Essential Questions and Learning Standards Essential Questions What

Essential Questions and Learning Standards: • Essential Questions: • What can I do to improve my writing? • What are the essential characteristics of Puritanism? Learning Standards: ELAALRL 4 Writing Genres The student employs a variety of writing genres to demonstrate a comprehensive grasp of significant ideas in selected literary works. The student composes essays, narratives, poems, or technical documents ELAALRL 3. a Relates a literary work to the seminal ideas of the time in which it is set or the time of its composition.

Let’s look at the categories on the rubric! � Ideas � Organization � Style � Conventions

Main Problems in the Pretest: �LAZINESS!!!! �Not following directions �Not developing ideas using specific examples �Repeating ideas and phrases �Incomplete sentences and run-on sentences �Misspelling words you have NO right misspelling at this point (a lot, writing, corse, their/there/they’re, loose/lose, etc. ) �Using dead words and phrases

Let’s start by taking a look at the prompt and directions: �Prompt: Many high school students feel that the course offered in high school do not adequately prepare them for life after graduation. Your principal is asking students for suggestions of courses that would address this need. �Directions: Write a letter to your principal in which you recommend a new course that PREPARE STUDENTS FOR LIFE AFTER GRADUATION. �In your notes list exactly why you are writing this letter, and what the prompt is asking you to do.

TEAR THE PROMPT APART…. �Circle or underline all key words. �Rewrite the prompt in your own words �Define what the prompt is asking for �Make a DO NOT WRITE list. Include all things that you should not write or things that will be offtopic (examples: preparing students for tests, offering classes that help students in school now with study skills, etc. )

LESS IS MORE �Look at your rough draft to see how many times you say the same thing over and over. �Many of you are guilty of using repetitive ideas, useless phrases, and space filler �IF YOU ARE FILLING SPACE TO MAKE YOUR ESSAY LONGER IT IS OBVIOUS TO THE PERSON GRADING YOUR PAPER!!! �Words like because are useless words. Look at the phrase after the because I struck out. It stands alone as a complete idea.

Lead-ins �Your first few sentences should address the situation described in the prompt. �You should not have started this letter by jumping right to a course recommendation. �You should describe the purpose for writing the letter in the first place. �The last sentence of the first paragraph should have simply introduced the course you were recommending, without giving too much details about it. (you will do this in the BODY paragraphs)

Tattoo the word PROOFREAD on your forearms!!!!!! �Before turning in ANY essay you should: �Read it over silently to yourself �Read it quietly out loud (your ear is better than your eye) �Read it backwards (this will help you focus on spelling errors) �Mark spelling errors and correct (if you’re not sure of a word it is probably misspelled!!)

Dead Words and Phrases � First off, secondly, thirdly, to begin with � Like, maybe, well, also, meaning, so � Because � For example, for instance � To sum up, in conclusion, to conclude � All I’m saying, my personal opinion � Gonna, wanna, and any non-standard slang � Trite phrases and cliches (stuff you picked up from relatives and friends that are supposed to convey conventional wisdom) � Greeting card expressions and ideas � We will discuss sophisticated transitions later once we master the basics!

Run-On Sentences �These are sentences that go on and have more than one idea or clauses and never seem to end they are also more than one sentence that are jammed together with no end punctuation or capitalization. (like this…hard to read huh? ) �Do the exercises on side one of the worksheet now.

Sentence Fragments or incomplete sentences �These are incomplete sentences. �Like engineering, auto mechanics, and cosmetology. (this is an incomplete sentence from one of your essays) �Most students do this because they do not proofread their work or think this adds an emotional tone. �If you have more than one inc. sent. (or run-on) on your paper, you will lose maximum Conventions points from now on! �Do the second side of your worksheet now.

Now the big task…. �Rewrite your letter correctly. �Follow the suggestions I made in the margins of your paper. �Write interesting lead-in sentences �FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS �Avoid dead words and phrases �DO NOT REPEAT IDEAS!!! �PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD!

Now… �Give your paper to your four o’clock buddy �Take turns reading each other’s papers ALOUD exactly as they are written �Circle dead words or phrases �Strike out repetitive ideas �Ask yourself if they followed the directions, and did what the prompt asks them to do. �Use the blank rubric to grade their response. �DO NOT show them the final grade you gave them and turn it in to the Exit Ticket box!