My last book is built on the framework of the ALERT processes.
Teachers should big and enduring questions during the initial phase of immersion in a topic. Later, students should be invited to reflect on new information and experiences in the light of those questions. In this way, local studies can be linked to the enduring issues around which good curricula are organized.
By upholding high standards for the writing that undergirds all final reports and presentations, student work is kept accountable to district, state and national standards.
Good writing projects are most often good research projects appropriate to a digital age that calls on students to add original research to the published record, rather than copying and pasting from previous research.
