics, expert attribution
• Affirm: 'You're already seeing what we'll name today'

Today we read three mentor researchers — Vanessa Nakate (climate-justice advocate), Chimamanda Adichie (essayist), and Robin Wall Kimmerer (botanist-essayist) — to see how skilled writers integrate sources into their own argument. We will name the moves: SIGNAL PHRASE (names the source — 'According to the IPCC...'), DIRECT QUOTE (verbatim language in quotation marks), PARAPHRASE (source's idea in writer's own words with citation), STATISTIC WITH ATTRIBUTION (a number with the source it came from), and EXPERT TESTIMONY (a credentialed person quoted or summarized). Each move is a TOOL — we will use all of them this term. Notice also what these writers do AROUND the sources: they don't just drop evidence; they CONTEXTUALIZE (set up the source for the reader) and INTERPRET (explain what the source means for the argument). That contextualize-cite-interpret pattern is the quote sandwich we'll formally learn in lesson 8. Today we just notice it in mentor texts.

• Notice how Nakate sets up the source BEFORE the statistic — the reader knows where the number came from BEFORE seeing it.

  model Signal phrase: 'According to a 2021 report by the African Union...'. Statistic with attribution: '...the continent contributes less than 4 percent of global emissions yet bears 17 percent of climate-related deaths (AU Climate Report 12).'

  prompt Read Nakate ch. 3 paragraph 1. Find 1 signal phrase + 1 statistic with attribution.
• Kimmerer cites both Western scholarship and indigenous tradition as authoritative sources. Multi-tradition source synthesis.

  model Paraphrase of Western science: 'Modern agronomists confirm that intercropping legumes with grains improves nitrogen fixation (Robertson et al. 234).' Indigenous knowledge: 'The Anishinaabe teaching that corn, beans, and squash are sisters who give to each other...'

  prompt Read Kimmerer's Three Sisters chapter excerpt. Find a paraphrase of Western science + a citation of indigenous knowledge.
• Adichie weaves expert and personal evidence. Both are sourced — even the personal anecdote attributes (her mother).

  model Expert testimony: '...the African writer Ben Okri once wrote...'. Personal anecdote: '...when I was a child, my mother used to say...'

  prompt Read Adichie 'Danger of a Single Story' transcript section. Find 1 expert testimony + 1 personal anecdote serving as evidence.

• Pair-share: name 2 source-handling moves you saw in Nakate and where they appeared.
• Cold Call: identify a signal phrase in any of the three texts.
• Thumbs: I can name 3+ source-handling moves (up) / I need re-explanation (down)

M-7-F-RES-02-C Illustration

Toolbox illustration with 5 labeled tools: SIGNAL PHRASE (wrench-shape with 'According to...' on handle); DIRECT QUOTE (chisel with quotation marks); PARAPHRASE (pencil with 'in your own words' tag); STATISTIC+ATTRIBUTION (ruler with '47%' and 'source name'); EXPERT TESTIMONY (microphone with 'Dr. ___'). Style: clean diagrammatic, dyslexic-friendly font. Print-ready 11x17.

• Annotate Nakate ch. 3 (paragraphs 2-3): highlight signal phrases in red, statistics+attribution in green, expert testimony in blue. Tally each.

  scaffold Source-handling-moves observation sheet with 5 row-labels (signal phrase / direct quote / paraphrase / statistic+attribution / expert testimony)
• Pair-share: which mentor writer uses MOST source-handling moves per paragraph? Why might that be?

  scaffold Discussion stems: 'I noticed ___ in Nakate that I didn't see in Adichie because ___'

• Name 3 source-handling moves you saw in mentor texts. Pick the one you most want to use in your own research paper and explain why.

• Restate: 5 source-handling moves named (signal phrase / direct quote / paraphrase / statistic+attribution / expert testimony)
• Preview tomorrow's CRAAP source-evaluation test

• Find 1 nonfiction article (online or print) related to your research question. Bring it tomorrow. Do NOT read carefully yet — we will evaluate it together.