Writing
Review
Get out paper for notes
and your standards tracker.
Standards / Objectives
 W2:
Write informative texts to examine
and convey complex ideas, concepts,
and information clearly and accurately
through the effective selection,
organization, and analysis of content.
Objective: Today you will remind yourself of
the key components of an essay, how to
pick apart a writing prompt and how to
write a thesis statement.
Standard
Standards
10/13/14
W2: Write
Date Taught
informative
texts to
examine and
convey
complex ideas,
concepts, and
information
clearly and
accurately
through the
effective
selection,
organization,
and analysis of
content.
Text
Date Tested
Writing prompts 10/27/14
and articles
Sprinkle- all classes test in G7 Lab
Writing Assessment Schedule (11th)
Tuesday, 2/17
Wednesday, 2/18 Thursday, 2/19
8:15 – 10:45
- 2nd period
8:15 – 10:45 a.m. – 8:15 – 10:45 a.m.
3rd pd. English
– 7th pd. English
12:15 – 2:45 p.m.
- 4th pd. English
12:15 – 2:45 p.m. 12:15 – 2:45 p.m.
– 5th pd. English – 6th pd. English
4th, 5th, and 6th period, you will take 1st lunch on your
testing day and report to G7 Lab as quickly as
possible.
Displacements
Testing Date: Tues. 2/17/15:
Monitor
Testing Date: Wed. 2/18/15:
Monitor
Period
6th
Period
7th
Testing Date: Thurs. 2/19/15:
Monitor
Period
2nd
4th
Displaced Location
AN-11
B. Smith
Displaced Location
BN-7
Heitt
Displaced Location
Gym
M-2
Biggs
Marshall
Prior Knowledge Review
Brainstorm

What components do you need in an essay no matter the
type?
 Introduction:
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Body paragraphs

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hook
intro of topic and stimuli
Clear, concise, thesis
State your claim that connects with the thesis
Transitions
Evidence from text to support thesis and main supports (quote)
with parenthetical citation to avoid plagiarism
Explain how your evidence supports your claim (commentary)
Conclusion that wraps up the entire concept

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Re-state the thesis in s new way
Summarize main points
Answer “so what” – make the reader consider the implications of
theses points
Informative/analytical
Essays

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Basic Definition: to educate your reader on a topic
Informative: Evaluative: Analysis: Explanatory:
Expository
Multitude of uses: evaluate the effects of a new law,
to compare two movies, to analyze a piece of
literature, to examine the problem of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere, inspection summary
Forms of informative essays:

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
Define a term
Compare and contrast something
Analyze data

Note: There are many other forms, but our purposes we
will focus on these three.
Informative/analytical
Essays DO NOT…
 Give
an opinion
 Attempt to persuade the reader to
change their beliefs
 If
you give an opinion in phase one – you
are not on topic and will not score well on
development or focus & organization
Prompt
 The
purpose of an essay prompt is to inspire
a response in the form of an essay, which will
test your writing, reasoning and analysis
skills.
What does the prompt even
MEAN?!
 Task
-read the prompt and determine what
the prompt is asking you to do. Make notes on
your prompt to guide you. Look for the verbs
 Issue-
What is the issue/subject you need to
write about?
 Purpose-What
is the reason for writing? What
are you trying to get your audience to
understand?
•Expository/analysis - writing informative and explanatory texts to examine
and convey ideas and information clearly
•Persuasive - writing opinions on topics or texts and supporting a point of view
with reasons and information
Model learning activity
Please read “It’s Not You, It’s Me” by Annie Murphy Paul and“The
Secret to Raising Smart Kids by Carol S. Dweck.
After you have read the texts, write an essay that analyzes how
Dweck and Paul each use and refine the meaning of the term
intelligence over the course of their articles. Be sure to also discuss
the similarities and differences between their definitions.
Cite strong and thorough evidence from both texts to support your
analysis. Follow the conventions of standard written English. Write
your essay in the space provided in the next pages.
Based on TIP, what is the overall question this prompt is asking? Be
very clear and specific?
Creating a Thesis Statement – what is the
question the prompt is asking?
1. Determine essay’s topic (ISSUE)
Example: How two authors define the term intelligence
2. Determine what kind of paper you are writing and what kind of thesis
statement you need to use: (PURPOSE).
Example: informative/analysis
3. Determine how you will construct your thesis (TASK – what it needs to
include)
Example:


Explain how the authors define the term
Compare and contrast the two definitions
4. What question does the prompt ask, overall?
Example: What are the similarities and differences in the way the
two authors define the term intelligence and how do these authors
define the term in their text
What’s a thesis
statement?
UMMMM, It’s THE most important thing in your whole
essay!
It is an extension of the ISSUE/SUBJECT you identified
in TIP
What does the thesis
statement do?
What is its purpose?
WHAT IS A THESIS STATEMENT?
 So,
your thesis statement should inform the reader
what the task, issue and purpose is!
What does the thesis
statement do?
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It contains the essay’s topic and your viewpoint (if
the prompt asks you to express a viewpoint)
Tells your reader what the essay will be about
Usually comes at the end of the introduction
Only one sentence
Must be a complete sentence
Everything in the essay must support the thesis
Introduction paragraph should follow this format:
 Attention getter (commonly known as a “hook”)
 Introduce the topic
 State the thesis
Now annotate!
 Annotation:
to add notes to a text or diagram
giving explanation or comment
 It
helps you interact with the text and
therefore comprehend more.
What to write down while
annotating?
 Ask
questions: Are you confused about
something? Write the question down in the
margins.
 React to what you read: Maybe you read
something that just made you mad, startled
you, or brought you to tears. Write down your
reaction to the text so you can remember
later.
What to write down while
annotating?
 Locate
important passages: Is there a
quote that you think is important or
thoughtful? Is there an idea you think
might be worth remembering? Is there a
‘big idea’ that is at the foundation of the
article? These are important to locate, as
they are what you might quote in your
investigation or written essay later.
What to write down while
annotating?
 Make
connections: Maybe something you
read reminds you of an experience
you’ve had or parallels a part of your life;
record these connections and they will
help you find meaning and relevancy in
what you read.
What to write down while
annotating?
 Define
new words: Too often, reading
comprehension problems occur because
readers don’t understand words. It’s not
too much trouble to look up the word in
the dictionary. If you physically can’t look
up the word as you encounter it, highlight
it in the moment and look it up at your first
opportunity. CONTEXT CLUES will come in
handy.
After you read…
 Summarize
what you’ve read: In the
empty space at the end of a page,
rewrite the article noting the essential
points, using only a couple of sentences.
You might find that doing so will help you
understand what you just read.
Why it’s important to annotate
 Even
though annotation can feel like a
burden, its’ an important part of
understanding what you read. Choosing
not to do so is choosing to reject a
strategy that will help you become a
more thoughtful and thorough reader.
Task:
 Annotate
the article for Grades 11-12
Writing Practice test I. (The Decline if
Newspapers is bad for the US by Laura
Finley)


Make sure to annotate to the purpose of
the prompt.
Writ a thesis statement for this prompt.
Today’s assignment:
 On
a separate sheet of paper, write the
TASK, ISSUE, and PURPOSE of the Grades
11-12 Writing Practice test I.
 Then write a PERFECT thesis statement for
this prompt.
 Staple this sheet of paper to your
annotated article and turn it in to the tray.