Students will write well-supported body paragraphs.
What pre-writing technique works best for you: brainstorming; free writing; clustering; or, charting?
Who are some people who could help you with revising or editing: a friend; the teacher; your parents?
Students will organize their writing in a clear, concise, and organized manner.
Students will begin each paragraph with a topic sentence.
Students will be organized and thorough in the supporting sentences of their paragraphs.
Students will close each paragraph with a concluding sentence.
Students will use a variety of sentence styles to add interest to their writing.
Students will edit their own papers and those of others in order to keep their writing virtually free of spelling, capitalization, punctuation and usage errors.
Students will revise the content of their paragraphs to provide unity and cohesiveness to their writing.
Paper
Word Processor/Computer and Printer
Make a list of the traits and attributes of a person in local, state, national or international news. Then try to think of animals that share those traits. Put a star by the four or five best ideas, and think of examples or explanations for how those traits fit the person as well as the animal.
Print a copy of the data form from this lesson. Use this to guide your writing process.
Write a topic sentence that includes the name of the person, a very brief explanation of who he or she is, and the animal that corresponds to the person. Make sure your topic sentence is a complete sentence.
Write down the four or five best ideas you had in your prewriting; place them in a logical, meaningful order. Try to think of an example or explanation to write for each one. Make sure all your support is in complete sentences.
Restate the topic sentence in a complete sentence using slightly different wording.
Correct any errors in grammar usage, spelling, capitalization, or punctuation.
Revise your paragraph making sure that all the sentences remain on the original topic. Be sure your support follows a logical order and has an interesting, logical flow which thoroughly explores the topic. Try to vary your sentence structure whenever possible.
As an option, you may wish to compile the paragraphs into a booklet commentary on world leadership today.
You could use reduced copies of the character morphs for the illustrations and may even want to hold a design contest for the cover.
You should have at least one "lesson session" about writing paragraphs before giving this assignment.
You might want to select some of the best paragraphs and have those students add them to the data form.
Duration: This lesson could be assigned one day and submitted the next or you could take your time and assign it well in advance.
Even though you may be tempted to skip the pre-writing step, do not skip it! In the long run, it is worth the time.
Have someone else (a friend, your teacher, your mother or father) read your paragraph to see if it is clear and look for editing errors.
If you cannot find anyone to proofread your paper, try reading it aloud. Sometimes you catch mistakes that silent reading would not have brought to your attention.
Offer to proofread your son or daughter's paragraph or listen while he or she reads it aloud to you. Often, mistakes can be caught by reading aloud that would otherwise have been unnoticed.
Discuss with your daughter or son the importance of writing in the work place. Make a list of careers, including your own, and try to think of all the writing that the careers require. It may be eye-opening for both of you!
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