EDUC 200 Final Project
Jenny Chacon
Fall 2004
South Pasadena Middle School
School Characteristics
South Pasadena Middle School (6-8)

Total Enrollment: 1,050 students
 95.2% credentialed teachers
Class Information
 8th Grade Social
Studies
 Class Size: 32
students
Ethnic Make-Up
Caucasion
16%
34%
 Class Make-up:
13 Girls
19 Boys
44%
6%
African
American
Asian
American
Mexican
Classroom Layout
Front chalkboard
Teacher’s
Desk
Computer
Chalkboard
TV
Classroom Technology
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1 Computer in the
Corner
(turned off during all 3
visits)
1 Television
1 VCR with the
Television
1 Radio/CD Player
Content Standards
Eighth Grade Writing Standards
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Lesson 1 : 1.1 Create compositions that establish a
controlling impression, have a coherent thesis, and
end with a clear and well-supported conclusion.
Lesson 2 : 1.2 Establish coherence within and among
paragraphs through effective transitions, parallel
structures, and similar writing techniques.
Lesson 3 : 1.3 Support theses or conclusions with
analogies, paraphrases, quotations, opinions from
authorities, comparisons, and similar devices.
Lesson One: Introduction,
Thesis, and Conclusion
Lesson 1
Standard 1.1:
Create
compositions that
establish a
controlling
impression, have a
coherent thesis,
and end with a
clear and wellsupported
conclusion.
Objective:
The students should
know what a thesis
is & its importance
in a paper or essay
and should be able
to compose a
written essay
consisting of an
introduction, thesis,
and conclusion.
Lesson 1 (Continued)
Motivation: Have each student choose a
memorable experience from their
lives that they could base an essay on.
ex. Birth of a younger sibling
ex. Buying a dog, cat, or other
animal
ex. Favorite family vacation
Lesson 1 (Continued)
Input of Information:
 Explain what an
introduction consists of
including the “hook” in the
beginning.
 Define a thesis statement
and how it is supposed to go
at the end of the
introductory paragraph.
 Finally, explain what goes
into a conclusion paragraph.
 Technology: Use an
overhead projector or power
point to show the structure
of an essay focusing on the
introduction, thesis, and
conclusion
Checking Comprehension:
Ask the students to help
create examples of
introductions, theses, and
conclusions. Do this as a
class. Perhaps put together a
mini-essay made of
contributions of the class.
Technology: Either write out
the examples on the
overhead or type the
examples on a computer that
reflects onto a screen or
wall.
Lesson 1 (Continued)
Structured Practice:
Have the students
meet in groups and
together write an
introduction, thesis
statement, and
conclusion. Each
group can present
their mini-essay to
the class.
Guided Practice:
Each student can
outline an
introductory
paragraph, including
a thesis, and
conclusion paragraph
based on the
experience they
thought about
earlier.
Lesson 1 (Continued)
Closure: Hand out copies of examples of essays
that are both good & bad. Have them
determine which are good based on its
structure (not content).
Possible Homework Assignment: Have the
students complete a mini-essay on their
memorable experience that they chose and
outlined in class.
Lesson 2: Transitions, Parallel
Structures, and Similar
Writing Techniques
Lesson 2
Standard 1.2:
Establish
coherence within
and among
paragraphs through
effective
transitions, parallel
structures, and
similar writing
techniques.
Objective:
The students should
be able to link the
introductory and
conclusion
paragraphs
together with body
paragraphs including
transition
sentences.
Lesson 2 (Continued)
Motivation: Pass out a copy of a wellwritten essay and have the students read
it. Then, ask the class why this is such an
interesting essay to read. This will
hopefully start a discussion and spark
interest in the topic of writing good
essays. If no discussion begins, pass out
a poorly written essay and ask what is so
different between the two.
Lesson 2 (Continued)
Input of Information:
 Break the essay apart
separating each
paragraph. Underline
the topic sentences,
and ending sentences.
Point out the structure
of the paragraph.
 Technology: Use the
overhead projector to
visually show the
students what each
technique looks like.
Check for Understanding:
 Pass a copy of another
essay out and have the
students pair up together
to break the essay apart
separating each paragraph.
 Have them try to notice
what techniques are used
in each.
 Have each group share
what they found to put
together a list on the
overhead projector or
board.
Lesson 2 (Continued)
Structured Practice:
 Each student chooses
an important historical
figure that they have
learned about in Social
Studies.
 Have them outline an
essay, paragraph by
paragraph,
emphasizing the intro,
thesis, transitions,
structure of
paragraph, and
conclusion.
Guided Practice:

