Welcome to class!  03/19

1. Welcome to class!  03/19 • When you come in… • Bellringer: You will need your composition notebooks. Add to yesterday’s bellringer response or create an outline using the format that I showed you in yesterday’s notes. Prompt: Explain the importance of decisions. • Today we are… • Reviewing the guidelines for the expository essay and taking our first step toward improving our score by learning how to better tackle the prompt • Activities… • Expository writing review lesson – tips of the trade • Outline your expository essay. • Combining sentences # 2 WS • When you leave you should be able to… • Target the important information in a STAAR Expository prompt. • Choose examples for the Expository Essay that are unique and insightful • Quickly outline my Expository Essay to improve organization

2. Tackling the Expository Essay—Some General Reminders • The expository essay is the ESSAY.  • You will have 26 lines, or 1750 characters with spaces. You may not double up on the lines and you may not write outside of the box. • Your goal is to get a 3 or a 4 on both of your essays. If you are aiming for one of the more prestigious graduation plans, you should definitely go for a 4!

3. Know The Rubric: Organization Clear organizational structure Consistent focus on developing thesis Ideas easy to follow Clear & effective connections and transitions Lapses in focus Weak thesis Inconsistent or weak connections between ideas/details Serious disruptions with repetition or wordiness Score 4 Possible score limitations

4. Know The Rubric: Ideas Ideas developed with specific, well-chosen details & examples Writing is thoughtful, engaging, authentic Ideas & examples reflect your unique experiences or view of the world Ideas connected in interesting ways Details & examples may not be appropriate or are too briefly or partially presented Details and examples may be vague, or insufficient Writing may be formulaic rather than thoughtful Score 4 Possible score limitations

5. Know The Rubric: Conventions Purposeful, precise word choice Effective tone for task Controlled sentences Consistent command of sentence boundaries, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and usage conventions Imprecise or vague word choice Awkward or uncontrolled sentences Simplistic sentences Errors (“command”) interfere with fluency or meaning Score 4 Possible score limitations

6. Today we will focus on TACKLING THE PROMPT • We will address the following: • How do I read the actual prompt? What’s important? What should I focus on? • How do I choose examples to use in my essay? What are the best examples? How do I know if my examples are unique or cliché? How many examples do I need? • How do I create an outline for my essay in a short amount of time? How can I get the most out of my outline?

7. What does the prompt look like? • READ the information in the box below. It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are. - Roy Disney • THINK carefully about these statements. The ability to make effective decisions is a fundamental life skill. In a critical situation, the decisions one makes can be the difference between success and failure, or even life and death. • WRITE an essay explaining the importance of making good decisions.

8. This style is intended to help you brainstorm. However… • Many students find the READ, THINK, WRITE format to be very overwhelming and confusing. • Students tend to focus on the quote (Roy Disney) rather than what they are actually supposed to be writing about. • IF YOU ARE EVER OVERWHELMED OR CONFUSED, I recommend…

9. What does the prompt look like? • READ the information in the box below. It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are. - Roy Disney • THINK carefully about these statements. The ability to make effective decisions is a fundamental life skill. In a critical situation, the decisions one makes can be the difference between success and failure, or even life and death. • WRITE an essay explaining the importance of making good decisions. (Note: read the prompt several times to make sure you understand it)

10. Ah, that’s better!

11. Now we can focus on the prompt. • WRITE an essay explaining the importance of making good decisions. • First, I would focus on making a list of examples that you could use to answer this prompt. • Remember, though, that some of the examples you come up with FIRST will also be the examples everyone else comes up with! • Also remember that you MUST EXPLAIN your examples in detail. DO NOT JUST LIST A BUNCH OF EXAMPLES. • Because you need to explain them, you probably only need 2 or 3 insightful examples. (Get “Expository examples” handout/also posted under file manager on my staff profile)

12. What are some cliché or overused examples? • Making bad decisions involving drugs and alcohol can affect your life negatively, and even kill you or the people around you. • Making the good decision to study for school or do your homework can ensure that you get good grades and get into the college of your choice.

