Examples: How to cook something, how to complete a sports play, how to properly tune an instrument, how to care for a pet, how to get to a friend's house.
* Students will have time to work on this assignment, but must complete it for homework if they do not complete it in class.
Day 4
Persuasive Writing
- Give students examples of when persuasive writing is used and have a brief overview of persuasive writing.
- Ask one student to come up to act out persuasive scripts in front of the classroom. The first script depicts a child asking his mother for a computer of his own because he wants or feels like he needs one. The mother denies the child because he does not give good reason to back up his NEED for the computer. The second script is similar, but the child provides examples and solid reasons for buying a new computer. The mother agrees to think it over and tells him he has a point.
- Review the concept map and how to write a good persuasive essay.
Assign students their persuasive presentations and essays. Give them examples to choose from and tell students two students much chose the same topic, but must have a different view on it. Students will break into pairs; I will count off 1-5 and tell them they must choose one topic from the list.
List:
- Animal testing
- Gun control
- Stem cell research
- Homeschooling vs. public schools
- Vegetarian diet
- Global warming (should we do more about it, or is not a big deal)
- School uniforms
- File sharing music and videos (vs. buying these at the store)
- Professional athletes using performance enhancing drugs/supplements
- Flag burning
- Censorship on the internet
- The patriot act (for it or against it)
- Capital punishment
(Any other issues pre-approved by me)
Day 5
Narrative Writing
Students will do a sensory detail exercise. I will write something on the board and they will have to describe it using all 5 senses. We will do one together as a class and then students will complete their own exercise (a cold, winter day, eating breakfast in your kitchen-complete as a class). (A hay ride at the pumpkin patch-individual)
Example:
- Sight:The white snow was so bright, it blinded me.
- Sound: I could hear the snow crunching under my feet with every step.
- Taste: I could taste the hot cocoa in the air as I came down the steps.
- Smell: The air smelled of sweet pine.
- Touch: The air was so cold, it burned my lungs when I took a breath.
Students read “La Ciramella” in class or “The White Umbrella”. These are short stories, narrative from the there literature books. Students must identify the point of view, the tone, passive or active voice, characterization, and sensory details. Students must use in-text citations to answer questions.
Day 6
Research Writing
- Introduce research writing and when it should be used.
- Go over examples of how to complete a works cited page and do another in-text citation exercise from the story we read during Narrative Writing lesson.
- Allow students time to complete their narrative story questions.
- Allow students time to work on their research projects for persuasive essay if they have completed everything else.
Day 7
Take students to computer lab to work on persuasion maps and research. The persuasion maps will be printed at the end of class and turned in for a participation grade. The purpose of this is for students to build an outline for their persuasive essays.
The persuasion maps are formed electronically here.
Lesson 2 The Writing Process
Objectives
- Students will learn the different stages of the writing process and the different parts of an essay by seeing many different examples. (Knowledge.).
- Students will develop an understanding of narrative writing by creating an original narrative. (Application)
- Students will demonstrate their ability to correctly cite primary and secondary sources by producing a work cited page. (Application)
- Students will evaluate their work by completing a reflection paper. (Evaluation)
Day 1
New vocabulary words:
- Prewriting
- Drafting
- Using Peer Response
- Revising and Editing
Publishing and Reflecting
- Read in literature books and write definitions of each step in the writing process
- Go over these in class discussion
- Talk about prewriting and do a story web on the board to demonstrate how to brain storm ideas.
- Students will complete their own story web and turn in at the end of class
Day 2
- Introduction to drafting.
- Students will divide into learning teams and complete a drafting exercise with prompts.
Prompts
- Yesterday the doorbell rang and I couldn't believe who was at my door. It was…..
- I was sound asleep when I woke up to a loud thud. I went down stairs and found……
Students will be divided into groups of four. Each student in the group will be given a different prompt and will begin writing. When I say “switch” students will rotate their paper to the person to their right and then add on to their new story. They will go on like this for about 20-25 minutes. I will gather these papers close to the end of class and review them to make sure they are appropriate for class. At the end of class I will ask a spokes person from each group to read their stories out loud to the class.
