Research Unit

Hey Guys! I hope you're all having a good start in the field for these three weeks! I just wanted to quickly share with you all something that my co-op stated this morning. The students are currently working on a research unit... this paper that they have to turn in must show the effects of one thing on another i.e. the effects of the invention of the rifle on American society (an actual topic one student chose). I asked my co-op if there were any instances where a student would surprise him, meaning, a student who normally doesn't do well hands in an 'A' paper. He said at this point in the year, he knows the good writers from the bad writers, and they pretty much don't stray from what they were (basically labeled as) at the beginning of the year. I thought to myself.... WOAH! DID HE JUST SAY THAT? If his students aren't improving in writing throughout the year, what are they doing?!? He said that he would like to turn the research paper into a presentation, but there just isn't enough time in the curriculum. While I can understand that there is a time crunch during this time of the year, I wonder why he can't squeeze in daily, or even weekly, writing activities in a writer's notebook to help students improve their writing from the beginning of the year. The only support/modeling the students have of the research paper is what he has posted on the class wiki. The example is my co-op's chosen topic of how money affects baseball (he is a baseball coach). While this topic is relevant to high school students who like sports/baseball, I think he could choose a topic that is more relevant to model, like the positive/negative effects of starting high school later than elementary school. Do any of you find your co-op's using writer's notebooks effectively in the classroom? If so, how does your co-op make time for this?