W.8.6: Using Technology to Publish, Collaborate and Show How Information Connects
In plain English: W.8.6 is the Common Core grade 8 ELA standard that asks students to use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing, to present how pieces of information and ideas connect in a way readers grasp quickly, and to work with others. Students choose charts, tables, lists and links, and trade comments with co-writers and readers.
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy · Domain: Writing Standards · Cluster: Production and Distribution of Writing · Official standard
Students follow one shared writing product from raw numbers to a published web page and the comments that come after it. Four invented eighth graders write an article for their school news site about the library's new graphic novel shelf. The librarian's email gives them ten monthly numbers, four sections, five survey answers and a set of steps, all in sentences. In a shared document, the team turns each kind of information into the display that shows its relationship fastest: a bar chart for the change over time, a sorted table for the sections, a numbered list for the steps, and a link for the catalog. Their comments also show them catching a cause the numbers do not prove.
The lesson treats technology as a set of writing choices. Students match relationships to displays, build a page in a shared document with named roles and suggestion mode, test it on readers, and answer comments after publishing. For homework they plan, discuss and publish a page about a school bike rack and reply to its readers.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish a piece of writing for real readers
Choose the display (chart, table, numbered list, link or sentence) that presents each relationship between information and ideas efficiently
Write accurate sentences that connect the displays to the writer's ideas without claiming more than the evidence shows
Collaborate in a shared document with roles, suggestion mode and specific comments
Interact respectfully with readers after publishing and record updates to the page
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Using technology to produce and publish writing, with links to sources W.7.6
Reading bar graphs, tables and percents from math class
Following agreed-upon rules in collaborative discussions SL.8.1
Revising a draft with help from peers and adults W.8.5
"Think of a web page, app screen or poster that made numbers easy to understand. What did it use: a chart, a table, a list, a link? What would have been harder to follow if it were only sentences?"
Take three or four answers and list the tools on the board. Then introduce the project this lesson follows. Four invented eighth graders at Hollis Middle School, Rosa, Kwame, Lena and Arjun, are writing a page for the school news site, the part of the school website where students publish articles. The school library opened a graphic novel shelf in October. A graphic novel is a book-length story told in comic-strip panels. The team wants to show what happened to library checkouts after that, and to help students get the books they want.
Read Text 1, the email the school librarian, Mr. Haddad, sent the team. Everything in it is invented for this lesson, including the numbers. Ask: which information is hard to follow in these sentences? Which numbers do readers need to compare?
1Hi Rosa, Kwame, Lena and Arjun,
2Here are the numbers you asked for, for your page on the school news site. Our checkout system counts every item that leaves the library, so these are exact counts, not estimates.
3Total checkouts by month, this school year and last school year: September, 640 this year and 610 last year; October, 860 and 720; November, 905 and 650; December, 560 and 430; January, 810 and 590. December is always low because of winter break. The graphic novel shelf opened on October 14, so September is the only month this year that came before the shelf.
4From October through January this year, checkouts by section were: fiction, 1,245; graphic novels, 1,010; nonfiction, 610; and e-books and audiobooks, 270. In January, 64 students were on a waiting list for at least one graphic novel.
5In the survey the student council ran in December, 212 students answered the question "What would bring you to the library more often?" Each student chose one answer: more graphic novels, 81; longer hours, 52; a quiet study space, 38; more e-books, 25; something else, 16.
6Many students don't know how to place a hold. You log in to the library catalog with your student ID number, search for the title, tap Place Hold, and wait for a message to your school account saying the book is ready. Then you have five school days to pick it up at the front desk before it goes to the next person on the list.
7One request: please don't publish any student's name with what that student checked out. Who borrows what is private. Totals are fine, and you can name me as the source for all of these numbers.
8Mr. Haddad
SVHS lesson authors, Mr. Haddad's email with the library numbers (Text 1; Mr. Haddad, Hollis Middle School, its library and all of the numbers are invented). Original passage written for this page.
Direct Instruction20 minutes
Break W.8.6 into its four jobs, using the library project. Each one is something students do with technology, including the Internet:
Produce writing. Draft, revise and edit on a device, often in a shared document: one online file that several writers can open and edit at the same time.
Publish writing. Put the finished writing where its readers will find it, such as a class website, a school news site or a learning platform. A published page should work for every reader, including people who use a screen reader, software that reads a page aloud.
Present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently. A relationship is how two pieces of information connect: one number is bigger than another, something changed over time, one step comes before the next, one fact supports an idea. Efficiently means the reader sees that connection quickly, without doing extra work. Diagram 1 matches common relationships to the display that shows each one best.
