Students will
1. | Pass out the instruction manuals you have gathered in advance of the lesson to groups of students (see Preparation, 1) and ask them to take five minutes to scan the manuals, focusing in particular on the characteristics they notice in the samples. |
2. | After five minutes, ask groups what they found in each manual. List the characteristics on a piece of chart paper and post it in the classroom for future reference. These characteristics may include logical sequence, enough detail for someone to read the directions and easily complete the activity, and the materials needed. |
3. | Explain to students that they are each going to be writing a similar instruction manual for the new fourth graders to use at the beginning of the next school year. Their writing prompt is how to succeed in the fourth grade. (You can easily modify this lesson for whatever grade you teach.) |
4. | Introduce the concept of audience. Discuss the audience of the students' essays and what students feel will be important for future fourth graders to know. They are now the fourth-grade experts. Discuss how their audience will not know any of the rules and procedures so their explanations will have to be very detailed. |
5. | As a prewriting activity, use an overhead projector and have students brainstorm a list of materials needed for the fourth grade. Students can then choose which materials are most important (maybe all) and include them on their . |
6. | On the overhead projector, make another list of the rules for fourth grade, and have students again choose the most important to include on their graphic organizers. |
7. | Using the overhead projector once again, ask students to brainstorm the steps for success in the fourth grade. Have each student choose the steps he or she feels are most important and to include them on the graphic organizer. |
Note: This prewriting activity allows students to work together to brainstorm ideas for their writing, but it also allows for each essay to be different, as students may choose different materials, rules, or steps for success in the fourth grade.
1. | Give students the . Discuss the expectations for the writing assignment as described on the rubric. Focus the discussion on how students can achieve a score of four in each category. |
2. | Model for students how to use the to help them organize the information from the . For example, information about the supplies or materials needed for fourth grade can comprise the first paragraph of the essay and should go in the box labeled . During this modeling, show students how to add detail and explanatory information that would be relevant for the audience of their essays. |
3. | Emphasize the importance of keeping the information organized in the map, because they will use it to write their first draft. You may instruct students to write one paragraph about the supplies needed in fourth grade, one paragraph about the rules for fourth grade, and one paragraph about how to succeed in the fourth grade. This organization makes best use of the information students recorded during the prewriting stage. |
4. | Have students fill in their own Essay Maps using the information from their graphic organizers. They should print their maps when they are finished. |
1. | Model for students how to use their printouts to begin drafting their rough drafts. Tell them to skip lines as they write their drafts to allow for revisions and proofreading marks. |
2. | Circulate while students are working to offer support and answer questions. |
1. | Begin this session by showing the . [You may also want to access the lesson to give students more practice with peer editing.] |
2. | Discuss how to work with a partner to help each other improve and revise the rough draft (i.e., make positive comments first, ask detailed questions, and accept your classmate's comments without becoming angry). |
3. | Have students work with a partner to review each other's rough drafts. Students should first switch papers to read silently. They can then use colored pencils to make comments and suggested changes. Make sure that students remember to discuss spelling, punctuation, and capitalization errors that they notice in each other's essays. They should also ensure that the essay includes the characteristics of how-to writing (as posted on the chart paper in Session 1) and is appropriate for the intended audience of future fourth graders. |
4. | Ask students to revise their essays based on the peer editing for homework. |
1. | Bring students to the computer lab to access the website. This site has grade-appropriate activities for students to practice their proofreading skills. |
2. | After students complete the practice activities online, they can begin proofreading their own essays using the . |
3. | After making appropriate corrections, students can prepare their final drafts. |
4. | As a reflection activity, discuss with students how they felt about this writing activity. Ask questions, such as: |
Students may choose a topic of interest to write another how-to essay. For example, students may choose to write instructions for how to play a board game or a sport that they enjoy.
Use the How-To Succeed in the Fourth Grade: Writing Rubric to assess students' writing.
