The year is wrapping up quickly, and we are spending the next two weeks on our last assignment of this course.
Lesson:
First, I collected the students' finished five-paragraph essays or alternate assignments; as agreed, some students had written compare/contrast paragraphs, which was also fine.
Feeling that we needed more review of pronoun problems, I stressed again the need to be clear about pronoun antecedents, and the need to avoid "you" statements except in personal or informal communication such as letters, emails, or blogs.
After drawing our five-paragraph flowchart on the board, I talked the class through the important parts of the essay's structure. Then we read aloud several of the essays, looking for the key components, especially the thesis statement.
Though most had a bit of trouble getting the format exactly right, which is to be expected at first, the students overall did surprisingly well. In fact, the class did as well as I might have expected from a junior high class encountering this type of essay for the first time. I was quite pleased.
Assignment:
We will finish the year with another five-paragraph essay for those who are able. If that is too difficult, feel free to contact me for an alternate assignment, which is also perfectly acceptable.
Students may choose their own topics for this final essay.
Students are to prepare and bring a rough draft of their paper for this coming class.
We will go over them in class in small groups. Then students will have to final week to revise and edit before our last class day.
Monday, May 4, 2009
7th - 8th Writing, May 1
(Oops! I forgot to hit the publish button on this post! Sorry this is late.)
We are in the final stages of our final project.
Lesson:
Using handouts I provided, we discussed in detail how to write the rough draft, including the use of parenthetical citation in MLA format.
We also briefly covered how to prepare the title page and the works cited page. To aid with that, we played with citationmachine.net as a resource for formatting sources.
Assignment:
Students are to bring as much as they have of their research project drafts, including:
source cards
note cards
title page
outline
research paper
works cited page
We will spend the class period in preliminary read-arounds, checking for completeness and correctness, helping one another over any rough spots or snags.
Additionally, we will schedule an extra optional session for early next week, to give us enough time to dig in (over pizza) and polish all the research papers.
The final project due on May 15.
We are in the final stages of our final project.
Lesson:
Using handouts I provided, we discussed in detail how to write the rough draft, including the use of parenthetical citation in MLA format.
We also briefly covered how to prepare the title page and the works cited page. To aid with that, we played with citationmachine.net as a resource for formatting sources.
Assignment:
Students are to bring as much as they have of their research project drafts, including:
source cards
note cards
title page
outline
research paper
works cited page
We will spend the class period in preliminary read-arounds, checking for completeness and correctness, helping one another over any rough spots or snags.
Additionally, we will schedule an extra optional session for early next week, to give us enough time to dig in (over pizza) and polish all the research papers.
The final project due on May 15.
9th - 12th Writing, May 1
(Oops! I forgot to hit the publish button on this post! Sorry this is late.)
Lesson:
We are in the final stages of our final project.
Using handouts I provided, we reviewed writing the rough draft, including the use of parenthetical citation in MLA format. Next, we briefly covered how to prepare the title page and the works cited page. To aid with that, we played with citationmachine.net as a resource for formatting sources.
Assignment:
Students are to bring their complete research project drafts, including:
source cards
note cards
title page
outline
research paper
works cited page
We will spend the class period in read-arounds and helpful suggestions.
If that is sufficient, students will complete any needed revisions on their own the following week, with the final project due on May 15.
If desired or needed, we will schedule an extra optional session early that week, though this class is well on track without it so far.
Lesson:
We are in the final stages of our final project.
Using handouts I provided, we reviewed writing the rough draft, including the use of parenthetical citation in MLA format. Next, we briefly covered how to prepare the title page and the works cited page. To aid with that, we played with citationmachine.net as a resource for formatting sources.
Assignment:
Students are to bring their complete research project drafts, including:
source cards
note cards
title page
outline
research paper
works cited page
We will spend the class period in read-arounds and helpful suggestions.
If that is sufficient, students will complete any needed revisions on their own the following week, with the final project due on May 15.
If desired or needed, we will schedule an extra optional session early that week, though this class is well on track without it so far.
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