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Work Sample & Commentary: How to Cook a Hamburger
The task
Students were involved in a study of immigration. As part of the study they identified some of the many challenges that confront newcomers to this country. They were then asked to write a “How To” piece that would teach something about American culture to a recent immigrant.

Circumstances of performance
This sample of student work was produced under the following conditions:
alone in a group
in class as homework
with teacher feedback with peer feedback
timed opportunity for revision

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What the work shows
d Writing: The student produces a narrative procedure that:
• engages the reader by establishing a context, creating a persona, and otherwise developing reader interest;
• provides a guide to action that anticipates a reader’s needs; creates expectations through predictable structures, e.g., headings; and provides transitions between steps;
• makes use of appropriate writing strategies such as creating a visual hierarchy and using white space and graphics as appropriate;
• includes relevant information;
• excludes extraneous information;
• anticipates problems, mistakes, and misunderstandings that might arise for the reader;
• provides a sense of closure to the writing.

The work engages the reader visually with the illustrations on the cover and throughout the recipe. Illustrations like these are commonly used to accompany text instructions in recipe books.

The introduction uses lively language to develop reader interest and begins by directly addressing the reader in a style very similar to that used in television cooking shows.
This work sample illustrates a standard-setting performance for the following parts of the standards:
d Writing: Produce a narrative procedure.
a Conventions: Demonstrate a basic understanding of the rules of the English language.
The student included a section before beginning the recipe that lists the ingredients and equipment needed to make a hamburger. Again, this is in keeping with the conventions of recipe writing.

The work provides a guide to action through the recognizable form of a recipe. The student used appropriate strategies for relating a recipe, which include listing the ingredients and identifying the logical steps involved in cooking a hamburger. The student then presented them as a series of statements in clear, concise language.
The instructions are clear and organized chronologically with appropriate transitions between each of the steps. The steps are clearly numbered and separated by visual images to aid understanding.
The student anticipated that even after following these directions, the hamburger may not be completely done and includes a way to remedy this situation.
The work concludes with an illustration of what the finished hamburger should look like and the simple phrase, “Dig In!” This ending is also similar to the style of a television cooking show.

a Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the English Language: The student demonstrates a basic understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work, and selects the structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context of the work. The student demonstrates control of:
• grammar;
• paragraph structure;
• punctuation;
• sentence construction;
• spelling;
• usage.
The student demonstrated, through virtually error free writing, a basic understanding of the rules of the English language. The student made use of simple imperative sentences along with simple vocabulary to write the recipe. This is appropriate not only for the intended audience but for any type of written instructions. The student used colorful graphics to support the text and to aid comprehension.