This strategy guide explains the writing process and offers practical methods for applying it in your classroom to help students become proficient writers.
The Essay Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to organize and outline their ideas for an informational, definitional, or descriptive essay.
Students examine the different ways that they write and think about the role writing plays in life.
The purpose of any persuasive writing text is to persuade the reader of a particular point of view or to take a specific course of action. Persuasive texts come in many different forms, including, but not limited to, essays, editorials, letters, advertisements, and reviews. While persuasive texts come in many shapes and sizes, they all share standard features.
Persuasive texts employ a wide variety of different rhetorical strategies and techniques to achieve their ends. For example, they’ll use emotive language and rhetorical questions. Images are sometimes used to entice or appeal to the reader or viewer.
Advertising is one key form of persuasive writing . It makes vigorous use of all the tools in the persuasive writing toolbox as it strives to sell goods or services to the reader.
In this article, you’ll learn how to take your students from reluctant salespersons to master marketers in a lightning-fast five days.
Students will first learn how the various persuasive strategies work before incorporating them into their advertisements. We have comprehensive guides to persuasive writing and advertisements you should explore also.
So, let’s get started!
Before your students will be able to produce their own well-written advertisements, they’ll need to be well-versed in all the tricks up the skilful salesperson’s sleeves.
One of the most productive ways for students to do this is through reverse engineering.
Organize your students into small groups or pairs and distribute print advertisements gleaned from various sources such as magazines, newspapers, and posters. You could also show projections of some sample advertisements projected onto the whiteboard to facilitate this exercise.
Now, ask the students to examine the advertisements and answer the following question:
What techniques do the advertisers use to get our attention?
Challenge the students to go beyond the pretty obvious features of advertisements, e.g. branding, slogans, and testimonials, to also look at more subtle techniques such as the use and interplay of images and various other effects created by language choices and figurative devices.
When the students have finished their discussions, give them feedback as a whole class and use their responses to compile a master list of the various features they have identified.
Some features suggested by the class might include:
Once you have compiled a master list of persuasive strategies and techniques used in advertising, these can handily be turned into checklists that the students can use when producing their own advertisements later.
Now, the students have a solid understanding of the different features of advertisements and a checklist to work from; it’s time for them to analyze an advert in more detail.
Not only will this prove a valuable exercise to help prepare your students for producing their own advertisements later in the week, but it will also serve as an excellent task to improve your students’ media literacy skills. It may even help to innoculate them from media manipulation in the future.
To get started on their advertisement analysis, they’ll need to source a suitable advertisement to look at in detail.
Older and higher-ability students may be fit to make their own choices regarding which advertisement to analyze. If this is the case, perhaps they can choose an advert for a product they like or a product or service in a category that interests them greatly.
Allowing your students some say in the ads they analyze will help fuel their interest and enthusiasm when creating their own advertisements later.
However, it might be best to choose a sample advertisement for younger students and those of lower ability – or at least offer a pre-vetted, limited choice. They will most likely have enough to contend with already!
When students have a suitable advertisement to hand, please encourage them to use their checklist from yesterday’s lesson to explore how the ad works. The students should then write a paragraph identifying the various techniques used in the advertisement and their effect.
Challenge the students to write another paragraph or two, considering what makes the advertisement work – or not, as the case may be. Ask them to consider where the advertisement could be improved. Could the slogan be catchier? How about the logo? Does it convey the brand’s identity appropriately? Are the images used in the advertisement optimal?
When the students have finished their paragraphs, they can display their advert and their analysis and share their thoughts with the class.
At this stage, your students should have a good understanding of many of the main features of advertisements and had plenty of opportunities to see examples of these in action. Now it’s time for them to begin to plan for writing their own advertisements. Here are some areas for your students to think about when starting the planning process.
The Purpose and Audience
Like any other writing type, students will need to identify both the purpose and the audience for their advertisements bef ore putting pen to paper.