Interact and collaborate with others. Work with co-writers through comments and suggestions, and with readers through comments and replies after the page is published.
Read Text 2, the team's comment thread. A comment thread is a conversation written in the margin of a shared document. Suggestion mode is a setting in most shared-document programs that shows a change as a proposal the writer can accept or reject. Then work through the examples below.
1Rosa, January 27: I set up our shared document and made a heading for each part of the page. Here are the jobs, so we don't all write the same thing. I'll write the opening and the ending. Kwame, you have the monthly numbers. Lena, you have the survey and the steps for placing a hold. Arjun, you're the editor: check every number against Mr. Haddad's email and test every link. When you change someone else's part, please use suggestion mode, so the writer can accept or reject the change.
2Kwame: First try at the monthly part: "In September there were 640 checkouts compared to 610 last year, in October 860 compared to 720, in November 905 compared to 650, in December 560 compared to 430, and in January 810 compared to 590." Every number is right, but I read it twice and I still can't tell what happened.
3Lena, replying to Kwame: That's ten numbers in one sentence. Put them in a spreadsheet and make a bar chart with two bars for each month, one for this year and one for last year. Then anyone can see in a few seconds that the gap got bigger after September.
4Kwame: The chart is in. I also want to make a pie chart of the four sections.
5Arjun, replying to Kwame: A pie chart could work with only four slices, but it's hard to compare slices that are close in size. What if we put the sections in a table, biggest first, with a percent column? Then a reader gets the numbers and the order at the same time.
6Kwame: Fine by me. Table it is. Percents: fiction 40%, graphic novels 32%, nonfiction 19%, e-books and audiobooks 9%.
7Rosa: My opening sentence says, "Checkouts went up 31% because of the new graphic novel shelf." Is that OK?
8Arjun, replying to Rosa: The 31% checks out: 3,135 checkouts from October through January this year, against 2,390 in the same months last year. But "because of" is a stronger claim than the numbers show. September, before the shelf opened, was already up about 5%. We can say that checkouts rose after the shelf opened and that graphic novels were almost a third of them.
9Lena: The hold steps are a numbered list now, because the order matters. I also took a photo of the shelf for the top of the page. Two students are in it.
10Ms. Brandt, January 29: Nice work on the chart and the table. Before you publish: ask the two students in the photo for permission or take a new photo without people, add a short description of the chart for readers who use screen readers, and read the whole page on a phone. And remember that Mr. Haddad asked you not to connect any student's name to a book.
11Arjun, January 30: The new photo is up, with no people in it. The chart description is added. On my phone the table was too wide, so I shortened the column names. Every number matches the email, and the catalog link opens the right page. Ready when you are.
SVHS lesson authors, The team's comment thread in their shared document (Text 2; Rosa, Kwame, Lena, Arjun and their teacher, Ms. Brandt, are invented). Original passage written for this page.
Producing: splitting the work in a shared document
Rosa makes a heading for each part of the page and gives each writer a job, with Arjun as editor (Text 2, paragraph 1).
Result: Headings in one shared file let four writers work at the same time without writing the same part twice, and each job is named, so everyone knows what to deliver. Producing writing with technology starts with this kind of plan, not with typing.
Presenting a change over time
Kwame's sentence holds ten numbers, and even he cannot tell what happened (Text 2, paragraph 2).
Result: The relationship is a change over time, compared across two years. A bar chart with two bars per month (Diagram 2) shows it at a glance: close in September, this year higher in every month after that. The sentence has the same facts but makes the reader build the picture.
Presenting a comparison of groups
Kwame wants a pie chart of the four sections; Arjun suggests a table, biggest first, with a percent column (paragraphs 4-6).
Result: Sorting from biggest to smallest shows the order before the reader reads a single number, and the percent column shows each section's share of the whole. Fiction 1,245 of 3,135 is about 40%; graphic novels 1,010 of 3,135 is about 32%.
Presenting how an idea connects to the evidence
Rosa's opening says checkouts rose 31% "because of" the shelf (paragraphs 7-8).
Result: The 31% is right: 3,135 is about 1.31 times 2,390. But the evidence shows checkouts rose after the shelf opened, not that the shelf caused the rise, since September was already up about 5%. Presenting relationships includes the words that join a fact to an idea: "after" fits the evidence, and "because of" goes beyond it.
Publishing on the Internet: telling readers where the numbers come from
The published page (Text 3, paragraph 7) ends with a source line and a note that Ms. Brandt reads every comment before it appears.
