ELA SWAT LESSON – Week of 9/8
All of the activities used below were taught in our Abydos training. I have referred to them with the
assumption that you took notes in preparation for using them in your classes. Please see me if you
need clarification or additional information.
Tuesday
1. Explain to students why we have arranged this special schedule, and that these 30-minute
classes will be devoted solely to STAAR preparation. Grades are not taken in this class; however,
full participation is expected and in their best interest to provide in order to pass their second
attempt at taking this test.
2. Begin with the expository poem provided to us by Dr. Carroll – “A Poem In Two Voices On
Understanding What Expository Writing Is.” Instead of making copies for each student, display
the poem using your document camera or type it out and put it on your projector before class.
Split the class up into two sides and assign each side of the room a side of the poem to read.
Have them read the poem aloud at the same time, following the lines for their side. Each time
they mess up, have them start over (remember that this repetition helps them to learn). After
they’ve said it a few times, have them stand and put a little style into it. This kinesthetic act will
help them to remember it.
3. To differentiate for visual learners, now draw the umbrella that explains how expository writing
is an amalgam. Complete this activity interactively in a whole-group discussion as you draw the
umbrella (just as Dr. Carroll modeled to us in the training). This activity will complete the period.
Wednesday
1. Have students take out a piece of notebook paper. Model for them how to fold the paper after
the first four lines at the top and then 4 lines at the bottom. Draw the one-page sheet on the
board displaying how the top section is the introduction, the middle section is the body, and the
bottom section is the conclusion. Point out how few lines they have for each section.
2. Instruct them to make the same notes on their paper as you make on the board, labelling each
section.
3. Discuss how the first 2 sentences contain the hook (attention grabber) followed by a thesis.
Today’s lesson will focus on the four different types of hooks we learned about in the training
(personal, emotional, startling statistic, and interesting fact). Give descriptions of each type of
hook, asking students to come up with examples. Give some examples of your own and/or read
them some good examples from texts that you have. Be sure to have them write down each of
the definitions and examples as you do on the board.
4. Pick up these papers and keep them for use tomorrow. Do not ever allow students to take their
SWAT work home due to the fact that we will continue to work on the same paper
incrementally, and if one student forgets their paper during one lesson, they will fall behind and
lose valuable instructional time.
Thursday
1. Briefly review the layout of the paper and the hooks discussed yesterday. Explain that the hook
should be related to the thesis of the expository essay, which will be discussed today.
2. Explain to them that the thesis is the writer’s promise to the reader. Using the activity we
learned in the training, ask students to raise their hand if anyone had ever made a promise to
them (all will raise their hands). Then ask them to raise their hands if they’ve ever had a
promise broken (all will raise their hands). Ask how that made them feel – ask them to give a
one-word description of how that made them feel. Explain that there is a difference in the
degree of feeling when a promise is broken - breaking a promise to get ice cream is not the
same as breaking marriage vows – ask them to give more examples of extremes. In a similar
way, the degree of disappoint varies with readers depending on the promise you make in your
thesis. “Do you want your readers to feel this way by breaking your promise (or not proving
your thesis)?” Write on the board (have them write on their paper):
Thesis = making a promise
3. Ask them how we can make a “promise” to our reader in a paper that explains? What would
that look or sound like? Read them some examples from the handout we received at the
training “Kid Friendly Mentor Theses” and ask them to identify what it is that the writer is
promising to “explain” to the reader.
4. Have them write the following criteria of a good thesis on their paper (front or back) as you
write and discuss it on the board:
A ssertive – state it like you mean it
B e an “insider” – have inside knowledge that others may not have
C lear - discuss what clarity in writing means
5. Choose one or two of the mentor theses that you just discussed and ask students to identify the
criteria in them.
Pick up their papers to keep until next time. If for some reason you did not finish, pick up where you left
off next Tuesday after reviewing the basics of what we did this week.