Overview

Lesson Procedure

65-70 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Your team lost a close game last night. Write two sentences about it for your coach, then two sentences for a friend who missed it. What did you change, and why?"

   Give students three minutes, then collect changes on the board in three columns without naming them yet: what facts changed (the coach wants the turnover in the last minute; the friend wants the score), what order changed, and what words changed. Label the columns development, organization and style, and tell students that WHST.9-10.4 asks them to make these same choices on purpose in history and science writing.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Introduce the three questions that set every writing situation: What is the task? What is the purpose? Who is the audience, and what do they already know? Show Diagram 1, then work through the five examples below. Read Model A and Model B aloud; students number the paragraphs of Model A and mark every fact that appears in both models.

   • Naming the task, purpose and audience

     Assignment as a student first wrote it down: Write about the Pony Express. It names a subject, but not a task, a purpose or a reader.

     Result: Task: a five-paragraph explanation. Purpose: explain why the service lasted only eighteen months. Audience: a history teacher and classmates who know the basic events of 1860 and 1861 but not the business side of the service.

   • Development: choosing facts for the purpose

     Four true facts: riders weighed no more than 125 pounds; a letter cost $5 per half ounce at first; about 190 stations stood on the route; the transcontinental telegraph was joined on October 24, 1861. The reader wants to know why the service ended.

     Result: Keep the price and the telegraph date, because they explain the ending; keep the stations, because they explain the speed the telegraph beat. The weight limit is interesting, but it does not explain why the service ended, so it belongs in a different piece.

   • Organization: order that serves the purpose

     A draft tells events in date order: the first ride, the price cut, the telegraph, the last ride. The reader has to guess which events caused the ending.

     Result: Reorganize by cause: a first paragraph that names the causes, one paragraph for each cause, and a closing paragraph on what the causes mean together. Dates stay inside each paragraph, where they support the cause.

   • Style: one result, two voices

     Draft note from the pendulum lab: The string length totally changes how fast it swings.

     Result: For a physics teacher: "The period increased as the string length increased." For families at a science night: "A longer string makes a slower swing." Both are accurate; the first uses the measured quantity, and the second uses words any visitor knows.

   • Clarity: one clear reference

     Unclear sentence: The rider handed the mail to the next rider at the station, and then he rode west. A reader cannot tell which rider rode on.

     Result: Revision: "At the station, the rider handed the mail to the next rider, who rode on to the west." ("Who" can only refer to the next rider, so the sentence has one meaning.)

   1On April 3, 1860, riders left St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, on the first runs of the Pony Express, a relay mail service that carried letters across about 1,900 miles in roughly ten days. Eighteen months later, on October 26, 1861, the service ended. Its short life is explained by three facts: the problem it solved, the price it charged, and the invention that replaced it.

   2The problem was distance. In 1860, California had been a state for ten years, but a letter from the East could still take three weeks or more to arrive by stagecoach. The Pony Express cut that time with a relay system. About 190 stations stood along the route, which crossed parts of eight present-day states. Each rider covered roughly 80 to 100 miles and changed horses 8 to 10 times, so the mail always moved at the pace of a rested horse.

   3Speed came at a high price. At first, sending a letter cost $5 for each half ounce, a sum that businesses, newspapers and governments could pay far more easily than families could. The rate was lowered to $1 per half ounce by July 1861, but the company that ran the service, the freight firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell, still lost money on it.

   4The final blow was the telegraph. On October 24, 1861, the lines of the transcontinental telegraph were joined, and a message could cross the continent in minutes instead of days. Two days later, the Pony Express was officially ended. It had not failed at its task; a faster technology had made the task unnecessary.

   5The Pony Express is remembered as a symbol of the West, but its history is better understood as a bridge between two eras. It showed how much Americans wanted fast communication with California, and the telegraph met that demand in less than two years.

   1Ten Days to California

   2Imagine mailing a letter from Missouri to California in 1860. By stagecoach, it could take three weeks or more. The Pony Express promised ten days.

