THIS WILL IMPROVE YOUR STUDENTS ORGANIZATIONAL AND ANALYTICAL SKILLS!PREWRITE FIRST!!! Choose a trio topic: three of may favorite things, three goals, etc. Develop 3 signifigant details for each trio topic. Develop 1 example for each signifigant detail. (3 details + 1 example + 1 transition= 5 sentences per body paragraph!)
MINI LESSON: Print the overhead material below. Make student take ver betum notes as the minilesson.
ACTIVITY:Each day, assign students a part of the essay to draft after mini-lesson. They should write each part of the essay (intro, body, conc) on seperate sheets of paper. Pair them up for editing, and MONITOR the groups to help them proofread. Assign the 2nd draft for HW on a Friday. Rewrite until it's right!
ASSESSMENT:E-mail me for the INCREDIBLY EASY & QUICK grading rubric for 5-paragraph essays.
Writing Essays
INTRODUCTIONS
1. "Clincher" statement that catches the reader's attention2. Overview of what you plan on discussing in your essay
3. Thesis statement - state your POSITION
4. Transitions smoothly into first paragraph
THESIS STATEMENT
1. Main idea of your entire paper
2. Expresses your position in a full, declarative sentence
3. Controls the focus of the entire paper
4. Points forward to the conclusion
5. Conforms to your reasons, examples, and evidence
A WORKING 3 PART THESIS
Opinion and Fact Dracula was one of the better films this summer because if its setting,
action, and philosophy.Consequence Social ostracism, great expense, and personal hardship are three of the
unfortunate results of the most dangerous disease of the century - AIDS.Autobiographical From my personal experience, I know that poor preparation, alcohol consumption, and insect infestation can cause most family picnics to fail.
AVOIDING MISTAKES IN YOUR INTRODUCTION
- Avoid a purpose statement, such as "The purpose of this..." "Now I shall prove", "in this paragraph I will tell you" SHOW -DON'T TELL
- Avoid repetition of the title or text
- Avoid complex or difficult questions that may puzzle your reader
- Avoid simple definitions - EXPLAIN
- Avoid artwork or cute lettering
A BEAUTIFUL BODY
- PARAGRAPH
.
- A group of sentences that presents and develops one MAIN IDEA about a topic
- These sentences work together to communicate one MAIN IDEA
- MAIN IDEA
- the overall POINT of the PARAGRAPH that is conveyed in the TOPIC SENTENCE
- TOPIC SENTENCE
- USUALLY the first sentence of the PARAGRAPH that states the MAIN IDEA stated in each part of the
THESIS- This sentence CONTROLS the ENTIRE PARAGRAPH
- It tells the READER what the reset of the paragraph is ABOUT
- This helps the WRITER focus on the MAIN IDEA and not stray from the MAIN IDEA
- This is more GENERAL than the SUPPORTING DETAILS that follow.
- SUPPORTING DETAIL SENTENCES
- Other sentences in the PARAGRAPH that give INFORMATION that SUPPORTS the MAIN IDEA that was stated in the TOPIC SENTENCE
- A paragraph with only 1-2 supporting details is NOT EFFECTIVE and UNACCEPTABLE
- At least THREE details are NEEDED to provide STRONG SUPORT for the MAIN IDEA:
descriptionsdefinitions
examples
elaboration
exploration- Paragraphs should be AT LEAST 6 sentences, including TRANSITIONS
Sentences that DO NOT SUPPORT the TOPIC SENTENCE DESTROY
the UNITY of the paragraph
SMOOTH TRANSITIONS
The last sentence of each paragraph should reflect:
- what you have just discussed in the paragraph
- signal the change into the next paragraph
CONCLUSIONS
- Restate the thesis
- GO BEYOND the thesis by stating something worthwhile:
reach a judgment endorse an issue
discuss findings
offer directives
- Leave the reader with a thought provoking
statement
AVOIDING MISTAKES IN YOUR CONCLUSION
- AVOID presenting new IDEAS
- AVOID stopping at an awkward spot or trailing off into meaningless or irrelevant information
- AVOID questions that raise new issues
- AVOID fancy artwork or cute lettering
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