Result: Once a page is on the Internet, readers who have never met the team can find it. The source line lets them judge the numbers and know whom to ask, and the note tells commenters that the page is checked, so the team stays responsible for everything that appears on it.
Guided Practice15 minutes
Read Text 3, the page as the team published it. Pairs fill in the table below. For each part of the page, they name the relationship it shows (or the job it does) and explain why that display is more efficient than a sentence. Diagram 2 shows the team's monthly chart, redrawn for this page.
1Headline: "More Checkouts, Longer Waiting Lists: The Library's Graphic Novel Shelf." Under it: "By Rosa, Kwame, Lena and Arjun, grade 8. Published January 31." A photo of the new shelf, with no people in it, has the caption "The graphic novel shelf opened on October 14."
2Summary box: "From October through January, students checked out 3,135 library items, 31% more than in the same months last year. Graphic novels made up almost a third of those checkouts, and 64 students are waiting for one."
3Chart: "Library checkouts by month, this year and last year." For each month from September to January, two bars stand side by side, and a dashed line between September and October marks when the shelf opened. The description under the chart reads: "The two years are close in September. From October on, this year's bar is taller every month."
4Table: "What students checked out, October to January." Four rows, biggest first: fiction, 1,245 (40%); graphic novels, 1,010 (32%); nonfiction, 610 (19%); e-books and audiobooks, 270 (9%).
5Section: "What students want." A bar chart shows the answers to the student council survey, longest bar first, with the number of students written on each bar. One sentence sits under it: "The top answer, chosen by 81 of the 212 students who answered, was more graphic novels."
6Section: "How to place a hold," in four numbered steps, from logging in to picking up the book within five school days. The words "library catalog" in step 1 are a link to the catalog's login page.
7Ending: "Checkouts were already up a little in September, before the shelf opened, so we can't say the shelf caused the whole rise. What we can say is that students are borrowing more, and many of them want graphic novels." Source line: "All numbers: Mr. Haddad, school librarian, from the library's checkout records and the student council survey." A note above the comment box says that Ms. Brandt reads every comment before it appears.
SVHS lesson authors, The page as published on the school news site, described part by part (Text 3; the page and its writers are invented). Original passage written for this page.
Page map (pairs fill in the blank cells)
Part of the page
Relationship or job
Why this display?
Summary box
Monthly chart
Section table
Survey bar chart
Hold steps
Link in step 1
Ending and source line
Discuss: (1) A reader has ten seconds. Which part of the page should that reader see first, and why is it placed there? (2) The chart and the table both use numbers. Why does each set of numbers get a different display?
Independent Practice15 minutes
Read Text 4, what happened after the page went live. It ends with the page's update log, a dated list of every change made after publishing. Students write a short answer for each comment: what the reader needed, how the team responded, and whether the reply was respectful and useful. Then they write the update-log line they would add if the March numbers arrived.
The quiz uses Texts 1-4 (Warm-Up through this phase) and Diagram 2. Point students back to them when they take it.
1February 2, a parent: "Thanks for this. Can families see the full survey results, or only the chart?"
2Lena, February 3: "Thanks for reading! We added a link under the survey chart to the full results. It's a spreadsheet with the totals only, and no names."
3February 3, Jaylen, grade 6: "On my phone the two bars for each month are almost the same color. I couldn't tell which one was this year."
4Kwame, February 4: "Good catch, Jaylen. We made last year's bars light gray and this year's bars dark blue, and we put a label right on the bars instead of in a key off to the side."
5February 5, a reader who did not sign the comment: "Graphic novels aren't real books. The library is wasting money." Ms. Brandt let the comment appear because it disagrees without insulting anyone. Rosa replied: "Thanks for sharing your view. Our article reports what students checked out and what they asked for. It doesn't say how the library should spend its money."
6February 9, Mr. Haddad, by message: "The February numbers are in: 880 checkouts this year, compared with 640 last February. The waiting list is down to 41 students, because I bought more copies of the most requested books."
7Update log at the bottom of the page: "Feb. 3: Added a link to the full survey totals. Feb. 4: Changed the chart colors and labels so the two years are easier to tell apart. Feb. 10: Added February to the chart and updated the summary box to October through February, with 4,015 checkouts this year and 3,030 last year. Waiting list updated to 41 students."
SVHS lesson authors, After publishing: reader comments, replies and the update log (Text 4; all readers are invented). Original passage written for this page.
Closure5 minutes
Exit ticket: (1) Name one relationship from the library page and the display the team chose for it. (2) Write one comment you could leave on a teammate's draft that is specific and suggests a fix.
