Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 8 (October 16)

Greetings!

Another beautiful fall day and another great class!

We began the day with a Quick Write.  I gave the students the prompts for the essay for the Common Application.  One of the key aspects of these essays is that they are intended for the student to show some his/her personality and character.  Admissions counselors are looking for those characteristics that cause the student to stand out.  Today, I had the students choose one of the prompts and brainstorm some ideas that they could include in an essay.  I often tell students that the writing part is easy; it’s the thinking part that is the challenge.

I handed back their copies of Rough Draft #1 that they handed in to me.  As I read through them, I didn’t correct grammar, mechanics, or sentence structures.  I read them primarily for content and organization.  I was purposely looking for areas in which they could expand, and I usually propose questions for further research.  

For part of the instruction time, I went over introductions.  A good, strong introduction makes a world of difference in a paper.  In short essays, the introduction is a paragraph.  In longer papers, the introduction can sometimes be 2 paragraphs.  Keys to a great introduction include engaging the reader and establishing a common ground, writing a clear thesis, and giving a the readers a road map of the direction of the paper that includes the primary subtopics.

We spent some in-class time starting on the Peer Edits.  These are assigned to be due next week, but I wanted the students to get started in case they had any questions for me or for the writers of the papers they were working on.

Another helpful strategy to check organization and content is a Reverse Outline.  Their detailed outlines were plans for what they intended to write.  A Reverse Outline shows them what they really did write.  Follow this link for an illustration of a Reverse Outline

Assignments for Next Week:

-- Peer Edit

-- Keep researching and writing

This week's blog:

Class Notes

Reverse Outline

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Prichard