The purpose of any advertisement is to sell goods or services. Precisely what goods or services are being sold is the first question that needs to be answered.
Students might like to focus on the goods or services advertised in the adverts they’ve been exploring over the previous two days. Or, if they prefer, they might like to choose something new entirely.
Once they’ve chosen what they’re selling, students will need to identify who they will sell it to. Scattershot advertisements that attempt to sell to everyone often end up selling to no one.
One effective way to help focus an advert is to define a ‘buyer persona’ first. This is a profile of the hypothetical buyer who the ad will target.
Students can consider the following characteristics to help them develop their buyer’s persona:
The Brand Name
The next stage is for the student to decide on a name for their company. This should usually be something relatively short and memorable, and appealing to the target audience.
Generally, the student will need to come up with at least four or five ideas first. They can then choose the best.
It can be a helpful practice for the student to look at the brand names for companies selling similar goods and services. A little internet research will be beneficial here.
Now it’s time for students to jot down ideas for their brand’s slogan. Slogans are short and punchy phrases that help make brands more memorable for customers.
Slogans often employ literary devices such as alliteration, puns, or rhyme. They don’t always have to be the most meaningful things in the world; it’s more important that they’re memorable. Think Nike’s Just to Do It or McDonald’s I’m Lovin’ It – not the most meaning-rich phrases in the world but instantly recognizable!
The Body Copy
This part of the advertisement will contain the bulk of the writing. It’s where the students will get to use the various techniques and strategies they’ve explored in the previous activities.
Despite containing most of the ad’s text, advertising copy is usually concise and to the point. Student’s should strive to get the main points across in the fewest words possible. Nothing turns readers off faster than impenetrable walls of text.
To help organize the text, students may use bullet points and subheadings. They should be sure to include any specific information or specifications that they want the reader to know about the product or service.
The language chosen should also be appropriate for speaking to the audience that they have defined earlier.
The Call to Action
The Call to Action – commonly referred to as the CTA , usually comes at the end of an advertisement.
The CTA typically comprises a few sentences that invite the reader to take a particular course of action. Normally, to buy the advertised goods or service.
However, not all CTAs focus on getting the reader to make an immediate purchase. Some, for example, aim to get the reader to provide their contact details so they can be sold to later.
Students need to first define what their Call to Action will invite readers to do. They will then need to choose a strong imperative that will call on the reader to take that specific action. Commonly used verbs that urge readers to take action include subscribe, join, buy, etc.
The CTA must be clear and specific; the reader should be in no doubt about what the advertisement is asking them to do.
Often, the CTA will create a sense of urgency by limiting special offers by time.
As part of the planning process, students should use some of their time in today’s session to think about and make some notes on options they might like to include in the final drafts of their Call to Action.
Day 4, already! This is the day students will try to bring all the elements together. They’ll work to complete their advertisements by the end of today’s session.
You may like to have the students collaborating to produce their ads or working individually. Either way, reinforce the importance of attention to detail in their work.
The main focus for persuasive texts of any kind, advertisements included, shouldn’t be length but, instead, it should be on how effectively it persuades the reader to take the desired action.
Students should incorporate their planning from yesterday and refer to their checklists as they create. As precise language is so essential to effective marketing, encourage students to use thesauruses to help them find just the right word for their copy.
When students have had a chance to draft their advertisements, they can then get into small groups and compare their work. This is an opportunity for students to provide each other with constructive criticism.
They can use their checklists as a basis to provide this criticism. Students can then revise their advertisements in light of the advice they’ve received in their groups.
In the process of comparing their work with each other, with reference to the criteria they’ve worked on earlier in the week, students will no doubt identify areas they are strong in and other areas where they are weaker.
Day 5’s activities should offer students an opportunity to practice those areas identified as needing further work to bring them up to par.
For example, students can practice their persuasion skills by moving their focus from printed ads to other types of marketing endeavours that utilise the arts of persuasion.