Hand out the homework texts below. In Text 5, Tess, an invented eighth grader on her student council, shares her notes on a bike rack count; Text 6 holds the comments that came in from her teammates and from readers. Tess, Omar, their school and their counts are invented for practice.
Teacher note: the lesson names generic tools (shared documents, spreadsheets, school websites) rather than particular products. Use whatever your school provides, and follow your school's rules for publishing student work and photos.
1Our student council wants the school to add a second bike rack. We are writing a page for the school news site to show families and the principal why. Omar and I counted the bikes and scooters locked at school at 8:30 every morning for two school weeks. The rack by the front door has 36 spaces. When it is full, riders lock their bikes to the fence, which blocks part of the sidewalk.
2Week 1, Monday to Friday: 28, 33, 30, 36, 24. Week 2, Monday to Friday: 31, 36, 34, 38, 27. It rained on Friday of Week 1, and on Friday of Week 2 it was 35 degrees Fahrenheit at 8:00 in the morning.
3We also asked 120 students who live within two miles of school one question: "If there were always space at the rack, would you ride to school more often?" Yes, 54. Maybe, 39. No, 27.
4If the school adds a rack, riders would register their bike at the front office, get a numbered tag to hang on the bike, and use their own lock. Student council members would check the tags every Monday.
5Tess's first draft of the opening: "The rack was full or over on some of the days we counted and on the other days it was almost full and 54 students said they'd ride more with space and 39 said maybe and only 27 said no and the fence gets blocked so we need a new rack because of all of this."
SVHS lesson authors, Tess's notes on the bike rack count (Text 5, for the homework; Tess, Omar, their school and their counts are invented). Original passage written for this page.
1Omar, a comment in the shared document: "Let's make a pie chart of the 10 days, one slice for each day. Pie charts look good."
2Tess, replying: "I want to post the page tonight so it's done. We can look at it on a phone later. Also, I'm putting a photo of the bikes at the fence at the top. You can see a few kids' faces, but it's the best picture we have."
3A parent, commenting after the page went live: "Where would the second rack go? I hope it's not on the grass by the playground."
4Ms. Ocampo, the principal, commenting: "These numbers are useful. Can you add how many of the 10 days riders had to use the fence?"
5A reader who did not sign the comment: "lol who even rides a bike"
SVHS lesson authors, Comments from teammates and readers (Text 6, for the homework; everyone in it is invented). Original passage written for this page.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give a display card with Diagram 1's five rows and one tiny example of each display
Fill in the first two rows of the page map with the class before pairs start
Offer comment frames: "In paragraph ___, I noticed ___. Would it work to ___?" and "The number ___ doesn't match ___. Can you check it?"
For Advanced Students
Add February's numbers from Text 4 to a copy of the chart, and rewrite the chart description so it stays accurate
Design a second chart for the survey that shows each answer as a percent of the 212 students, and explain which version is more efficient
Write the team's rules for comments on the page: what gets approved, what gets a reply, and what does not
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Look for displays chosen for the relationship, not for looks: a chart or graph for change over time, a sorted table or bar chart for comparing groups, a numbered list for steps and a link for detail that lives elsewhere. Sentences around the displays should state the takeaway accurately and should not claim a cause the data cannot show. In shared documents, look at the version history and comments: each writer contributes, comments are specific and polite, and changes to other people's parts are made as suggestions. After publishing, strong work answers readers' real questions, ignores or answers calmly any rude comment, and logs every change with a date.
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Pick the Display: Card Sort
15 minPairs
Pairs plan a web page for an invented eighth-grade trip to a science museum. They sort eight information cards into the display that shows each relationship fastest. The sort turns Diagram 1 into a habit, and it shows that some information needs no display at all.
The Eight Information Cards (all invented)
Card 1: How many students signed up in each of the five weeks before the deadline
Card 2: Three bus companies, with each one's price, seats and pickup time
Card 3: The day's schedule, from the 7:45 a.m. bus to the 3:30 p.m. return
Card 4: Where the $38 ticket goes: bus, museum entry, planetarium show and lunch
Card 5: The permission form, which the museum updates every year
Card 6: Lunch is included in the ticket price
Card 7: The five things to bring: water bottle, jacket, form, lunch card and a pencil
Card 8: The museum's own page about the planetarium show
Procedure
Sort each card under one heading: chart or graph, table, percents or divided bar, numbered or bulleted list, link, or plain sentence
For each card, write the relationship it shows in three words or fewer (for example, "change over time")
Choose one card and sketch its display on grid paper or in a spreadsheet
Sort Key (for the teacher)
Card 1: chart or graph (change over time). Card 2: table (comparing groups on several features). Card 3: numbered list or timeline (steps in order). Card 4: percents or a divided bar (part of a whole). Cards 5 and 8: links, because the museum keeps them current. Card 6: a plain sentence; one fact needs no display. Card 7: a bulleted list, since the items have no order. Accept a bar chart for Card 4 if pairs explain it.
