2/24/14
Essay Boot Camp!
Writers, our new unit is on writing, so get your WNB and fold a
page over or use some other strategy to make a divider,
setting off this unit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Today, we are going to start our 7th grade argument based
essay. If you can write essays well, that skill will take you
places. You’ll use this skill to ace any high school writing you
need to do, or to get into college. And grownups write essays
all the time, we just don’t call them that. People embed
essays into emails trying to persuade their bosses to do
something, into reviews of great video or computer games or
books or shows. One 8th grader wrote an essay attacking a
passage in a standardized test, and his essay went viral, and
made the test-maker take that passage off the test,
nationwide!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today, we’re not going to have a typical mini lesson where I
teach you something, you try it and then go off to work
independently. Because I want to give you a feeling for what
it’s like to write an essay, we will work together to do a
writing-in-the-air of an essay, which you’ll then each flashdraft into your notebooks as practice. As we do this, it will
help you get a feel for how writers structure, or organize,
essays.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Today I want to teach you that when writing an essay, it can
help to start with a clear sense of the structure into which
you’ll be writing, and then you almost pour your content into
that structure.
We are going to write our essay about a fairy tale you will all
remember called “The Three Little Pigs.”
I know, I know. This is a silly fairy tale for kids – but actually,
people often come up with big ideas about the simplest
stories. Here’s another reason I chose this story. Today’s
work will move quickly and it’s not easy. You’ll be happy it’s
the Three Pigs we’re thinking about and not more complex
characters – trust me! Later, you’ll have a chance to read and
write about harder content.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch Youtube video – think especially about the third little
pig, because I think he’s going to be our focus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olo923T2HQ4&feature=e
m-share_video_user
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------So writers, you’ve got the story. You remember that the three
pigs built themselves their own home, one out of straw, one
sticks, and the third pig, one out of bricks (that must have
been a lot of work!). Then the wolf came, and he
called…what? Little pig, little pig, let me in. And one after
another, each of the pigs answered “Not by the hair on my
chinny chin chin!” Imagine calling that out when you are the
third and only remaining pig, after you’ve watched your
brothers in danger! That third pig is no wimp, is he? Do you
recall what the third pig does as the end? He outwitted the
wolf by suggesting he come down the chimney and join him
for dinner—as the pig had a pot boiling under the chimney.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------So writers, to write an essay, you need an idea that is
important to you. We could take a week coming up with an
idea, but remember, we’re writing this whole essay in one day,
so I’m going to shorten that part by suggesting we write an
essay using the claim…
“The third little pig is an admirable character.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To write a story, you use the structure of a timeline or story
mountain, but to write an essay, you start with a structure
that is not a timeline, but an OUTLINE. One of the simplest
ways to outline, to organize an essay, is to write about your
reasons.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------So for now, take the thesis and come up with your reasons:
The third little pig is an admirable character because A,
because B, and most of all, because C.
Talk with your partner and come up with your three reasons.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boxes and Bullets format:
The third little pig is an admirable character.
 One reason…
 A second reason…
 And most of all…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air-write your first paragraph:
One reason why ____________ is ____________ is
that___________ .
 For example…
 Another example…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Here’s what I’m hearing:
The Third Little Pig, in the fairy tale “The Three Little Pigs,” is
an especially admirable character because he works hard, he is
brave, and especially because he outwits his enemy.
The first reason that the Third Little Pig is admirable is that he
works very hard. He builds his own home, which must take a
lot of work. He builds it out of bricks which must have taken
an extra amount of work. He carries all those bricks to one
place, laid them one by one on top of each other, added in the
cement. He made one wall, another, another, another. He
even built a roof and a chimney. This shows that the Third
Little Pig works hard and I admire him for that.
Boxes & Bullets Essay Structure
Claim
(A character) is (a trait) because (one reason), (another
reason) and above all, because (a third reason).
Body Paragraph 1
The first reason why (character) is (trait) is because…
 For Example, A
o “This shows” or “This illustrates”
o Then explain how the example fits the claim
o Then repeat your claim
 For Example, B
(repeat format of A)
Body Paragraphs 2 & 3
‘Another reason why (character) is (trait) is that…’
 For example, A
 For example, B
Conclusion
Restate the claim
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Write in the air the remaining two paragraphs
Another reason that the Third Little Pig is admirable is that he
is brave. He watched a giant angry wolf with big teeth blow
down his brothers’ houses, but still, when the wolf came to
the Third Little Pig’s house, this pig was brave. He didn’t run
and hide. Instead when the Wolf called “Little Pig, Little Pig,
let me come in,“ the Third Little Pig called out “not by the hair
on my chinny chin chin. “ That shows that he is brave because
he is not intimidated by the scary wolf even though he has
good reason to be.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Start writing! You are going to flashdraft an entire essay in
your WNB on the admirable character, the Third Little Pig (or if
any of you are up for a challenge and want to argue that the
Bid Bad Wolf is admirable, or evil, you can do so). Feel free to
borrow the reason and evidence we’ve shared in class or to
make up your own.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Finish flashdraft for homework.