Using their outlines,
begin to write out
an essay that
supports why they
believe the
historical figure is
important using the
new techniques.
Lesson 2 (Continued)
Closure:
Hand out some magazines and allow the students
to point out transitions, parallel structures, and
similar writing techniques. This will prove to
them that what they have learned really can be
used in real life.
Possible Homework Assignment:
Have the students go home and research their
historical figure on the Internet and bring an
article they find to class the next day. Also, if
they did not finish their essay in class, tell
them to complete it at home for next time.
Lesson 3: Analogies,
Paraphrases, Quotations, and
similar devices
Lesson 3
Standard 1.3:
Support theses or
conclusions with
analogies,
paraphrases,
quotations, opinions
from authorities,
comparisons, and
similar devices.
Objective:
The students should
be able to put
together a full essay
supporting a topic
using analogies,
paraphrases,
quotations, opinions,
comparisons, and so
forth.
Lesson 3 (Continued)
Motivation: Have a cart full of books
based on historical figures and have each
student walk to the cart and choose 1 or 2
books that are related to the figure they
chose the previous class.
Lesson 3 (Continued)
Input of Information:
 Explain the concepts of
analogies, paraphrases,
use of quotations to
support your point, etc.
that are used in
essays/papers to support
your topic.
 Include a short
explanation on the
difference between
quoting or paraphrasing
and plagiarizing.
 Technology: use power
point to help explain these
concepts
Check for
Understanding:

Allow the students 15
minutes to skim
through their book to
find one or two good
quotes that they could
use in their essays.
Lesson 3 (Continued)
Structured Practice:
 Using the quotes the
students just found,
have them write a
short paraphrase for
each.
 Have them pick a
partner and swap
papers allowing each
partner to make sure
there is no plagiarizing
or copying.
Guided Practice:
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Tell each student to pick
a good location in their
essays to put the quotes
or paraphrases.
Help them integrate the
quote into the paragraph
so the content does not
sound choppy.
Also, have them be sure
that the quote
appropriately supports
their thesis statement.
Lesson 3 (Continued)
Closure: Stress the importance of good writing
skills in real life explaining that practically
every career involves writing. The skills they
learned that day can be used certainly through
college and most likely in their own careers.
Possible Homework Assignment:
Tell each student to go home and complete their
essays including the quotes, paraphrases, analogies,
and so forth in order to support why they believe
their historical figure is important. These essays
will be collected and made into a book that will be
left in the classroom.
Accommodation for ELL
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Since there is such a large number of ELL students in
Ms. Gomez’ class, going over vocabulary is very
important
Ms. Gomez suggested that writing exercises were
often the easiest and most useful exercises for ELL
students
Since most of my lesson plans involve writing, this
would be good for ELL students because it makes it
fairly easy for me to see where they might need the
most help since it is on paper. Also, it helps the
students with vocabulary and learning to write in
English.
Maybe try to have a translation of the essays in their
native language hopefully helping them not only learn
the new vocab but also in learning to write a good
essay
Grading
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I think that the easiest way to keep track of
my students’ work is by using Microsoft Excel
or a Blackboard-type program
Since all of my lesson plans involve writing,
that would be fairly easy to grade by
following a set grading scale based on
whether or not the students have used all the
standards learned in class
References
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http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/
http://school.discovery.com/clipart/
http://www.websiteestates.com/education/te
mplatesindex.html
http://www.teacherfiles.com/clip_art.htm
Threaded Discussion
“I really enjoyed your presentation! It was very easy to follow and
visually attractive. The classroom layout picture added a lot. I
really liked how each of your lesson plans flowed into the next
especially where the kids had to choose books based on the
historical figure.”
“First of all I like the smoothness of the lesson plans. They all tie
together nicely. I also like how you broke down the lessons not only
would it be easy for students to grasp but your lesson plan is also
easy to follow if a sub had to come in.”
“I like your layout for the presentation. The blue background with
texture and the plain white font...those work well together. I like
the layout diagram for the classroom. I was looking over the
guidelines and you don't seem to have missed a beat.”
“You have done a great job. The lessons follow each other very well,
are tightly constructed and really choose well-sized pieces of
content address.”
The End