Discussion Questions
Which card was the hardest to sort, and why?
Why is a link better than a copy for Card 5?
What goes wrong if every card gets a chart?
2
Shared Page Build
25 minGroups of 4
Groups produce the museum trip page from Activity 1 in one shared document, the way the library team did in Text 2. Each writer has a named job, changes to other people's parts go in as suggestions, and every problem is raised in a comment.
Roles
Lead writer: the opening, the summary box and the ending
Data writer: the chart or table for Cards 1, 2 and 4, made in a spreadsheet
Steps writer: the schedule and the list of things to bring
Editor: checks every number against the cards, tests every link and reads the page on a phone
Comment Rules
Name the exact place: "In the table, row 2..."
Say what you noticed and suggest one fix
Use suggestion mode for any change to someone else's part; the writer accepts or rejects it
Reply to every comment on your part before the group publishes
Procedure
The lead writer sets up one heading per part and shares the document with the group and the teacher
Each writer drafts his or her part (12 minutes)
Each writer leaves at least two comments on other parts (5 minutes)
Writers answer the comments, and the editor runs the phone check (8 minutes)
Discussion Questions
Which comment on your part changed your writing the most? What made it useful?
How could the teacher tell from the version history (the record a shared document keeps of every change and who made it) who did what?
What did the phone check catch that the laptop screen did not?
Modification for Classrooms Without Devices
Each part goes on its own large sheet taped to the wall. Writers leave comments on sticky notes, and a writer who wants to change another part writes the change on a sticky note instead of on the sheet, so the owner can accept or reject it.
3
Five-Second Test and Comment Round
15 minTwo groups together
Two groups trade pages. Readers look at each display for five seconds, then write what they saw. Afterward they leave comments as readers of the published page would, and the writers reply and log their updates.
Procedure
A writer shows one display for five seconds, then hides it
Each reader writes one sentence: "This display shows that ___."
If most readers' sentences match what the writer meant, the display passes; if not, the writers revise it
Readers then post three comments on the page (one question, one problem, one thing that works), and writers reply to each and add a dated line to an update log
Reply Rules
Thank the reader and answer the actual question
If the page changes, say what changed and log it with the date
Do not argue with a rude comment; a teacher decides whether it appears
Discussion Questions
Which display failed the five-second test, and what fixed it?
Did any reader's comment point out something the writers had never thought about?
Why keep an update log instead of changing the page quietly?
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
2 diagrams
Diagram 1: Match the Relationship to the Display
Five common relationships, the display that presents each one efficiently, and where the library team used it on its page (Text 3). The question at the bottom is the test: a reader should see the relationship within a few seconds.
Diagram 2: The Team's Monthly Chart
The team's chart from Text 3, redrawn for this page from the invented numbers in Mr. Haddad's email (Text 1). Each month has two bars, last year's on the left and this year's on the right, and the labels on the bars give the exact numbers.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
W.8.6 Homework: Present, Discuss and Publish the Bike Rack Page
Directions: Use Texts 5 and 6 in the Closure section of the lesson plan. You are on Tess's team, writing a page for your school news site about adding a second bike rack. Everyone in the texts, and every count, is invented for practice. You may use a spreadsheet or grid paper for Problem 2.
Part 1: Present the Relationships (Problems 1-2)
Text 5 contains three kinds of information: the daily counts (paragraph 2), the survey answers (paragraph 3) and the steps for using a new rack (paragraph 4). For each one, name the relationship it shows and choose a display. In one sentence each, explain why your display is more efficient than a sentence.
Make the display for the daily counts in a spreadsheet or on grid paper. Give it a title and labels, and mark the 36-space limit with a line. Then write one accurate takeaway sentence to go under it, including the number of days the rack was full or over.
Part 2: Collaborate in the Shared Document (Problems 3-4)
Tess's draft (Text 5, paragraph 5) crowds everything into one sentence, and one statement in it is not accurate. Rewrite the opening as one or two short sentences that point readers to your displays, and fix the inaccurate statement. Then write the comment you would leave for Tess: name a specific place in the draft and suggest a fix.