   3How? Teamwork and fresh horses. A rider galloped from station to station, trading a tired horse for a rested one about every 10 miles. After 80 to 100 miles, the next rider grabbed the mail and raced on, day and night.

   4Riders had to be small. The company wanted riders who weighed no more than 125 pounds, so the horses could run faster.

   5The Pony Express lasted only 18 months. In October 1861, telegraph wires linked the two coasts, and news that had taken ten days now took minutes.

   6Look for the mochila in the case beside this panel. This leather cover fit over the saddle, and its pockets held the mail.

   Ask: Which sentence in Model B would sound out of place in Model A, and which sentence in Model A would lose a museum visitor? Students should notice that both models are accurate and clear; neither is better in general, and each is better for its own reader.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Move to a science context. Show the table below and Diagram 2, then read Model C, the results section of a lab report written for a physics teacher. In pairs, students fill in the reverse outline: for each section, what it does for the teacher.

   Table 1. Pendulum lab results (invented data for this lesson; each period is the mean of three trials of 10 swings)

   Setting	String length (m)	Bob mass (g)	Mean period (s)
   Length 1	0.30	100	1.11
   Length 2	0.50	100	1.41
   Length 3	0.70	100	1.69
   Length 4	0.90	100	1.90
   Mass 1	0.70	50	1.68
   Mass 2	0.70	200	1.67

   1Results
   Table 1 shows the period of the pendulum, the time for one complete swing out and back, for four string lengths with a 100 g bob. Each period is the mean of three trials, and in each trial the time for 10 complete swings was divided by 10. The three trials for each setting differed by 0.03 s or less. The period increased from 1.11 s at a length of 0.30 m to 1.90 s at 0.90 m. When the length was held at 0.70 m and the mass of the bob was changed from 50 g to 100 g to 200 g, the period stayed between 1.67 s and 1.69 s.

   2Discussion
   The results support the prediction that length, not mass, controls the period of a simple pendulum. Tripling the length did not triple the period: it increased the period by a factor of about 1.7, close to the square root of 3 (about 1.73) that the formula T = 2π√(L/g) predicts. Every measured period was within 2 percent of the value that the formula gives with g = 9.81 m/s². The changes in period with mass, 0.02 s at most, were smaller than the differences between trials, so they are best explained by timing error rather than by the mass itself.

   3Limitations
   The stopwatch was started and stopped by hand, and human reaction time can add an error of up to about 0.2 s to each timing. Timing 10 swings instead of one spread that error across ten periods. Every swing started at an angle of about 10 degrees; at much larger angles, the formula becomes less accurate.

   Reverse outline of Model C (students fill in the right-hand column)

   Section	What it does for the physics teacher
   Results
   Discussion
   Limitations

   Then pairs read the weak draft below, written for a science night display that families and younger students will read. They list its problems under three headings, development, organization and style, and one more heading, clarity. They do not rewrite it yet; that happens in Activity 3.

   1Pendulums

   2We did a lab on pendulums and T = 2π√(L/g) so the period is proportional to the square root of L and independent of m, which we confirmed within 2 percent error. Our data was really good!! Also the stopwatch was kind of hard to use. Basically the longer the string the slower it goes. Mass doesn't matter which is weird. Also pendulums are used in clocks. The 0.30 m one had a period of 1.11 s and the 0.50 m one was 1.41 s and the 0.70 m one was 1.69 s and the 0.90 m one was 1.90 s. So yeah, try it at home!

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Each student writes a three-sentence opening for one of two new pieces about the Pony Express, using the notes below: (a) the start of a history-class paragraph that explains how the relay system worked, or (b) the start of a museum label for a display of a mochila. Before writing, students write one line each for task, purpose and audience, and cross out every note their reader does not need. Two volunteers read their openings aloud, and the class names one choice of development, organization or style in each. The same notes are used for homework.

   1Note 1. The Pony Express was run by the freight firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell.

   2Note 2. Riders could weigh no more than 125 pounds.

   3Note 3. At the start, the company bought about 400 horses.

