Informative Writing 99 Defining a Concept 7 lesson MATERIALS ❑ ❑ Chart paper and markers ❑ ❑ Chart: – Writing Ideas from Reading ❑ ❑ Student Readers ❑ ❑ Writer’s notebooks ❑ ❑ Online Resources packet: – Hearing Images – “Democracy” – Democracy: Dictionary Definition – E. B. White’s Sentence Frames – Friendship: Notes – Friendship: A Mimicry of White’s Essay NOTE TO TEACHER Lesson Summary. In this lesson, students learn to define and explain an abstract concept through the use of metaphor and parallel construction. students’ learning objective ❑ ■ Mimic an author’s writing technique to generate other topics for informative writing. students’ language objectives ❑ ■ Write a definition, using the following sentence frames: – Introduction: • (We) received _______. It presumably is _______. • Definition: • Surely (the Board) knows what (democracy) is. It is _______. It is _______. (Democracy) is _______. It is _______. (Democracy) is _______. It is _______. It’s _______. (Democracy) is _______. – Use these sentence frames to: • Generate an essay of definition • Generate metaphors • Define an abstract concept • Apply the strategies of repetition and parallel structure for emphasis and style target words ❑ ■ repetition, n. something that is said or shown again and again in exactly the same way; something that is repeated ❑ ■ metaphor, n. the use of a word, phrase, or image for something that it does not literally denote, suggesting a comparison prep ❑ ■ Preview the material in the Online Resources packet, and decide how to display it for students to view. independent writing ❑ ■ Remind student that during this time the are to keep writing and not stop. ❑ ■ Suggest that today they choose a topic from the list they generated yesterday and write as much as they know about it. If the run out of information on that topic, tell them to choose another. PEARSON’S WRITING AVIATOR
Transcript
Informative Writing 99
Defining a Concept 7lesson
MATERIALS
❑❑ Chart paper and markers
❑❑ Chart:
– Writing Ideas from Reading
❑❑ Student Readers
❑❑ Writer’s notebooks
❑❑ Online Resources packet:
– Hearing Images
– “Democracy”
– Democracy: Dictionary Definition
– E. B. White’s Sentence Frames
– Friendship: Notes
– Friendship: A Mimicry of White’s Essay
NOTE TO TEACHER
Lesson Summary. In this lesson, students learn to define and explain an abstract concept through the use of metaphor and parallel construction.
students’ learning objective
❑■ Mimic an author’s writing technique to generate other topics for informative writing.
students’ language objectives
❑■ Write a definition, using the following sentence frames:
– Introduction:
•(We) received _______. It presumably is _______.
•Definition:
•Surely (the Board) knows what (democracy) is. It is _______. It is _______. (Democracy) is _______. It is _______. (Democracy) is _______. It is _______. It’s _______. (Democracy) is _______.
– Use these sentence frames to:
•Generate an essay of definition
•Generate metaphors
•Define an abstract concept
•Apply the strategies of repetition and parallel structure for emphasis and style
target words
❑■ repetition, n. something that is said or shown again and again in exactly the same way; something that is repeated
❑■ metaphor, n. the use of a word, phrase, or image for something that it does not literally denote, suggesting a comparison
prep
❑■ Preview the material in the Online Resources packet, and decide how to display it for students to view.
independent writing
❑■ Remind student that during this time the are to keep writing and not stop.
❑■ Suggest that today they choose a topic from the list they generated yesterday and write as much as they know about it. If the run out of information on that topic, tell them to choose another.
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Foundation Unit100
Lesson 7 • Defining a Concept
opening
Sharing quick writes❑■ Display the “Hearing Images” instructions for partner work, and have students follow the process. When they have finished, invite volunteers to read their quick writes aloud. Invite the listeners to repeat the best images they identified.
❑■ Celebrate the writers’ ideas as well as their phrasing. Note that often it is the phrasing that attracts readers’ attention to the content.
Introducing an author❑■ Tell students that today you will be sharing the work of a writer who is famous for both his ideas and his phrasing, a writer who they may have read—E. B. White. He wrote Charlotte’s Web.
❑■ Invite students who have read the book or seen the film to comment.
❑■ Tell students that White is now known as a children’s author. (In addition to Charlotte’s Web, he wrote Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan.)
❑■ For most of his life, however, he was a journalist and essayist whose work appeared in the most important newspapers and magazines in the United States. His essays were very popular, and people regarded him as one of the great minds of his time.
❑■ Note that White was so highly regarded that, in 1944, when World War II was beginning to seem endless, the U.S. government asked him to write something that would help people feel better about the war and remind them of our reasons for fighting.
❑■ Tell students they will be reading this essay. Remind them that 1944 was a long time ago, so some of his words and phrases are truly “old school.”
Using a touchstone text❑■ Display White’s “Democracy” essay, and have students find it in their Student Readers.
❑■ Explain to students that White says “we” even though “he” received the letter. Doing this was a sign of respect, as he was a part of a staff of writers and did not want to seem egotistical.
❑■ Because of the lyricism of the repeated line, read the passage twice, or consider conducting a popcorn reading for students to share in the rereading. (Each student selects one memorable line for the reading.)