Reply as a teammate to Omar and to Tess (Text 6, paragraphs 1-2). Each reply must be polite, give a reason and offer a better plan.
Part 3: Publish and Interact (Problems 5-6)
Write a checklist of five things the team should do before publishing the page on the school news site. At least two items must come from problems you found in Texts 5 and 6.
Write replies to the parent and to Ms. Ocampo (Text 6, paragraphs 3-4), and write the update-log line for the change you would make to the page. Then explain how the team should handle the comment in paragraph 5, and why.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Presenting relationships
Each display fits its relationship; the chart is labeled and marks the limit; the takeaway is accurate
Displays mostly fit, but one is mismatched or unlabeled, or the takeaway overstates
Displays missing, or chosen with no link to the relationship
Producing and revising
The rewrite is short and clear, fixes the inaccurate statement and points to the displays
The rewrite is clearer but keeps the inaccuracy or still crowds the numbers
No real rewrite
Collaborating
Comments and replies are specific, polite and give reasons and a plan
Comments are polite but vague, or give no reason
Comments missing, rude or unrelated
Publishing and interacting
The checklist covers permission, the phone check and links or labels; replies answer the readers; the log line is dated; the rude comment is handled calmly
Most items present, but one reply misses the question or the log line is missing
Checklist and replies missing or unrelated
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
The questions use Texts 1-4 in the lesson plan: Mr. Haddad's email (Warm-Up), the team's comment thread (Direct Instruction), the published page (Guided Practice) and the comments after publishing (Independent Practice), plus Diagram 2. Paragraph numbers match the numbers beside each text. Questions 2, 4, 5, 11, 13 and 16 use new situations. Your score updates as you answer, and Reset quiz clears everything so you or your students can try again.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Mr. Haddad writes that "December is always low because of winter break" (Text 1, paragraph 2). Why is this fact worth a short note near the team's monthly chart?
Answer: C
Both years dip in December (560 and 430), and without the reason a reader might think students stopped caring about the new shelf. The note connects the information to the right idea. A contradicts Text 1, paragraph 2: the counts are "exact counts, not estimates." B is true about the survey but has nothing to do with the dip. D is never stated; nothing says the shelf closed.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A student is writing a web page about the school chess club. She wants to show how many students came to the club each month from September to May. Which display presents that relationship most efficiently?
Answer: B
Attendance each month is a change over time, and a line graph (or a bar chart) with the months in order shows rises and drops at a glance. A treats the months as parts of one whole, which they are not, and nine slices are hard to compare. C shows a sequence of steps, a different relationship. D has the same problem as Kwame's sentence in Text 2: the reader has to build the picture alone.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Text 2, paragraph 11, why does Arjun shorten the column names in the table?
Answer: A
Arjun writes, "On my phone the table was too wide, so I shortened the column names." He found the problem by doing the phone check Ms. Brandt asked for. B stretches her request, which was to read the page on a phone, not to cut words everywhere. C and D are never stated.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A student's web page reports that in March, after the cafeteria opened a second lunch line, the average wait fell from 11 minutes to 6 minutes. Which sentence connects the information to the idea without claiming more than the numbers show?
Answer: D
D reports the change (11 - 6 = 5 minutes) and uses "after," which fits the evidence, like the wording Arjun suggests in Text 2. A goes beyond the data: a 6-minute wait may still be a problem. B turns an average into a claim about every student. C confuses the old wait, 11 minutes, with the amount saved, 5 minutes.
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In a shared document, your teammate's part says the club had a "huge increase" in members. You think it should say "a 12% increase." What is the best way to make the change?
Answer: B
Suggestion mode shows the change as a proposal your teammate can accept or reject, and the comment explains why, so she stays in charge of her part. A and C take over her writing without asking. D lets a vague claim go out to readers when it could have been fixed first.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Text 2, paragraph 10, which of Ms. Brandt's requests helps readers who use screen readers?
Answer: C
A screen reader reads the page aloud, so a listener cannot see the bars; the description tells them what the chart shows. A and D protect people's privacy, which matters for publishing but does not help a listener understand the chart. B helps readers on small screens.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Why does the published page (Text 3) report totals but never say which students borrowed which books?
Answer: A
Text 1 ends: "Who borrows what is private. Totals are fine." Ms. Brandt repeats the request in Text 2. B and D are never stated; the email suggests the library does know who borrows what, since it asks the team not to publish it. C is false: the page is full of numbers.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
After the February 10 update (Text 4, paragraphs 6-7), about how much higher were checkouts from October through February this year than in the same months last year?
