Please have on
your desk:
1. Your note taking guide from
The Open Window
2. Your Elements of Literature
textbook.
3. Something to write on (paper)
and with (pencil/pen)
4. Your novel (Which you should
be reading RIGHT NOW) 
Step One:
 Review your note taking guide from
The Open Window. Think about the
choices the director made in the film
interpretation of The Open Window.
 Reading “Writing a Thesis Statement”
at the top of page 220 in your
Elements of Literature textbook.
 On your paper, write a thesis
statement for an essay evaluating the
choices the director made in the film
interpretation of The Open Window
(page 110).
Peer Conference:
Share your thesis statement
with the person beside you.
 Does it identify the story?
 Does it take a stance on the director’s
interpretation?
 Does it clearly identify the topic of the
essay?
Step Two:
Read “Organizing the
Report” on page 220.
Make an outline for your
essay evaluating the
director’s choices for the
film interpretation of The
Open Window.
Peer Conference:
Share your outline with the
person beside of you.
 Does it sort the information into several
categories?
 Does it sort categories into subtopics?
 How is the information organized?
 Does the organization make sense?
 Does the outline show the introduction?
 Does the outline show at least two body
paragraphs?
 Does the outline show a conclusion?
Step Three:
 Read “Drafting” on pages 220 – 222.
 Review with your group what we have
learned about:
 Hooks
 Topic Sentences
 Support
 Unity
 Elaboration
 Clincher sentences
 Write the BEST introductory paragraph
possible . The topic sentence for the
introductory paragraph is your THESIS.
Peer Conference:
 Evaluate this introductory paragraph:

Liar, liar, pants on fire! Regardless of
the differences, the film and text of “The
Open Window” emphasize Vera’s constant
lying. Since the plot is about a girl who
makes up a story to scare a nervous visitor,
this was a good choice by the director. The
director highlighted Vera’s lying by showing
close ups of her face and using camera
angles to make her appear different. While
most people say the book is always better,
the director of The Open Window stayed
true to the story by focusing on Vera’s lies.
 What feedback would you give?
 Now, switch with the person beside you and provide
feedback.
Round the Room Round-Up!
 With a partner, add as much information to each of the
posters as possible.
 When you are done, have a seat and skim the Language
Handbook pages 891+ in the Elements of Literature
textbook.
 If you see any corrections that need to be made to the
posters, please make them.
 In your language arts notes, take notes on:
 Nouns
 Verbs
 Adjectives
 Adverbs
 Prepositions
 Pronouns
 Conjunctions
Editing:
 Look at your introductory paragraph.
 Rewrite your thesis statement in your notes.
 With the assistance of people at your table, identify the:
 Nouns
 Verbs
 Modifiers (adjectives and adverbs)
 With the assistance of people at your table, draw one
line under your subject and draw two lines under your
predicate.
 Look at the rest of your paragraph, try to find the
subject and predicate in each sentence. If you are
unable to do this, you may have written a sentence
fragment or a run-on. In this case, you need to revise
your sentence!
 Use pages 891+ to help you.
Completing the essay
 Use pages 219 – 223 and pages 891+ of
the Elements of Literature textbook to
finish writing the first draft of your essay.
 Remember to:
 Use the correct paragraph format (w.8.2)
 Use evidence from the text and movie (W.8.9)
 Organize your essay and use elaboration
(W.8.8)