Your great unpacking the the richness of QA units like Mesa Verde, presented a really good time for me to give a plug to the Plague Unit Teacher Research group that we are building to carry out global research on using this one unit. We are hoping teachers who may implement the Plague Unit on persuasive writing some time in the next six months will join us now in a sub-community of QA teachers. The aim is for a community of teacher researchers to map their journey through the unit and explore how the unit changes in each learning context and with the expert teacher practitioner input.

So if you are a QA teacher, or interested in becoming one, and could be interested in a deep dive into learning gains with the support of the QA team and teaching colleagues from about the globe, then please sign up at Plague Unit Research Group http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/public/pdInfo.pl with the Registration Code: 675243 or email me bestucke@indiana.edu Let’s get this community off the ground!