Activity
1. This lesson entails seven class periods. The first three are for writing
students’ position papers. The next two are peer-review sessions.
The last two are for students to include corrections recommended by
peers, visit library for information a peer may have suggested is missing
or to strengthen an argument with further or stronger evidence.
2. On the first day of the lesson remind students their position papers are
a review of arguments presented before a Congressional committee making a decision
about U.S.A energy needs. The persuasive paper uses the expository theme of
introduction, first body paragraph, second body paragraph, third body paragraph,
and conclusion. However, for this paper two other paragraphs will be added
prior to the introduction--a mission statement and their point of view regarding
energy issues.
3. First class period is also for establishing evaluation criteria for the
position paper. It is suggested the paper be assessed in areas of:
- Correct interpretation of the prompt
The students have written a paper about implementation of an alternative form
of energy incorporating at least three strong arguments.
- Proper organization
W-P2. Write a persuasive essay that contains effective introductory and summary
statements; arranges the argument s effectively; and fully develops the ideas
with convincing proof, details, facts, examples, and descriptions.
PO 1. Write a thesis statement to convey a point of view about a subject
PO 2. Develop the point of view with ample and convincing support (e.g., details,
facts, reasons, examples, and descriptions) appropriate to audience and purpose
PO 3. Create an organizational structure that includes an effective beginning,
middle, and ending
PO 4. Use persuasive word choices and sentence structure (e.g., connotation,
strong verbs, repetition, and parallelism)
- Correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.
W-P1. Use transitional devices; varied sentence structures; the active voice;
parallel structures; supporting details, phrases and clauses; and correct spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage to sharpen the focus and clarify
the meaning of their writing
PO 1. Use transitions (e.g., conjunctive adverbs, coordinating conjunctions,
subordinating conjunctions) where appropriate
PO 2. Vary sentence structure (e.g., compound, complex, compound-complex)
PO 3. Use active voice as appropriate to purpose (e.g., creative writing)
PO 4. Use parallel structure appropriately
PO 5. Sharpen the focus and clarify the meaning of their writing through the
appropriate use of
- capitalization
- standard
grammar and usage (e.g., subject-verb agreement, pronoun
agreement and consistency
of verb tense)
- spelling, with the use of a dictionary/thesaurus (as
needed)
- punctuation (e.g., comma, ellipsis, apostrophe, semicolon,
colon)- Strength of the arguments
W-P2.
PO 2. Develop the point of view with ample and
convincing support (e.g.,. details,
facts, reasons, examples, and descriptions) appropriate
to audience and
purpose
4. Make sure that you visibly post examples of mission statements
students found in the previous lesson to use as a model. If students
did not
complete their
paper’s first draft within the three class days they must finish the
paper for homework to participate in the peer review sessions.
5. Two days have been set-aside for the peer review to enable multiple
reviews of each paper. It is suggested that one student read for
mechanical errors.
You should list on the board the areas that will be assessed in
this category: W-P1
criteria. Students should make notes on the first drafts. It is
not the job of the proofreader to correct errors, but to point
them out.
It is
the writer ‘s
responsibility to make grammatical and spelling corrections. A proofreader may
not know something is wrong, but can tell the writer to double check something,
or rewrite an awkward section. Tell them they are not doing any favors by “rubberstamping” another
student’s work stating it is fine, because then you, the teacher, will
be the one to find the errors and take points off.
The second proofreader makes their comments on a separate sheet
of paper on the organizational aspects. List the criteria for this
on
the board.
W-P2 criteria.
Remind students it may take two readings of the paper to do a high
quality proofereading job.
The third proofreader will evaluate the arguments, also on a separate
sheet of paper:
- Are
there three arguments?
- Is there one for economic factors, one for environmental factors, and
one for environmental health factors?
- Are the arguments convincing?
- Has the prompt been followed accurately?
Give
the students five-ten minutes at the end of each proofreading
session to meet, read each
other’s comments, and to ask clarification
questions. During proofreading, it is best for
the proofreader not to sit near the student
of whose
paper is being evaluated. It is too easy for the
proofreader
to ask a quick question if something does not make
sense. However, when you are evaluating
the papers
you will not have that luxury and will take off
points when something is unclear.
6. The last two days are for students to fix problems
the proofreaders found. Make arrangements with
the librarian so students may visit
the library for additional
research if serious holes have been uncovered in
their arguments or if facts need rechecking. Closure
The position papers are handed in and the students fill out an evaluation
of the researching/writing process. This is found at the end of the
lesson.
Homework
If students
are not able to finish writing the position paper during class
time, it will be necessary for them to finish their work outside
of class.
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Embedded
Assessment
The
position paper is this lesson’s product (and
this entire learning cycle) and evidence of student learning
and assessment according to the criteria presented to
them on the first day of the lesson.
- Correct interpretation of the prompt
The students have written a paper about implementation
of an alternative form of energy incorporating at least
three strong arguments.
- Proper organization
W-P2. Write a persuasive essay contains effective introductory
and summary statements; arranges the arguments effectively;
and fully develops the ideas with convincing proof, details,
facts, specific examples, and descriptions.
PO 1. Write a thesis statement to convey a point of view about a subject
PO 2. Develop the point of view with ample and convincing support (e.g., details,
facts, reasons, examples, and descriptions) appropriate to audience and
purpose
PO 3. Create an organizational structure that includes an effective beginning,
middle, and ending
PO 4. Use persuasive word choices and sentence structure (e.g., connotation,
strong verbs, repetition, and parallelism)
- Correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, etc.
W-P1. Use transitional devices; varied sentence structures; the active voice;
parallel structures; supporting details, phrases and clauses; and correct spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, grammar and usage to sharpen the focus and clarify
the meaning of their writing
PO 1. Use transitions (e.g., conjunctive adverbs, coordinating conjunctions,
subordinating conjunctions) where appropriate
PO 2. Vary sentence structure (e.g., compound, complex, compound-complex)
PO 3. Use active voice as appropriate to purpose (e.g., creative writing)
PO 4. Use parallel structure appropriately
PO 5. Sharpen the focus and clarify the meaning of their writing through the
appropriate use of
- capitalization
- standard grammar and usage (e.g., subject-verb agreement, pronoun agreement
and consistency of verb tense)
- spelling, with the use of a dictionary/thesaurus (as needed)
- punctuation (e.g., comma, ellipsis, apostrophe, semicolon, colon)
-
Strength of the arguments
W-P2.
PO 2. Develop point of view with ample and convincing support (e.g., facts,
reasons, examples, and descriptions) appropriate to audience and purpose
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