The document discusses building skills for report writing over a student's academic year. It is broken into quarters that progressively focus on more advanced skills like independent research, adapting reports for different audiences, and managing time. The first quarter focuses on basic skills like note-taking and composing simple one-page reports with a thesis, focus areas, and five facts. Students are graded on including these elements to receive an A for the first assignment. The second step is to expand the first report into a three paragraph format.