Where students struggled to employ literary devices in their advertising copy, they may benefit from creating a radio jingle or radio ad for their product or service. As this type of ad can contain no visual imagery to support, writing a radio jingle or ad will force the student to pay particular attention to verbal imagery, rhyme, alliteration, etc.
If the testimonials used in the first advertisement were unconvincing, perhaps the student will benefit from isolating this strategy to focus exclusively on effective testimonial writing. They should spend some time researching testimonials and how to write them effectively.
For example, testimonials should usually be:
Once students have a good handle on how these work, they should put their new-found knowledge into practice and get writing as soon as possible.
This research-then-practice model can help the student improve in whatever particular area of persuasion that needs work – as identified in yesterday’s activity.
Getting good at persuasive writing demands our students to develop their knowledge and abilities with a broad range of skills and strategies.
Advertising copy is a highly concentrated form of persuasive writing and, therefore, an excellent means for our students to gain lots of practice in a short space of time.
And, as the saying goes, a good start is half the work, so set your class of creative copywriters on the road to marketing mastery today!
Today I am going to tell you about formal writing! Of course, I write this opening line in jest. When I think about how many times my secondary students have written that exact initial phrase as part of their first line to an essay, a strong Hulk-like desire to rip papers into shreds comes over me. I assure you that I have never actually ripped up a student essay, but I think we can all agree that reading the following sentences turns us all a little Hulk green:
“After you read this, you will agree that…”
“Today I will prove to you that…”
“I am writing about…”
AGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
These sentence frames are taught to students as they learn to write. They serve students well in elementary school as they help students frame their thinking, develop those ideas, and begin the overwhelming process of sharing these thoughts with the page. We know how challenging writing is for our youngest students, so we, as secondary teachers, can understand why these phrases are introduced to young writers. BUT, we, as secondary teachers, will spend years trying to break students of the habit that has been established in using these sentence starters.
So, how do we help students move beyond this elementary, informal style of writing? It is a challenging task, indeed. Today I will share with you a few tips to help you with this (do you see what I did there?)
I start out this mini-unit by having real discussions with students about slang, texting language, and conversational language. We brainstorm together what these words mean and work together to create examples of each. They really enjoy this conversation, especially when they can stump the teacher with common slang and texting language, though this is not all that difficult to do these days. Most importantly, we discuss when, where, and with whom each type of language is appropriate. I ask students when and where it is appropriate to use texting language—the answer to this is, of course, is ONLY WHEN YOU ARE TEXTING! I’ll ask, “with whom is it appropriate to use common slang?” When is conversational language appropriate? When is it NOT appropriate? These conversations are so important in helping students see that there is a time and a place for different types of language; that we truly change how we speak based on situation, the people we are talking to, and the medium we are using to communicate.
It drives me bananas when students write about their writing. “Today I will write about…” “In this essay, you will learn that…”
I share with students three important reasons that we cannot write about our writing:
1. We are not having a conversation with our reader. I remind students that they don’t know the person on the other side of their research paper or argumentative essay, so they cannot converse with them. There is not a back and forth- so it cannot be a conversation. I use the example of an argumentative essay that is persuading people not to smoke. If students write, “you should stop smoking” in that essay, people who do not smoke are either offended or uninterested.
2. It weakens your argument. I ask students to think about two similar statements, one starting with the phrase, “I think.” I say the first sentence with a strong powerful voice: The legal age required to purchase cigarettes should be raised to twenty-one. Then, I say the second statement with a weak tone: I think that the legal age required to purchase cigarettes should be raised to twenty-one. When we use the word I in an argumentative essay, we remind the reader that this is just one person’s opinion on a topic. We weaken our stance when we remind the reader that it is just “I” that thinks this way on a topic. When we state the opinion like a fact, we assert the opinion powerfully.
