Initial Lesson “Expressing An Opinion”
Behavioral Objectives
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1. Students will develop a topic sentence.
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2. Students will provide and use relevant ideas to support the topic sentence.
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3. Students will use transitional words.
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4. Ideas will be in proper sequence.
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5. Students will bring paragraph to a logical closing.
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6. Complete sentences will be used.
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7. Paragraph will contain no misspellings.
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8. Paragraph will contain no run-on sentences.
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9. Paragraph will be indented.
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10. Proper form will be used.
* Objectives change with each subsequent activity. However, these initial objectives will be the foundation for future assignments.
Sample Sequence of Lesson:
Expressing An Opinion: Plan Sheet #1
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1. Distribute Plan Sheet #1.
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2. On overhead transparency, or board, write the following questions: What is your favorite season of the year? (Be sure to do the exercise yourself; let your students see you writing too!)
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3. Instruct students to copy the question down next to the line labeled “Topic” on Plan Sheet.
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4. On the same line, or just below, ask students to write down their answer to this question. A single word response is acceptable.
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5. Direct students to Roman Numeral I. “Opening Statement.” They may use A or B,
not both
. (Students may develop their own opening statements; Letter C has been provided for this.)
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6. Ask students to put their original answers in a complete sentence. Example: Summer is my favorite season of the year. Write this answer on line A, B, or C:
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Example; A. There are several reasons why
summer is my favorite season
.
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B.
Summer is my favorite season of the year
.
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This is true for several reasons.
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C. Summer is the greatest season of them all.
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7. Move now to Step II. “Reasons Why.”
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8. On the lines provided, students are to “brainstorm,” that is, jot down as many reasons as possible for choosing the seasons they did. Complete sentences, and correct spelling are not necessary at this point. Tell your students to fill as many lines as possible under II. If you’d like, make a game out of it. Who can get the most in three (3) minutes?
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9. After completion of this activity, ask your students to consider the reasons they have chosen. Students now assign a number from 1-5 to their five strongest reasons, one being the weakest, five being the strongest. When this is complete, those remaining are no longer necessary.
NOTE: It might be necessary to check your students’ reasons. Some may be only examples of the general reason. For example, students may have chosen
sports
as one reason, and then picked baseball as another.
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10. Now your students are ready for step three:
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Sentences and Transitions.
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11. On your transparency, write the first group of transitions* your students will use:
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For one reason,
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For another,
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In addition,
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Furthermore,
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But most of all,
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Instruct the student to copy these transitions on the left hand margin, one to a Line, exactly as you have written them (capitals and punctuation included.) Again, a transparency will eliminate the mass confusion.
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12. Now, next to each transition, direct your students to jot down the reasons chosen in Step II
starting with number 1 this time through number 5
.
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Complete sentences now must be used. Provide models if necessary. Remind your students that short, simple sentences are acceptable. Remind them to punctuate each sentence.
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13. To round out the paragraph, and to eliminate the weak “that’s how I feel” conclusions, direct your students to simply copy their original sentence from Step I to Step IV. Although redundant, and perhaps not even necessary, it will develop the sense of finality and conclusion all paragraphs must contain.
Example
;
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I. There are several reasons why
I like the summer
.
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IV. I like the summer.
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14. At this point, students are still confused as to what they have done. As a model, read your “paragraph” to them. Use Steps I, III, and V. Step II, remember, was only for idea arrangement.
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As you read, stress emphatic sentences, transitions, end punctuation, and the conclusion.
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Call upon individuals to read out loud; most will be anxious.
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Students will be delighted that their “Paragraph” sounds very much like yours.
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TEACHER NOTE
: New transitions will be introduced as students master the original set.
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As one student in my remedial class exclaimed, “Did I write this?!”
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15. Spelling checks should take place before transferral. Check students’ papers for misspellings. Do not point them out, only the number of errors. Most students know the words which “don’t look right” or which they have guessed at. Have them jot down questionable words under Step V and consult the dictionary. When found, the correct spelling should be recorded next to the misspelled word. Some might be delighted to see they were right after all! Above all, don’t give in to the “how can I find it if I can’t spell it” copout. Assure the students they will find the word if they look hard enough. You’ll find, in a few short weeks, students automatically going to the dictionary.
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16. Before students are ready to transfer the information to paper, remind them of “what paragraphs look like.” Stress your rules: indentations, proper form, margins, neatness, etc. Provide models to imitate.
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17. Upon completion of the first draft, papers should be collected and evaluated. At this point, or the next day, your skill lesson can be introduced for the first revision.
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18. Under Step VI, students can also consult a thesaurus for more explicit word choices. They simply record the vague word and next to it the explicit synonym.
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This can later be used as a vocabulary lesson.
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With each plan sheet on file, students are also building their vocabularies.
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I have saved Step VI for later assignments when students become confident about their writing.
* This methodical approach becomes simpler with subsequent lessons, as students master the system. However, when they are working on their own, be sure they do not skip any steps.
SKILL 6
—Sentence Expansion
When students have completed draft 1, they are ready to expand to make the composition more interesting.
Distribute Model 4. Discuss the Model with Class. The model is self-explanatory.
Activity
—Have students experiment with and expand example. Put several on the board.
Reinforcement
—Students Complete Fun Sheet 1.
SKILL 7
—Sentence Expansion
Distribute standardized Sentence Expansion Sheet. Next to the indicated numbers, each reason (sentence) is written down. Each is expanded by adding words and phrases to answer the questions given. (If space is not enough, students can work on regular paper. However, expansion takes place
before Draft 2
,
not during
.)
Upon completion, Draft 2 is written. Stress again beginning, middle, and end.
Each expanded sentence can become a new paragraph.
Check spelling and sentences.
With the
initial
exercises, emphasis is placed on use of plan sheets, expansion sheets, and transferral. Be sure these objectives have been met.
With subsequent compositions, a new skill lesson is introduced. Following the lesson, a final revision is made. The number of revisions students will have to make may vary. Only assign grades when you feel the composition is at its best. For the reluctant writer, a poor grade could shatter any confidence he may have mustered.
The skill lesson for the first revision consists in teaching students how to omit unnecessary transitions, and eliminate the “there are several reasons why” lead, and the redundant closing sentence. (See Student Sample.)
Assign Composition 2 at this point to reinforce the sequence. Introduce a new skill—movability of clauses and prepositional phrases. Provide models.
Repeat by assigning new topics. With each topic, a new skill is introduced.
From experience, I have found it takes about three assignments for students to understand the use of the plan sheets and expansion sheets. Be sure to save all plan sheets, drafts, and expansions. These will be useful models for assignment two.
When introducing new topics and skills, provide models which can be directly incorporated into the assignment. I have found that isolated grammar lessons are fruitless as there is little, if any, carry over into students’ writing. Use your textbook as a supplementary text to your program, not vice versa. Teach grammatical concepts from your students’ writing. For example, if the skill is Complex Sentences, provide models and ask students to pick some out from their papers. They do write them. Then, use text models and definitions. Not only will they understand the concept, they will remember it. For obvious reasons, it is impossible to list all of the skills to be covered. However, I have included a list of both class and individual skills which I have stressed.