Answer: B
The log gives 4,015 checkouts this year and 3,030 last year. 4,015 divided by 3,030 is about 1.33, so this year was about 33% higher. A is the old figure for October through January only. C uses February alone (880 divided by 640 is about 1.38). D divides the difference, 985, by this year's total instead of last year's.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
How does the team respond to Jaylen's comment in Text 4, paragraph 3?
Answer: D
Kwame replies that they made last year's bars light gray and this year's dark blue and "put a label right on the bars." A would make readers read a paragraph to use the chart, which is the opposite of efficient. B blames the reader instead of fixing the page, and C ignores a real problem.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which statement best describes Rosa's reply to the unsigned reader in Text 4, paragraph 5?
Answer: B
Rosa writes, "Thanks for sharing your view," and explains that the article reports checkouts and requests and "doesn't say how the library should spend its money." A and D take a side in an argument the article never makes. C is wrong: Ms. Brandt had already let the comment appear, and Rosa answers it.
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A student is writing a page that explains how to join an after-school club online: open the club page, fill out the form, get a parent's approval and wait for a confirmation message. Which display presents this information most efficiently?
Answer: C
The steps must happen in order, and a numbered list shows the order and lets readers keep their place, just like the team's hold steps. A and D are for numbers, and these steps have no numbers to compare. B adds a table's grid without showing the order any better than a list.
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Diagram 2, what does the dashed line between September and October help readers see?
Answer: D
The dashed line is labeled "Shelf opens Oct. 14," so it splits the months into before (September) and after (October to January). That connects the chart to the page's main idea. A confuses the chart with the survey, which ran in December. B is wrong because each month has bars for both years. C is wrong because the highest bar is November, not the dashed line.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A teammate's draft about the school's canned food drive says, "We collected 412 cans in two weeks, which is way more than before." Which comment is the most helpful?
Answer: C
C names the exact words, explains the problem and suggests a fix that presents the comparison. A is kind but gives the writer nothing to work on. B is not specific. D takes over a teammate's part without asking, which is what suggestion mode is meant to prevent.
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which part of the published page in Text 3 works only because the page is on the Internet?
Answer: A
A link opens another page with one tap, which a printed page cannot do. B, C and D would work just as well on a printed poster in the hallway.
Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer
Read the summary box in Text 3, paragraph 2. Name two relationships it presents, and explain why a reader who reads only the summary box still gets the main point.
Model answer: It presents a comparison over time, "31% more than in the same months last year," and a part of a whole, graphic novels "made up almost a third of those checkouts." It also adds a need, 64 students "waiting for one." A reader who stops there still knows that checkouts went up and that graphic novels were a big part of it, because the box gives the result instead of the raw numbers. Rubric line: 2 points for two correctly named relationships, each with a quotation, plus the reason; 1 point for one relationship; 0 if the answer only repeats the box.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
A student's page has a bar chart of these invented numbers: pounds of paper each grade recycled in March, grade 6, 48; grade 7, 71; grade 8, 52. Write one accurate takeaway sentence to go under the chart, and explain why it helps readers more than repeating the three numbers.
Model answer: "In March, grade 7 recycled the most paper, at least 19 pounds more than either of the other grades." This is accurate: 71 - 52 = 19 and 71 - 48 = 23. The sentence tells readers what the chart shows, a comparison with a clear leader, so they know what to look for; the numbers themselves are already on the bars. Rubric line: 2 points for an accurate sentence that states the relationship and a reason; 1 point for an accurate sentence without a reason, or a reason with a small error in the sentence; 0 if the sentence is inaccurate, for example naming grade 8 as the leader.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
Ms. Brandt's comment in Text 2, paragraph 10, includes a request about the photo. Explain why that request matters once the page is on the Internet, and quote the words in paragraph 11 that show how the team responded.
Model answer: A photo on a public web page can be seen by anyone, so the two students should agree before their faces appear, and they might not want to be in it. Ms. Brandt gives the team two choices, permission or a new photo. Arjun reports, "The new photo is up, with no people in it," so the team solved the problem without having to ask the students. Rubric line: 2 points for a reason tied to publishing online and an accurate quotation; 1 point for one of the two; 0 otherwise.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
Mr. Haddad sends the February numbers in Text 4, paragraph 6. Explain what the team changed on the page, and why the update log helps readers who visited the page before.