   4Note 4. About 80 riders were on the trail at any given time, some heading east and some heading west.

   5Note 5. A rider carried the mail in a mochila, a leather cover that fit over the saddle, with pockets for the letters.

   6Note 6. At each station, a rider switched the mochila to a fresh horse and rode on; at the end of his run, he handed it to the next rider.

   7Note 7. William F. Cody, later known as Buffalo Bill, claimed that he rode for the Pony Express as a boy. Many historians doubt the claim, although he did work as a young messenger for Russell, Majors and Waddell.

   8Note 8. The route crossed parts of present-day Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California.

   9Note 9. Today, the National Park Service manages the Pony Express National Historic Trail.

   10Note 10. A classmate's comment: "My cousin rode a horse at summer camp and says galloping is exhausting."

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) Name one fact that Model A includes and Model B leaves out, and say why. (2) Name one choice of organization in Model C that a physics teacher expects. (3) Rewrite one sentence of the weak draft (T4) for families.

   Safety note for the optional pendulum demonstration: clamp the stand firmly to the table or weigh down its base so that it cannot tip, keep the swing path clear of students' heads and faces, and use small release angles (about 10 degrees). Tie or hook each bob securely before releasing it.

   Teacher note on sources: the history facts in Models A and B and in the homework notes are real; they appear in standard references on the Pony Express, including the National Park Service. The museum in Model B and all pendulum data are invented. Note 7 is included on purpose: a writer who wants to mention Buffalo Bill must present the claim as doubtful.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which statement best names the task, purpose and audience of Model A (T1)?

   AA museum panel that helps family visitors picture a Pony Express ride BA history-class explanation of why the Pony Express lasted only eighteen months CA lab report that tells a physics teacher how the relay stations were timed DA persuasive speech that asks classmates to visit the Pony Express National Historic Trail

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 1 of Model A (T1), which sentence tells the reader how the rest of the explanation is organized?

   A"On April 3, 1860, riders left St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, on the first runs of the Pony Express, a relay mail service that carried letters across about 1,900 miles in roughly ten days." B"Eighteen months later, on October 26, 1861, the service ended." C"Its short life is explained by three facts: the problem it solved, the price it charged, and the invention that replaced it." D"The Pony Express is remembered as a symbol of the West, but its history is better understood as a bridge between two eras."

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Paragraph 4 of Model A (T1) ends: "It had not failed at its task; a faster technology had made the task unnecessary." What does this sentence do for the explanation?

   AIt corrects a likely misreading, that the service ended because it did a poor job, and sets up the conclusion. BIt adds a new cause of the ending that paragraphs 2 and 3 did not mention: the poor riding of the young riders. CIt changes the topic from the Pony Express to the history of the telegraph companies after 1861. DIt gives the museum visitor a friendly, personal comment to remember at the end of the panel.

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why does Model A (T1) give both the first rate of $5 per half ounce and the later rate of $1?

   ATo show readers how much a stamp costs today compared with the cost of a stamp in 1860 BTo show that the price had been falling for years before the Pony Express first began CTo prove that families used the Pony Express more often than businesses and newspapers DTo develop the point that the service lost money even after it cut its price sharply

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Model B (T2) leaves out the name of the firm, Russell, Majors and Waddell, which Model A includes. Why is that the right choice for Model B?

   AThe firm's name is not accurate, so a careful museum should not print it on a panel. BFamily visitors want the story of the ride, and the firm's name does not help them picture it. CMuseum panels are not allowed to name businesses, so the writer had to leave the name out of it. DThe firm's name is too hard for most adults to pronounce, and visitors would stop reading the rest of the panel.

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Model B (T2) begins, "Imagine mailing a letter from Missouri to California in 1860." Why does this opening suit the panel but not Model A?

   AIt gives the exact date on which the first riders left, which the panel needs and Model A does not. BIt is a formal thesis statement, which a panel needs and a history explanation does not. CIt draws a browsing visitor into the scene; a history class expects the topic and plan first. DIt is a question about a document, which only history teachers are trained to answer.