STUDENT READER
“Democracy,” p. 12
NOTE TO TEACHER
Oral Sharing. A “popcorn reading” does not have to be a complete reread of the text. Rather students can “popcorn” a favorite line, not sharing in any particular order or raising their hands.
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Informative Writing 101
Lesson 7 • Defining a Concept
NOTE TO TEACHER
Using a model passage. This particular passage, “Democracy,” offers a nice opportunity for mimicking a repeated line, and it helps students think of other topics to add to their growing lists of writing ideas. It also provides a structure for exploring an abstraction and a chance to embed metaphors to clarify meaning.
opening
continued
❑■ Note that White is defining democracy. Display and read “Democracy: Dictionary Definition.”
❑■ Note that a definition is an explanation. In this case, White is explaining what democracy is. This is another example of an informative essay.
❑■ Ask students:
– How White’s essay differs from this dictionary definition
– Why White might have defined democracy in this way during a war
– Whether the series of definitions in White’s passage flow logically or jump around. (Students should see that some ideas take their lead from the previous idea, while others seem to jump to unrelated ideas.)
Writing strategies: repetition and metaphor❑■ Tell students that White’s definition is written in a clear structure, one that they will find interesting to play with.
❑■ Display “E.B. White’s Sentence Frames.” Note that there are two parts to this brief essay: the “Introduction,” where White explains to the reader why he is writing, and the “Definition.”
❑■ Draw students’ attention to the fact that the sentences in the definition all start the same way. Note that this repetition keeps the focus of the definition squarely on the topic and provides the reader with a sense of structure. It allows White to list a number of very different definitions while maintaining a sense of organization.
❑■ Ask students to make an entry in their writer’s notebook glossaries titled “Writing Strategy: Repetition,” and write a brief definition of repetition.
❑■ Draw students’ attention to White’s definition and note how he used metaphors for democracy, which is an abstract term. Explain that a metaphor is a strategy in which dissimilar items are compared briefly and imaginatively to create meaning in an original way. Describing democracy as a “hole in a stuffed shirt” is a metaphor, as is describing it as the “line on the right.”
❑■ Have students work in pairs to reread White’s essay and highlight the other metaphors they find. When they finish, have them share their findings with the class.PE
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Foundation Unit102
Lesson 7 • Defining a Concept
opening
continued
❑■ Direct students to add an entry to their writer’s notebook glossaries titled “Writing Strategy: Metaphor” and briefly describe this strategy.
❑■ Tell students that they are going to borrow White’s writing strategies by generating a list of definitions of friendship.
❑■ Display “Friendship: Notes,” a list of ideas generated by one student writer. Note that there are two instances of metaphor on this list: the first and last bullets.
❑■ Invite students to brainstorm their own lists of ideas about friendship. Give them a few minutes to collect their thoughts.
❑■ Then show the “Friendship: A Mimicry of White’s Essay” example to illustrate how the writer used these ideas to explain the concept of friendship.
❑■ Draw students’ attention to the words that are in bold print, the words that the student substituted for White’s words.
❑■ Invite students to make connections between the list that the student had brainstormed and the sentences that were written.
work time
Composing a mimicry❑■ Have students create a new writer’s notebook page titled “Friendship Definition: Mimicking E. B. White’s Essay.”
❑■ Students can refer to “E. B. White’s Sentence Frames” in their Student Readers to create a mimicry, using one of the ideas that they have brainstormed.
❑■ After about 10 minutes, have students reread their writing to themselves.
❑■ Encourage students to revise as they read. Explain that if they see something that should be added, they should write a note in the margin; if something should be left out or changed, they should make the changes on the page.
Partner sharing❑■ Invite students to share their writing with a partner, again making changes as they both see and hear their words.
STUDENT READER
E. B. White’s Sentence Frames, p. 13
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Informative Writing 103
Lesson 7 • Defining a Concept
closing
Reinforcing the effects of repetition and metaphor❑■ Add these possibilities to the “Writing Ideas from Reading” chart:
Writing Ideas from Reading
Reading Source Ideas Questions and Connections
“My Name” From The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
• Stories and thoughts about names
“Rattled” From Texas Monthly, Gordon Grice
• Fear of snakes
• Snakebites
• Snake handling
• Snake round-ups
• “Scorpions”
• “How Lizards Are Different from Snakes”
• “The Black Squirrel”
• Jesse
•Marly
• Candice
• Scary things
• Comparisons
•Odd animals, colors, and markings
“Democracy” The New Yorker
• Using repetition
•Writing definition of a topic or idea
• Using metaphor
❑■ Display “Friendship: A Mimicry of White’s Essay” and ask students which option they prefer.
❑■ Be sure they provide reasons for their choices.
❑■ Then ask students to reread what they have written, and put a large star on the top of the one they like the best.
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Foundation Unit104
Lesson 7 • Defining a Concept
Informative Writing
homework
❑■ Students should use White’s structure to define and write a short essay on another concept of their choice, perhaps something more interesting to them than the topic you assigned.
❑■ Invite students to brainstorm additional topics. Capture their ideas and encourage students to borrow the most interesting ideas for their own lists of possible topics. Possibilities might include:
– Competition
– Teamwork
– Creativity
– Respect
– Responsibility
– Hip hop
– The blues
– Other music, art, or topics from popular culturePE
democracy, n. 1. Government by the people: a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral process.
