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.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
4th - 6th Writing, April 24
(This is a quick post for now; I will edit with more detail later.)
Lesson:
We went over more detail about the structure and format for a standard five-paragraph essay. The students have several pages of notes for this.
Assignment:
Students are to write a five-paragraph expository essay. This can be an expansion of their earlier essays on friendship or on some other abstract concept. It can also be a more tangible topic of their choice. The format is the main thing in this lesson.
If this assignment is too great a stretch for some students, please contact me for an alternate assignment.
Lesson:
We went over more detail about the structure and format for a standard five-paragraph essay. The students have several pages of notes for this.
Assignment:
Students are to write a five-paragraph expository essay. This can be an expansion of their earlier essays on friendship or on some other abstract concept. It can also be a more tangible topic of their choice. The format is the main thing in this lesson.
If this assignment is too great a stretch for some students, please contact me for an alternate assignment.
7th - 8th Writing, April 24
(This is a quick post for now; I will edit with more detail later.)
Lesson:
This week, we covered how to prepare an outline for a research paper. I provided handouts with examples.
Assignment:
Students are to prepare an outline with thesis statement.
Lesson:
This week, we covered how to prepare an outline for a research paper. I provided handouts with examples.
Assignment:
Students are to prepare an outline with thesis statement.
9th-12th Writing, April 24
(This is a quick post for now; I will edit with more detail later.)
Lesson:
Class was small, with some students camping. In view of how few weeks were left, I went ahead with the lesson anyway. I have handouts available for those who missed.
I covered how to approach writing the rough draft, including how to cite sources within MLA format.
Assignment:
Students are to begin writing their rough drafts. We will have another week for this also.
Lesson:
Class was small, with some students camping. In view of how few weeks were left, I went ahead with the lesson anyway. I have handouts available for those who missed.
I covered how to approach writing the rough draft, including how to cite sources within MLA format.
Assignment:
Students are to begin writing their rough drafts. We will have another week for this also.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
4th - 6th Writing, April 17
Lesson:
This year seems to have gone quickly. I wish we had more time together, because I would like to teach so much more to this class. Still, these students have worked hard and progressed quite well. I am pleased with their overall development as writers so far.
In the first part of the class period, I took some time to address problems that many of the students have been having in several areas. We briefly reviewed sentence problems like comma splices, run-on sentences, and fragments. Then we discussed tricky pronoun issues like the need for pronouns to refer clearly to their preceding nouns and to agree in number and gender with their verbs.
The students had made what for most, if not all, was their first attempt at a compare/contrast essay. Reading aloud several students' papers, I was happy to see that they had understood and practiced the concept. We will return to this for another assignment after this.
Since the co-op year is almost over, I decided to introduce the five-paragraph essay for those students who are ready for it. Normally, I would save this only 000rfor fifth graders and up, but this class is strong and capable. With such a large range of age and experience in the class, I will not expect all of the younger students to grasp this type of essay. In fact, I do not expect any of the students to master it fully in the time we have left; however, I do want to lay this foundation for their future academic writing.
Writing a Five-Paragraph Essay
Just as a sentence is a group of words that go together to state a complete idea, and a paragraph is a group of sentences that go together to discuss one main topic, so an essay is a group of paragraphs that go together to discuss one subject.
I drew a flow chart on the board (which I do not know how to reproduce on here) and briefly described the format of a five-paragraph essay. It is actually a simple structure that only requires three main ideas. Essentially, a five-paragraph essay unpacks a topic in three points, one point per paragraph, with an introductory paragraph at the beginning for set-up and a concluding paragraph at the end for wrap-up.
The most important sentence in an essay like this is the thesis statement, which serves as the topic sentence of the entire essay. The thesis statement should be the last sentence of the introductory paragraph. It will consist of a statement with three points about the subject.
Examples of thesis statements for five-paragraph essays:
Three desirable aspects of a good friendship are compatibility, kindness, and loyalty.
Some parents choose homeschooling as a way to provide their children with close family relationships, solid academics, and strong moral values.
Football, basketball, and baseball are the most popular team sports in the United States.
Christians can grow in grace through Bible study, prayer, and fellowship.
Since the thesis statement provides the framework for the essay, many writers find it helpful to compose the thesis first.
The Introductory Paragraph:
The purpose of the introductory paragraph is to capture the reader's interest and to provide whatever background information is needed or helpful for the thesis. A good essay will open with a strong 'hook', then set the stage with perhaps a definition, a narrative, an example, a brief history, a quotation, etc. It is helpful to think of an introductory paragraph as a funnel which will begin with broad information, then gradually narrow down to focus on the thesis statement at the end.
Though it occurs first in the essay, the rest of the introductory paragraph (except for the thesis statement) is sometimes written last.
Three Body Paragraphs
Once the thesis with those three main points are set in order, they then provide the topics for the three main paragraphs that comprise the body of the essay. Each of the three stated points is discussed in detail in its own paragraph, in the same order as listed in the thesis statement.