Model answer: The team added February to the chart, changed the summary box to cover October through February (4,015 checkouts against 3,030) and changed the waiting list to 41 students. The log dates each change, so a reader who saw 64 students and 31% last week knows the numbers were updated, not that the page made a mistake, and can see what is new. Rubric line: 2 points for naming the changes and giving a reason the log helps returning readers; 1 point for one of the two; 0 otherwise.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
The survey chart in Text 3 (paragraph 5) puts the longest bar first. Explain why a sorted bar chart fits the survey answers better than a line graph would.
Model answer: The five answers are separate groups (graphic novels, longer hours, study space, e-books, something else), not points in time, so there is no order that a line connecting them could show. A line graph would suggest that the answers change from one to the next. A bar chart compares the groups by length, and sorting it puts the top answer first, so the reader sees the ranking right away. Rubric line: 2 points for explaining that the answers are categories, not times, and what sorting adds; 1 point for one of the two; 0 otherwise.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
Choose one reader comment in Text 4 and the team's reply to it. Explain how the reply shows good interaction with readers online. Quote the reply.
Model answer: The parent asks whether families can see the full survey results. Lena replies, "Thanks for reading! We added a link under the survey chart to the full results," and adds that it has "the totals only, and no names." The reply thanks the reader, answers the actual question, changes the page so every reader benefits, and still keeps students' information private. Rubric line: 2 points for an accurate quotation and two features of a good reply; 1 point for one feature; 0 if the answer does not use the text.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does W.8.6 mean?
W.8.6 means that eighth graders use technology, including the Internet, to write and publish their work, to show how pieces of information and ideas connect in a way readers take in quickly, and to work with other people.
In practice that covers drafting in a shared document, choosing charts, tables, lists and links, publishing to a class or school site, and trading comments with co-writers and readers.
What does "present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently" mean?
It means choosing the form that lets a reader see how facts connect, with the least effort.
A change over time fits a line graph or bar chart, a comparison of groups fits a sorted table or bar chart, steps fit a numbered list, and extra detail that lives elsewhere fits a link. It also covers the sentences around a display: a clear takeaway, and words such as "after" or "because" that match what the evidence shows.
How is W.8.6 different from W.7.6?
W.8.6 keeps producing, publishing and collaborating, and replaces W.7.6's focus on linking to and citing sources with presenting relationships efficiently.
Grade 8 students still link to and cite sources, as the library page does with its source line, but the new demand is design: making the connections in the information easy to see.
Do students need special software to meet W.8.6?
No. A shared document, a spreadsheet that makes charts, and a place to publish, such as a class website or learning platform, are enough.
The standard names no product. Teachers can use whatever tools their school provides, and a classroom without devices can model the same steps with paper, grid paper and sticky notes.
Is a pie chart ever the right choice?
Yes, when the parts make up one whole and there are only a few of them, and their sizes are clearly different.
A pie chart is a poor fit for change over time. When slices are close in size, a sorted bar chart or a table with a percent column is often easier to read.
How can teachers grade group writing fairly under W.8.6?
Grade the product and each student's contribution separately.
Most shared-document programs keep a version history that shows who wrote and changed what, and comments show how each student gave and answered feedback. Named roles, like the team's editor, make each job visible. A short reflection from each student, on one choice he or she made and why, adds individual evidence.
Is it safe for middle school students to publish online?
It can be, when students publish on a platform the school approves and follow the school's rules.
Good habits include publishing first names or initials only if the school requires it, asking permission before posting photos of people, never sharing private information such as a classmate's grades or home address, and having a teacher approve comments before they appear, as Ms. Brandt does.
How is W.8.6 assessed?
Mostly through classroom work: a published product, the shared document's comments and history, and the student's own explanation of design choices.
Quizzes can check the underlying skills, such as matching a relationship to a display, spotting a claim the data cannot support and choosing the most helpful comment, as this lesson's quiz does.
What if some students don't have devices or Internet at home?
Do the technology-heavy steps in class, and give home tasks that also work on paper.
This lesson's homework allows grid paper for the chart. Library computers and school devices can be scheduled for the publishing step, and paper versions of comments (sticky notes on a printed draft) teach the same collaboration habits.
How can parents help with W.8.6 at home?
Read your child's published page on a phone and ask what the reader should see first.
Ask why a chart, table or list was chosen, whether any number could be checked against its source, and whether the page names anyone who did not agree to be named. Leaving one polite, specific comment models the kind of feedback the standard asks students to give.
07
Related Standards
5 standards
These standards connect to W.8.6: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.
Before this lesson
W.7.6Prerequisite
Use technology to produce, publish and collaborate, linking to and citing sources
Lesson coming soon
Alongside
WHST.6-8.6Parallel
Use technology to publish writing and present relationships between ideas clearly