13. But Mrs. Burk, that’s all that I could think of! • That’s not true! • You are a unique person with a unique world view! You are not cliché! You are full of interesting, 4 level examples!

14. Refer to handout: Types of examples to use within expository writing… • facts and examples • reasons • steps in a process • analogies • incidents • definitions • similarities • differences • causes and effects

15. On a clean sheet of notebook paper, list the following, leaving five lines between each. • Unique examples from my life (think about difficult decisions you have had to make that others may not have!) • Important examples from history • Interesting examples from the news • Under each category, try to list at least three examples that you feel comfortable talking about. You can reuse examples from your original essay (bellringer response) if they are good ones. You have 5 minutes to come up with these 9 examples. Use the “Expository Examples” handout if needed.

16. Now, look at your list. • Cross off any examples that you think are overused, or that you are simply not educated enough to write about successfully. • Circle two or three examples that you feel like you can write about with a lot of explanation and detail, and that you feel very knowledgeable about. • These examples will be the ones you use for your actual essay!

17. Your outline should be unique to your paper, but it needs to have some basic components. • The most important of these is your THESIS STATEMENT. • Look at your examples. What do they say about the importance of making good decisions? The answer to that question is your thesis statement. • It is important to make good decisions because… • THIS MUST BE THE LAST SENTENCE IN YOUR INTRO.

18. Refer to side 2 of your handout… • Now that you have a thesis statement and some insightful examples, you need to think of how those ideas should be organized. You have some choices with expository writing!

19. Let’s review… BACKGROUND INFO THESIS STATEMENT • Introduction • Gives general background information, or context, for your reader • Ends with a thesis statement that clearly explains what your essay will discuss • Body Paragraphs • Begin with a topic sentence that links back to your thesis • Include examples that support that topic sentence • Conclusion • Begins with a restatement of your thesis in different words • Ends by answering the question, “So what?” or making a connection to a bigger picture • TOPIC SENTENCE • Example with explanation • Example with explanation • Example with explanation THESIS STATEMENT SO WHAT?

20. Using your examples… or come up with new ones if you chose the other prompt. • Quickly jot up an outline for this essay on the back of the same piece of notebook paper where you listed your examples and copied down the prompt. You can use this format if you like: • Introduction • Hook/Background Info: __________________________________________ • THESIS STATEMENT: ___________________________________________ • Body Paragraph(s) • Topic Sentence: ________________________________________________ • Example: ___________________________________________________________________ • Example: ___________________________________________________________________ • Example: ___________________________________________________________________ • Conclusion • Repeat thesis in original words: ___________________________________ • Make a connection to the world at large! ___________________________ ________________________________________________________________

21. The important thing to know about your outline is… • IT IS NOT YOUR ACTUAL ESSAY • The MEAT of your essay sandwich is your examples. • YOU MUST ACTUALLY EXPLAIN THEM IN DEPTH. Never just list them like they are on your outline.

22. 03/20/2013 Agenda • When you come in… • Bellringer: Combining Sentences WS is on the podium • Today we are… • Writing an expository essay about the importance of making good decisions • Revising the expository essay making it more concise and precise • Activities… • Organize the outline for your expository essay. (1st & 2nd period go over Side # 2 of the Expository Examples handout) • Combining sentences #s 1 or 2 WS(#s 1 & 2 for 6th & 7th periods) • When you leave you should be able to… • Write an expository essay for the EOC test • Combine sentences for revision • Revise to make your writing more concise and precise

23. Before you write your essay… • Remember to make sure your outline is complete and organized • Do not double up on the lines • Do not write outside of the box • Get a concise and precise handout to keep in mind as your are writing your essay. Make sure your revise your essay before turning it in! (you can find this handout on my staff profile under file manager)