3. People are busy and have short attention spans. Students and I chat about how busy their lives are, how much is on their to-do list, and how overwhelming that can be. We chat about adults and their busy lives as well. Then we discuss how many different types of media messages we all receive on a constant basis. I explain that this is more than ever before in history. At one time, people had to go in search of new information. They needed to seek out a newspaper or go to the library. Now, we can open a social media app on our phone and get multiple sources of news information and numerous advertisements within moments. Our brains need to take in all of this information in addition to our busy lives. We need that information to be a succinct as possible.
I explain that the phrase: “ ‘Today I am going to tell you about’ is just extra words that we don’t need. We will know this is true when we read your paragraph. This takes extra time to read, and people will lose interest!
Mini-Lesson 3: Formal Language- The Where, The Why, The How.
Click on the image to grab these class posters for your formal writing unit!
Finally, I get to the nuts and bolts of formal writing; what to avoid and what should be done in formal writing.
Avoid : any and all personal pronouns.
Avoid : contractions
Avoid : the words, “there is” and “there are” as these create sentences that contain extra, unnecessary fluff language.
Avoid : conversational, casual language
Do : State your opinion like a fact.
Arguably the most important part of this mini-unit is to provide practice in writing formally as well as practice in changing informal writing to formal writing. I ask my students to begin by taking informal sentences and changing them so that they are written in a formal style. They are tasked with spotting those ‘writing practices to avoid’ and rewriting with those practices we want them to show in formal writing. We do several together as a class before students set off on their own to practice with the activities I provide. I continue to practice these skills throughout the year with bell ringer activities, impromptu writing tasks, and, of course, the actual essays they must write.
Overall, with this mini-lesson set-up, I am happy to report that the angry Hulk-like reading of formal essays is a thing of the past. Students will still make the occasional informal writing mistake, but with the practice above, they now know how to fix it on their own (or with minimal support.)
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Liz is the founder of Teach BeTween the Lines. She has been teaching for over ten years; she has loved growing young minds through literature and the art of crafting the written word. She is currently working on her doctorate in Education from the University of Minnesota, and holds an M.A. in Education from St. Mary’s University, Minnesota. She loves to write short stories in her free time, especially in those cold Minnesota winters. She is supported by a wonderful family made better by the addition of her two beautiful children.
Writing, unlike speaking, is not an ability we acquire naturally, even in our first language - it has to be taught. Unless L2 learners are explicitly taught how to write in the new language, their writing skills are likely to get left behind as their speaking progresses.
But teaching writing is not just about grammar, spelling, or the mechanics of the Roman alphabet. Learners also need to be aware of and use the conventions of the genre in the new language.
What is genre?
Generating ideas
Focusing ideas
Focus on a model text
Organising ideas
A genre can be anything from a menu to a wedding invitation, from a newspaper article to an estate agent's description of a house. Pieces of writing of the same genre share some features, in terms of layout, level of formality, and language. These features are more fixed in formal genre, for example letters of complaint and essays, than in more 'creative' writing, such as poems or descriptions. The more formal genre often feature in exams, and may also be relevant to learners' present or future 'real-world' needs, such as university study or business. However, genre vary considerably between cultures, and even adult learners familiar with a range of genre in their L1 need to learn to use the conventions of those genre in English.
Stages of a writing lesson
I don't necessarily include all these stages in every writing lesson, and the emphasis given to each stage may differ according to the genre of the writing and / or the time available. Learners work in pairs or groups as much as possible, to share ideas and knowledge, and because this provides a good opportunity for practising the speaking, listening and reading skills.
This is often the first stage of a process approach to writing. Even when producing a piece of writing of a highly conventional genre, such as a letter of complaint, using learners' own ideas can make the writing more memorable and meaningful.
This is another stage taken from a process approach, and it involves thinking about which of the many ideas generated are the most important or relevant, and perhaps taking a particular point of view.
Once the students have generated their own ideas, and thought about which are the most important or relevant, I try to give them the tools to express those ideas in the most appropriate way. The examination of model texts is often prominent in product or genre approaches to writing, and will help raise learners' awareness of the conventions of typical texts of different genres in English.
