Thanks to my English peeps I got some great feedback and great information about getting through persuasive writing!!
I realized how important it is to get a writing sample before hand so it makes it easier to really know where and how to start the unit. By doing this, I realized that my "perfect" unit outline was in fact NOT going to work out. It's so easy to just assume that writing will be super easy and it could get done in 2 weeks. Reality check Miss D, students cannot fast track or work at your speed, they need time to understand the various parts of writing!
So here I am, a week into persuasive writing and as a class we have yet to finish introduction writing. Students will have a nice week to relax and then delve into the good stuff of an essay...The Body!!
Any feedback or useful tips that I can use to help students to write body paragraphs? I will be using graphic organizers and some sample essays so they can look at various examples, but is there anything else that would be useful for them?
Mel
I had a similar issue teaching reading comprehension. We practiced and practiced using graphic organizers. We saw a play and they had to write a play review with an intro, conclusion and three paragraphs in the body. The results were very hit or miss. Many of them just ignored the organizer completely. I've learned that this stuff takes a lot more time than I thought it would and my students needed more explanations, different explanations and different entry points. I struggled to get them to write paragraphs with supporting details. But looking back I didn't really get essay structure until I was about 17 so I take comfort that its a process. But I would also love ideas on how to get students to understand structure and not just do what they want to do.
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