Reading an Application Letter

Before writing your application letter, you should read an effective sample. In this lesson, you'll first read a sample announcement. Then you'll read one applicant's response. As you read the sample application letter, consider how the writer put ideas together and how you might use some of the strategies in your own writing.

Reading an Announcement

Sample Announcement

Reading a Research Report

Before you begin the process of writing a research report, you'll want to see how others did so. This lesson shows you a sample research report, explaining each of its main parts. As you read the sample, think about how the writer integrated information from different sources to explain the topic in an informative manner.

Reading a Sample Research Report

A research report has some special features, but the actual report has three main parts, just like an essay. The beginning paragraph introduces the topic and leads to a focus statement. The body paragraphs support the focus statement by citing evidence from sources. The ending paragraph revisits the main idea.

Research reports end with a works-cited page, which lists the sources used in the writing. Source material is cited within the report using in-text citations.

Sample Research Paper

Warm-Up for Research Reports

In this unit, you will research a variety of sources to write a report about an important person.

Reading a Persuasive Paragraph and Essay

Before you write your own essay, you can read a persuasive paragraph and essay that others wrote. As you read, think about how the writers put ideas together and how you might support an opinion in your essay.

Reading a Persuasive Paragraph

A persuasive paragraph has three main parts. The topic sentence states the opinion. The body sentences support the opinion with reasons. The ending sentence restates or emphasizes the opinion.

Sample Paragraph

1. What opinion does the writer develop?
2. What three reasons does she give to support the opinion?

Reading a Comparison-Contrast Paragraph and Essay

This lesson lets you discover how another student analyzed two topics in a comparison-contrast paragraph and essay.

Reading a Comparison-Contrast Paragraph

A comparison-contrast paragraph has three main parts. The topic sentence introduces two subjects and says something about them. The body sentences give details about how the two subjects are alike and different. The ending sentence sums up how the subjects are the same or different.

Sample Paragraph

1. Does the reading mostly focus on the way the two bikes are the same or different?
2. Name three ways the bikes differ.

1. What cause-effect relationship does the paragraph explore?
2. Does the paragraph focus mostly on the causes or effects of the topic?

Finding Supporting Details

Each controlling sentence in a text is supported with different types of details. Note how the following focus statement is supported by different details.

Understanding Controlling Sentences

As you read, watch for two types of controlling sentences:

A focus statement tells what an essay or article is about. It usually appears at the end of the first paragraph.

A topic sentence tells what a paragraph is about. It usually appears at the start of a middle paragraph.

Closely Reading Nonfiction

To read closely, remember SQ3R—Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review.

1. Survey the text: Highlight the title, author, and headings.
2. Question the topic and purpose: Write comments on the document.
3. Read the text: Underline the focus statement and topic sentences.

Warm-Up for Reading and Writing Assessments

© Thoughtful Learning 2016

Reading helps you learn any subject. Writing helps you share what you've learned. That's why these two skills are critical in all your classes. That's also why major assessments test your ability to read and write.

What Is Assessment?

Assessment is another word for test. Some assessments will test your ability to read and write. The reading and writing you do every day at school and home will help you get ready for these assessments. This unit will also help.

In the following activities, you’ll learn about close reading—reading to understand the focus statement, topic sentences, details, and vocabulary of the nonfiction texts you’re assigned. You’ll also learn about on-demand writing—writing to develop your own ideas during an assessment. Strong reading skills help you write and vice versa.

In this unit, you’ll learn the reading and writing skills that you need to succeed in nonfiction assessment. If you’d like to try out these skills, see the unit “Practice Test for Reading and Writing.”

Thinking About Close Reading

To read closely, you need to think about the ideas in a text. You can do this by asking and answering questions. For starters, use the 5 W’s and H.