Once learners have seen how the ideas are organised in typical examples of the genre, they can go about organising their own ideas in a similar way.
In a pure process approach, the writer goes through several drafts before producing a final version. In practical terms, and as part of a general English course, this is not always possible. Nevertheless, it may be helpful to let students know beforehand if you are going to ask them to write a second draft. Those with access to a word processor can then use it, to facilitate the redrafting process. The writing itself can be done alone, at home or in class, or collaboratively in pairs or groups. Peer evaluation
Peer evaluation of writing helps learners to become aware of an audience other then the teacher. If students are to write a second draft, I ask other learners to comment on what they liked / didn't like about the piece of work, or what they found unclear, so that these comments can be incorporated into the second draft. The teacher can also respond at this stage by commenting on the content and the organisation of ideas, without yet giving a grade or correcting details of grammar and spelling.
When writing a final draft, students should be encouraged to check the details of grammar and spelling, which may have taken a back seat to ideas and organisation in the previous stages. Instead of correcting writing myself, I use codes to help students correct their own writing and learn from their mistakes. Error correction code 43k
By going through some or all of these stages, learners use their own ideas to produce a piece of writing that uses the conventions of a genre appropriately and in so doing, they are asked to think about the audience's expectations of a piece of writing of a particular genre, and the impact of their writing on the reader.
If you have any ideas that you feel have successfully helped your students to develop their writing why not add them as a comment below and share them.
Further reading
A process genre approach to teaching writing by Badger, Richards and White. ELT Journal Volume 54(2), pp. 153-160 Writing by T Hedge. Oxford University Press. Writing by C Tribble. Oxford University Press Process writing by R White and V Arndt. Longman
Really innovative
It was very informative and helpful
Interesting article.
Useful information
This is a very nice and informative article.
Thanks for this amazing article
I believe this will make the lesson not only productive but also interesting. Thank you.
Thanks for a very interesting and useful article.
Thanks for sharing the plan~
I found in my class that it is always 'Ideas firt, then language follows', similar to L1 writing.
Dear Catherine,
I found your article very useful and I love the advice you give. When I ask my students to write an essay, I tend to correct their mistakes for them and after reading the article I realized that I should be doing it the way you suggested. I learned from my mistakes by finding them out and correcting them not having them corrected for me.
Thank you for a wonderful article.
I am grateful for you for this great article
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ELA Common Core Lesson Plans
The Writing Standards Page contains an explanation of the Common Core Writing Standards. Before we get to the standards, here are some popular lesson plans to get you started. More can be found under the ‘Writing” section above.
Get five writing lesson plans with common core objectives, notes and instructions in a downloadable/printable pdf document. You can simply print it out, stick it in your lesson plan book and wait for administrative accolades. It’s only $4.95
Lessons include:
_____________________________________________________
Need more essay writing lessons for the common core . This guide includes the following:
Each lesson contains instructions for writing each type of essay (for your students), a list of common core objectives covered (for your administrator), one or more graphic organizers (for your students), and a rubric to make grading easy (for your sanity).
The common core writing standards for high school come from the Common Core Standards Initiative Website.
Common Core Writing Standard 1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Explanation . The first writing standard requires students to write intelligently, to make claims, to support those claims, and to use valid evidence and logic. Students should be able to
Non-eduspeak Explanation. Students should be able to write and argue without sounding like an idiot, jackass, or moron. If the writing resembles a middle schooler’s love note or a 9-year old’s letter to Santa, it may be necessary to work on this standard.
Common Core Writing Standard 2 . Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Explanation . Write about complex information, ideas, and concepts clearly and logically. Students should be able to
Non-eduspeak Explanation . Learn something and write about it without sounding like a moron and putting people to sleep. If the person reading your writing makes fun of you the second you leave then you have not mastered this standard.
