4th - 6th Writing, May 1

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.