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A student wants to add one sentence to paragraph 4 of Model A (T1). Which sentence fits the style of Model A?

   ATalk about bad timing: the riders had barely started when those wires showed up! BYou can guess what happened next: nobody wanted to pay for horses anymore. CThe telegraph was, like, a million times faster, so the horses were basically done. DThe telegraph charged by the word, but even so, it delivered news days sooner.

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In the Discussion section of Model C (T3), why does the writer compare the change in period with "the square root of 3"?

   ATo show the teacher that tripling the length changed the period by the factor the formula predicts BTo show that tripling the length tripled the period, so the period and the length are directly proportional CTo give family visitors a number that is easy to remember when they try the pendulum at home DTo explain the reason the class decided to time 10 swings instead of timing only one swing

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Model C (T3) is divided under three headings: Results, Discussion and Limitations. Why does this organization suit its reader?

   AA physics teacher reads only the headings of a report and skips the paragraphs under them. BIt follows a science reader's order: what was measured, what it means, how far to trust it. CIt tells the events of the lab day in the order they happened, from setup to cleanup. DHeadings make the report longer, and a teacher always grades a longer report higher than a short one.

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which revision of the weak draft's (T4) sentence Our data was really good!! fits the style of a lab report for the physics teacher?

    AOur data was really, really good, and the whole group was very proud of the results we got. BEach measured period was within 2 percent of the value predicted by the formula. CWe think the data was pretty good, but maybe the stopwatch messed some of it up. DGood data!! The pendulum totally behaved just the way the formula said it would.

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    The weak draft (T4) is meant for families and younger students at a science night. Which problem hurts its fit with that audience first, in its opening sentence?

    AIt says the class did a lab, which families visiting the display would not know about. BIt uses a title, which displays at a science night for families should never have. CIt gives the results in seconds and meters, which are not the real units for a pendulum. DIt opens with a formula and terms like "proportional" that many visitors cannot follow.

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A group rewriting the science night display (T4) wants a sentence that explains the result about the bob's mass to families. Which sentence develops that idea best?

    AA weight four times heavier took the same time to swing, to within two hundredths of a second. BMass doesn't matter, which is weird, but that is just how pendulums work in real life. CThe period is independent of m because m cancels out of the equation of motion for the swinging bob. DWe tried some different weights too, and they were all kind of the same as each other.

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which sentence should be removed to make this lab report paragraph coherent? (1) The period increased with every increase in string length. (2) At 0.90 m, the period reached 1.90 s. (3) Pendulums are also used in clocks, and my grandmother has one in her hallway. (4) This pattern matches the prediction of the formula.

    ASentence 1 BSentence 2 CSentence 3 DSentence 4

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which sentence is clearest for readers of a history-class paragraph about the end of the Pony Express?

    AIt ended when it was replaced by it, since it was faster than it was. BThe Pony Express ended because the telegraph could cross the continent in minutes. CWhen the telegraph and the Pony Express both worked, it was faster, so it closed two days later. DBecause of the wires and the horses, the thing in October ended the other thing.

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Compare how Model A (T1) and Model B (T2) tell the end of the Pony Express. Name one difference in development and one difference in style, and explain how each fits its reader. Cite paragraphs.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Rewrite this sentence from the weak draft (T4) twice: once for the physics teacher's lab report and once for families at science night. "Mass doesn't matter which is weird." Then explain the main change between your two versions.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Model C (T3) places its Limitations section last. Explain why a physics teacher expects it there, and what the teacher would lose if the limitations came before the results.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Using Model C (T3), write two sentences for the family science night display that explain why the class timed 10 swings instead of one. Do not use the words "reaction time" or "error".

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Model C (T3) says that tripling the length "increased the period by a factor of about 1.7." Check the claim with the data in Table 1 and write one sentence for the lab report that states the result with its numbers.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write a two-sentence caption for a museum map of the Pony Express route, for family visitors. Use at least two facts from Model A (T1) or the homework notes (T5) and keep the style of Model B (T2).

    Show model answer

These standards connect to WHST.9-10.4: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.