Common Core Writing Standard 3: W.9-10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
Explanation . Use narrative techniques to write a story, a narrative essay, or to make points in an expository essay more clear. Student written narratives should contain the elements of literature. Students should be able to
Non-eduspeak Explanation. Students should be able to tell a story that has a point and doesn’t make you want to rake your eyes with a pitchfork.
W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in W.9-10.1-3.)
W.9-10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of L.9-10.1-3.)
W.9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically
Explanation : These standards take into account what we call The Writing Process. It’s something we’ve been doing for years. Thank goodness the federal government has given their approval on it.
Non-eduspeak Explanation : No longer can students scratch their essay in crayon five minutes before class on the back of a cheeseburger wrapper and get a B for “trying.” It also means you can take your students down to the computer lab and babysit them for an hour as they take advantage of “technology’s capacity.”
W.9-10.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
W.9-10.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
W.9-10.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Explanation : This, my friends, is the dreaded research paper. Good luck!
Non-eduspeak explanation : This, my friends, is the dreaded research paper. Hide all sharp objects. Put your life coach on speed dial, keep the “meds” nearby because you have to grade these research papers. Hopefully you’ve covered the standards satisfactorily or you’ll be jamming that red pen up your nostrils in frustration.
W.9-10.9a Apply grades 9-10 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work [e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare]”).
W.9-10.9b Apply grades 9-10 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning”).
Explanation : This is literary analysis for fiction and non-fiction.
Non-eduspeak Explanation : Every now and then, make those kids write about what they read, using evidence, logic and all that other stuff an educated individual does. Most of the reading lesson plans on this site contain Common Core writing assignments, too. You’re welcome.
Whether the Common Core Standards are just the latest fad or here to stay, you need lesson plans that address the Common Core Standards. The good news is that they’re probably the same standards you’ve been teaching, but with a different name. Use these links to find lesson plans matched up with the standards.
Last Updated on October 20, 2017 by Trenton Lorcher
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This is a lesson plan designed to help students tackle the CAE writing part 1 formal essay task. It walks students through structuring their essays correctly. Download the handout and Powerpoint below:
formal-writing
formal-writing-handout
Student Handout
In this day and age a worrying percentage of children are showing signs of obesity. The past few years have seen a steep decline in the number of school-aged children taking part in team sports or getting regular exercise. What is the most effective way to tackle this problem and encourage children to be more active?
In this essay I am going to talk about the problem of children not getting enough exercise. I will start by talking about parental influence and then I will discuss the role schools can play.
Hardly a week goes by without another article on the topic of childhood obesity appearing in the media. This is clearly a growing issue which must be addressed urgently. There are a number of ways in which this problem could be tackled.
First Paragraph
Second Paragraph
Language for introducing supporting ideas:
It goes without saying that ______________________________________ A clear example of this is ___________________________________________ In addition, ________________________________________ Nevertheless, _____________________________________________________________
Credit to Cork English Teacher for some of the language from the handout.
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Subject: English
Age range: 11-14
Resource type: Lesson (complete)
Last updated
11 July 2024
An engaging and fun lesson focussed on teaching effective persuasive writing. (Aimed at KS4 students preparing for the Persuasive Writing task of the AQA English Language GCSE, Paper 21 Section B)
Focussed onpersuasive techniques, embedding rhetorical devices, structuring responses and crafting sentences. Modelled persuasive writing included.
Has proved a really popular and effective lesson with my students.
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Iowa nonfiction writing program students help judge krause essay prize.
By Charlotte Brookins
The University of Iowa Krause Essay Prize is an annual contest that has been held at the university since 2006, intended to celebrate extraordinary essays and their creators. The most recent winner is John Lee Clark , a DeafBlind essayist and poet from Minnesota, for his essay Against Access.
“I taught the class last year, so I’m very familiar with all of the nominated essays,” says Melissa Febos , bestselling author and professor in the Nonfiction Writing Program.
