Primary Source Designs for Learning Handbook

Exploration 15: Writing a Description

Understanding Goal

Descriptions of Learning Experiences are like a travel log.

Investigative Question

What makes a description useful to other educators?

Background Information

• Learning Experiences are described by teachers so that other professionals can follow the exact route in the correct sequence that was traveled with students to answer the Investigative Question.
  
• The description should include all travel information so that the next group of travelers could follow the exact path.
  
• This is a travel journal that is an objective account of the trip each day, creating for the reader a clear, concise setting in which the learning takes place.

Patron Actions

Read the description and criteria for Implementation Description from the Peer Review Rubric on page 83 in Chapter 6.

Steps to Writing an Implementation Description

1. Create a list of the actions that took place in the classroom in a logical sequence starting each sentence with a verb.
2. Identify how best practices were used by citing a specific example.
3. Describe how primary sources were used with students.
4. List any instructional materials such as worksheets or rubrics that were used in the step where the materials were used.
5. Check to make sure the instructional materials use correct spelling, are readable, cite Library of Congress primary sources, and do not contain material without copyright permission.