Marlene H. Kennedy
Goal
This goal is identical to the first lesson plan in the process in writing component.
Objective
Students will peer edit the first half-page journal entry, marking for capitalization, punctuation, spelling, correct grammar, usage, mechanics, and thematic concerns. Students will ask for more description or details and seek clarity. Students will write the second half-page journal entry.
Do Now, Materials, Initiation, Methods, and Activities
For the Do Now assignment, students will copy the following information in their composition notebooks, for review. Capitalization - Capitalize proper nouns and the pronoun, "I," as well as the first words in sentences; do not capitalize words in the middle of sentences, if they are not names. Punctuation - All sentences have a period, question mark, or exclamation point at the end of them. Commas are used to separate a series of words; semi colons are used to join two complete sentences into one, without the use of the word
and
. Colons are used to introduce a series of phrases separated by semi colons, such as, "He took with him to the beach several items: a very rusty bucket; a brand new beach ball; several worn blankets." Grammar - Nouns and verbs must agree, such as, "John went to the store," and not "John goed to the store." Complete sentences have a noun and a verb; sentence fragments are missing either the noun or verb. Run-on sentences go on for a long time and can be re-written into several smaller sentences. Paragraphs - Paragraphs usually have a main idea and several supporting sentences with details. A new paragraph begins with a new main idea. Conclusion - A conclusion to a story summarizes what was said earlier and usually ends with an interesting sentence that makes the reader remember the theme of the work. Spelling - If unsure of proper spelling, use a dictionary. (10 minutes)
Materials consist of composition notebooks, notebook paper, pens, pencils,
Christmas After All
. During initiation, students will, as a whole group, discuss what they know about creating a well-written document, reviewing grammar, vocabulary, spelling, usage, and mechanics lessons learned earlier. (10 minutes) For methods and activities, students will, in groups of three, peer edit the first half-page journal entry and pass the papers to the teacher for review. Peer editors will mark for capitalization, punctuation, spelling, correct grammar, usage, mechanics, and thematic concerns. When the papers are peer edited, the writers take them and rewrite them into a final version, which is then submitted to the teacher for review. Students will write the second half-page journal entry, with peer editing taking place the next day. (25 minutes)
Closure, Assignment, and Assessment
In closure, students will tell two new ideas they learned from peer editing. (3 minutes) Students will, for the homework assignment, write down any other ideas they might want to incorporate in their three-page journal entry. Assessment takes place as the teacher circulates to observe while students write, and then the teacher collects the composition notebooks and notebook papers for review.