The class is the semester-long course entitled the Essay Prize, in which students of the Nonfiction Writing Program explore and judge nominated essays, ultimately arriving at one final winner.
“John Lee Clark’s wonderful essay had some excellent competition,” Febos continues, “but was the clear favorite in the end.”
The purpose of the Krause Essay Prize is to recognize and appreciate the work that goes into the creation of an essay, as well as showcase the genre as a form of art.
Although the prize is strictly awarded to essays, there are no specific requirements as to the medium of the essay. They can be presented in the form of the written word, film, radio, performance, or anything else that comes to mind. The Krause Essay Prize aims to stretch the definition of an essay and showcase works that are defined by what it does rather than by what it is supposed to be.
Contestants are nominated by a rotating committee of not more than fifteen writers, with nominators staying anonymous until the winner of the prize is made public. Made possible by the generous donations of the Kyle J. and Sharon Krause Family Foundation, the winning essay is awarded $10,000 and a hand-carved walnut letter box inscribed with the winner’s name and the name of their essay. The winner is also invited to a ceremony held in their honor on the University of Iowa campus.
Corey Campbell, coordinator of the Nonfiction Writing Program, says her favorite part about the contest is the appreciation it shows for essays and their creators.
“I’m drawn to the program’s deep respect for, and interest in, essaying as an art,” she says.
You can watch the full video of the latest Krause Essay Prize ceremony at Iowa. Learn more about the Krause Essay Prize by visiting, krauseessayprize.org .
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Tressie McMillan Cottom
By Tressie McMillan Cottom
Opinion Columnist
I watched the debate from a pub in Ireland. A man sitting next to me pegged me for a Yank. “Sorry about all that — screwed, no matter what you do,” he said before the final minutes of the debate. I nodded, accepting his sympathies for my condition as an American during a week when it was hard to be an American.
It is only when I am not in America that I feel my Americanness. From the moment that blue passport cover places me in a different line at customs, my citizenship speaks louder than my race, gender or religion. Maybe I had to watch that debate from outside the U.S. to fully appreciate what was happening to us Americans.
A survey of the political commentariat shows a consensus forming: President Biden is fighting the final rounds of a match that the refs won’t call but probably should. Usually, after reading all of the news and polls, I turn to the everyday political discourse, which often diverges from that of the professional political watchers. What should scare Biden loyalists is that this time, the two agree. Even the most die-hard Democratic voters can see Biden’s decline for what it is: an opening for Donald Trump to win his second presidential term.
A few days after that disastrous debate , the Supreme Court finally weighed in on presidential immunity. There is no other way to read its decision than as a signal that whoever owns the Republican Party also owns the power to break the law. Whether he wins or loses, Trump owns the G.O.P., lock, stock and barrel. I’m not sure the country has fully accepted what that means.
When the Supreme Court decision was announced, I had moved on to Greece. Again, it felt like a portentous place to be as the United States moved closer to an autocracy than it had been since perhaps Reconstruction. Greece prides itself as the birthplace of deliberative democracy. As you walk through the ancient ruins, the biggest ideas to transform human society don’t look very big. The buildings where they were debated are crumbling. Modern development dwarfs what were once massive structures to Western ideology. Despite standing for more than 2,000 years, these relics of early democracy feel fragile.
Americans don’t build monuments as well made as the ancient Greeks built. The idea has always been that our democratic ideas are the real monuments. The statues and artifice of political memory should never be stronger than those ideas. Sometimes we have made our monuments cheaply , as if to say that having perfected the means of democracy — if not its platonic ideal — we don’t need to bother with strong foundations and materials.
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An engaging and fun lesson focussed on teaching effective persuasive writing. (Aimed at KS4 students preparing for the Persuasive Writing task of the AQA English Language GCSE, Paper 21 Section B) Focussed onpersuasive techniques, embedding rhetorical devices, structuring responses and crafting sentences. Modelled persuasive writing included.
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