Elise Patterson

9th/10th English I and II

6/15/09

1st Period

Objectives:

1)The students will identify the basic elements (introduction, thesis statement, body paragraphs, conclusion) of a standardfive-paragraphessay. (ELA 3.a, DOK 1)

Materials:

White board, dry erase markers

Overhead, vis à vis markers, sample essay transparency, hamburger model transparency

Sample essay copies (Ms. Nelson’s student essay, Ms. Morrison’s essay)

Hamburger model worksheets

Marshmallows and spaghetti sticks

Bellringer:

  1. Complete the following sentences by filling in the blanks. Label all nouns, adjectives, verbs, and prepositions.

Yesterday I went _____ the store to ______some green ______.

Set:

  1. TTW divide students into pairs and distribute 10 marshmallows and 10 spaghetti sticks to each pair, instructing the students to build the tallest structure they can in five minutes. After five minutes, the builders of the tallest structure will win a prize.
  2. After five minutes, discuss why the winners’ structure was best.
  3. TTW say, “The key to building the tallest structure is starting with a good foundation. This is true also with essays—the best essays start with a strong foundation. If you don’t start with a good plan, your essay will not be as strong as it could be. Today we are going to look at what goes into the foundation of a good essay.”

Procedures:

  1. Bellringer (5 minutes)
  2. Set (10 minutes)
  3. Notes on five-paragraph essay structure (5 minutes)
  4. The standard format for an essay is a five-paragraph format. Five separate paragraphs:
  5. Introduction—thesis statement
  6. Body #1—reason #1 + evidence: 3 supporting details
  7. Contains topic sentence (Remember Ms. Albanese’s lesson: what is a topic sentence? Why is it important?)
  8. Body #2—reason #2 + evidence: 3 supporting details
  9. Body #3—reason #3 + evidence: 3 supporting details
  10. Conclusion—restates thesis statement, broadens
  11. NOTES: body paragraph reasons must be pretty different. Why?
  12. Hamburger model (10-12 minutes)
  13. TTW ask student to pass out hamburger model sheets. Go over hamburger model: top part of bun = introduction, tomato = body #1, lettuce = body #2, patty = body #3, bottom part of bun = conclusion
  14. TTW show a filled-out sample hamburger model on overhead. “Let’s take a look at an example that I have created. Copy down the five sentences as we go.”
  15. TTW tape five sentences to the board and ask students to come up to the board to place them in the proper place on the hamburger and explain why.
  16. Sample student essay (12-15 minutes)
  17. “We’re now going to read together an essay that was written by a student of Ms. Nelson’s last year. As we read, listen for the thesis statement, topic sentences, and conclusion.” Read the essay.
  18. TTW ask students to take five minutes to label the paragraphs, and underline the thesis statement and topic sentences.
  19. Closure (5 minutes)

Closure:

TTW ask a student to read the objectives. TTW say, “Who can tell me what we learned today? Today we have identified the basic parts of a standard five-paragraph essay: the introduction and thesis statement, the three body paragraphs with their reasons and evidence, and the conclusion, and we picked out those elements from a sample essay. Tomorrow, with Mr. Redfearn, you are going to learn a way to outline your own essays using the parts of an essay you’ve learned about today. “

Assessment:

Informal: TTW listen to students explain and watch them identify in sample essays (M) the basic elements of the five-paragraph essay (C).

Formal: TTW distribute a sample essay and instruct students to label the paragraphs and underline the thesis statement and topic sentences for homework (C). TTW grade the work for accuracy (M) and record the grades in the gradebook (D).