As with all paragraphs, each of these three body paragraphs will need a topic sentence, some detail sentences, and a concluding sentence. The detail sentences will inform, explain, give examples, etc., to develop the topic. The concluding sentences will often repeat or reflect the topic sentence in different words.
In addition, each body paragraph topic sentence will need a transition expression to keep the subject flowing smoothly from point to point. With the thesis statement written, it becomes fairly easy to write the topic sentences for the three body paragraphs.
Some examples of body paragraph topic sentences with transitions:
While kindness between friends is important, loyalty is the crucial ingredient that holds friends together through times good and bad.
Along with Bible study, Christians grow in their faith through prayer.
The Concluding Paragraph:
The thesis statement, which is placed last in the first (intro) paragraph, is flipped around, restated in different words, and placed first in the last (concluding) paragraph.
After the thesis statement recap, each body paragraph is recapped in turn in a sentence or two. Then the last paragraph wraps up gracefully with a general summary, overall statement, opinion, prediction, or quotation.
NOTE: I need to get this published as I head out the door to help with the third day of achievement testing. I will come back later to finish these posts.
This year seems to have gone quickly. I wish we had more time together, because I would like to teach so much more to this class. Still, these students have worked hard and progressed quite well. I am pleased with their overall development as writers so far.
In the first part of the class period, I took some time to address problems that many of the students have been having in several areas. We briefly reviewed sentence problems like comma splices, run-on sentences, and fragments. Then we discussed tricky pronoun issues like the need for pronouns to refer clearly to their preceding nouns and to agree in number and gender with their verbs.
The students had made what for most, if not all, was their first attempt at a compare/contrast essay. Reading aloud several students' papers, I was happy to see that they had understood and practiced the concept. We will return to this for another assignment after this.
Since the co-op year is almost over, I decided to introduce the five-paragraph essay for those students who are ready for it. Normally, I would save this only 000rfor fifth graders and up, but this class is strong and capable. With such a large range of age and experience in the class, I will not expect all of the younger students to grasp this type of essay. In fact, I do not expect any of the students to master it fully in the time we have left; however, I do want to lay this foundation for their future academic writing.
Writing a Five-Paragraph Essay
Just as a sentence is a group of words that go together to state a complete idea, and a paragraph is a group of sentences that go together to discuss one main topic, so an essay is a group of paragraphs that go together to discuss one subject.
I drew a flow chart on the board (which I do not know how to reproduce on here) and briefly described the format of a five-paragraph essay. It is actually a simple structure that only requires three main ideas. Essentially, a five-paragraph essay unpacks a topic in three points, one point per paragraph, with an introductory paragraph at the beginning for set-up and a concluding paragraph at the end for wrap-up.
The most important sentence in an essay like this is the thesis statement, which serves as the topic sentence of the entire essay. The thesis statement should be the last sentence of the introductory paragraph. It will consist of a statement with three points about the subject.
Examples of thesis statements for five-paragraph essays:
Three desirable aspects of a good friendship are compatibility, kindness, and loyalty.
Some parents choose homeschooling as a way to provide their children with close family relationships, solid academics, and strong moral values.
Football, basketball, and baseball are the most popular team sports in the United States.
Christians can grow in grace through Bible study, prayer, and fellowship.
Since the thesis statement provides the framework for the essay, many writers find it helpful to compose the thesis first.
The Introductory Paragraph:
The purpose of the introductory paragraph is to capture the reader's interest and to provide whatever background information is needed or helpful for the thesis. A good essay will open with a strong 'hook', then set the stage with perhaps a definition, a narrative, an example, a brief history, a quotation, etc. It is helpful to think of an introductory paragraph as a funnel which will begin with broad information, then gradually narrow down to focus on the thesis statement at the end.
Though it occurs first in the essay, the rest of the introductory paragraph (except for the thesis statement) is sometimes written last.
Three Body Paragraphs
Once the thesis with those three main points are set in order, they then provide the topics for the three main paragraphs that comprise the body of the essay. Each of the three stated points is discussed in detail in its own paragraph, in the same order as listed in the thesis statement.
As with all paragraphs, each of these three body paragraphs will need a topic sentence, some detail sentences, and a concluding sentence. The detail sentences will inform, explain, give examples, etc., to develop the topic. The concluding sentences will often repeat or reflect the topic sentence in different words.
In addition, each body paragraph topic sentence will need a transition expression to keep the subject flowing smoothly from point to point. With the thesis statement written, it becomes fairly easy to write the topic sentences for the three body paragraphs.
Some examples of body paragraph topic sentences with transitions:
While kindness between friends is important, loyalty is the crucial ingredient that holds friends together through times good and bad.
Along with Bible study, Christians grow in their faith through prayer.
The Concluding Paragraph:
The thesis statement, which is placed last in the first (intro) paragraph, is flipped around, restated in different words, and placed first in the last (concluding) paragraph.
After the thesis statement recap, each body paragraph is recapped in turn in a sentence or two. Then the last paragraph wraps up gracefully with a general summary, overall statement, opinion, prediction, or quotation.
NOTE: I need to get this published as I head out the door to help with the third day of achievement testing. I will come back later to finish these posts.
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