Lesson 37: Discovering Hidden Innovators, Planning an Essay

Use this launch to reconnect students to the Performance Task and emphasize that strong research writing explains a meaningful contribution using clear evidence and explanation. Reinforce that planning is essential before drafting. It requires identifying a clear focus, selecting relevant evidence, and thinking about why the work matters.

Reintroduce the Prompt:

For this task, you will write a research essay, an argument paragraph, and present your learning. Your essay will explain one key contribution made by a hidden innovator—someone whose work was important but not widely recognized. You will use evidence from multiple sources to explain their work, the context they worked in, and why their contribution matters.

You will also write a short argument explaining why your innovator deserves recognition. Then, you will present your ideas to the class, using evidence and visuals to support your thinking. In this lesson, we will begin planning your research by identifying your innovator and their key contribution.

Explain the Significance of the Task:

• Say: Not all important contributions are recognized. Learning about hidden innovators helps us better understand how progress happens and whose work has been overlooked.

Explain the Criteria for Success: 

Review the criteria for success in the handout to set the expectations.

• Ask: How will you show success in your writing based on these criteria?

  • I will show success by using evidence from multiple sources and explaining how it proves the innovator’s contribution matters.

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: Now that you understand the expectations for our performance task, you are ready to begin by learning how to build a thesis that can guide both the essay and the argument paragraph.

Students learn to transform disconnected research notes into a unified thesis statement. The focus is on combining ideas using subordinate clauses to show contrast and causation, preparing students for both informative and argumentative writing structures.

Sentence Combining

Display and read: Mary Jackson wanted to be an engineer.

• Say: This sentence names a topic, but it is not yet a thesis. A thesis needs to show a claim and explain why it matters.

Kernel Sentences

Display:

• Mary Jackson wanted to be an engineer.

• She faced barriers.

• Her work made a difference at NASA.

Teach: Combining Ideas into a Thesis

In this lesson, we combine short ideas into one strong thesis sentence. We use although to show a challenge and because to explain why the idea matters.

Model and Deconstruct

Display Combined Sentence:

• Although Mary Jackson faced barriers, her engineering work matters because it changed how NASA studied flight problems.

  • Ask: What word introduces the challenge in the sentence? (although)

  • Ask: What part of the sentence states the main claim? (her engineering work matters)

  • Ask: What word introduces the reason the work matters? (because)

  • Ask: What does the part after because explain? (It explains why her work is important.)

  • Ask: How does combining these ideas make the sentence stronger? (It connects the challenge, the claim, and the reason in one clear sentence.)

To build a strong thesis, we:

• combine ideas instead of listing them

• use although to show a challenge or contrast

• use because to explain significance

• check that the subject and verb agree

This helps the sentence sound clear, formal, and ready for an essay.

Say these Directions: In your journal, turn your own research notes into one thesis sentence. Use because to connect your claim to a reason, or use although to connect your claim to a challenge or contrast. Then reread your sentence and check that your subject and verb match.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: You created a clear thesis sentence that connects ideas and explains why your topic matters. Next, you will organize your notes so each part of your essay supports that claim.

Part A: Plan the Informative Research Essay (W.6.2, W.6.5) (20 minutes)

This section helps students move from notes to structure. Model how to sort evidence into the Research Essay Outline so the writing will be coherent and evidence-based.

Teach: Review Rubric

Reintroduce the rubric:

• Say: I have lots of notes, but I cannot just place them randomly into my outline. First, I look at my thesis statement and ask what section of the essay it promises to explain. Then I sort my notes by those sections. One note helps explain background, another shows the key contribution, and a third shows the impact of that contribution. I also notice that a timeline would fit best in the section about impact because it helps show when the change happened. That means my outline is not just a list of facts; it is an organized plan that helps the reader follow my explanation. I refer to the rubric to ensure my outline will help me meet the final expectations.

• Ask: Which section of the essay should hold your strongest evidence about the innovator’s key contribution, and why?

  • The strongest evidence about the key contribution should go in the middle body section because that is where I explain what the innovator actually did. That section needs the clearest facts, examples, and possibly a visual that helps the reader understand the contribution.

Say these Directions: Use your Research Notes and begin filling in your Research Essay Outline. Write your thesis statement, plan your body sections, and place the strongest facts from at least two sources under the section where they fit best.

Part B: Plan the Recognition Argument Paragraph (W.6.1, W.6.5) (10 minutes)

Students shift from explanation to persuasion by organizing a recognition argument that introduces a clear claim about why an innovator deserves recognition, supports that claim with relevant reasons and evidence, and uses transitions to connect ideas and clarify relationships between claims and evidence. Students maintain a formal academic style while explaining the significance of the innovator’s contributions and conclude with a statement that reinforces why recognition of overlooked contributions matters.

Informative Research essay = explains contribution

Recognition Argument paragraph = justifies recognition

Review the criteria specifically for the recognition argument paragraph in the Performance Task handout.

Explain how to write a clear claim.

A clear claim can also use subordination:

• Because ___, this innovator deserves recognition.

• Although ___, this innovator merits acknowledgment because ___.

• Say: My informative research essay explains the contribution, but my argument paragraph is a separate piece of writing that answers a different question. I am no longer just explaining what happened. I am making the case that this person deserves recognition. So I need a claim, reasons, and evidence that match that purpose. Because Dorothy Vaughan’s leadership and programming work enabled NASA to adapt to major technological change, she deserves recognition as a key contributor whose work was long undervalued. That claim uses the same research, but it shifts into an argument.

Argumentative writing must stay organized around the claim. Writers introduce the claim first, then organize reasons and evidence so each detail supports the same central idea.

Display:

Claim → Reason → Evidence → Explanation → Concluding Statement

• Say: If my paragraph jumps randomly between ideas, my argument becomes confusing. Strong argument writing organizes every sentence around proving the claim.

Think- Pair-Share

Say these Directions: In your Argumentative Essay organizer, write a claim about why your innovator deserves recognition. Then add one or two reasons and the strongest evidence that supports the claim. After that, discuss your response to the question below.

• Ask: What is your recognition claim, and how does it connect to your informative research essay plan?

  • My claim is that my innovator deserves recognition because her contribution transformed the field and opened opportunities for others. It connects to my informative research essay because the essay explains the contribution in detail, while the argument paragraph uses that same research to explain why she merits acknowledgment.

As students conclude, they should be able to answer the guiding question: How does your argument paragraph connect to your essay plan?

Check for Understanding

Provide students with a confidence continuum (i.e., 1–5). As needed, model how to demonstrate a level of confidence using the continuum.

Students reflect on readiness to draft by evaluating the clarity of the thesis, the organization of notes, and the strength of the argument claim. This reflection reinforces the transition from planning to writing.

Quick Write

Say these Directions: Write your response to the question.

• Ask: How ready are your writing plans for drafting, and what still needs work?

  • My essay plan is ready because I have a thesis, clear body sections, and an argument claim about recognition. One strength is that my evidence is sorted by contribution and impact. My next step is to finish the outline and make sure each section has the strongest paraphrased facts and a useful visual where needed. My paragraph plan is ready because I have evidence for my claim.

Optional Sentence Starter:

My essay outline is strong because ___. My next step is ___.

Instruct students to complete any unfinished parts of their Research Essay Organizer and argumentative paragraph notes. Tell them to be ready to draft their essay and paragraph in the next lessons.