Prepping for the In-Class Essay

On your Desk you need:

*Your 4-5 documents

*Prompts*The beginning of your plan

Overview of ClassMaterials I will give you: your 1st Q essay, essay reflection page, & a plan.

Materials you will need access to: your documents and prompts, writing notes from last quarter, & a computer

Things that will Do today:

• Consult your 1st quarter essay to see what you need to work on.• Meet with me to go over your thesis and annotations.• Complete your plan including your pieces of proof (triangles/Quotes)• Use my website (petersonlanguagearts.com) to access additional reinforcement

lessons that will help clarify any questions lingering from first quarter.

#1: Look at your essay reflection page and write down on the top of your blue plan what your NEXT STEP is going to be…

#2: Go to our class website and click on “Do You Want a Review of the Basics?” [The answer is “Yes, yes I do want that! “ ]

#3: Fill out all of your plan and write your thesis at the bottom. Is your thesis too long? Condense it or break it into 2 sentences.#4 Reflecting on your “next step” and the comments I made on your 1st quarter essay… log on to the class website’s home page and choose a lesson or 2 to review… take notes.#5 Begin a rough draft of 1 of your essay’s paragraphs

#6 Work on this week’s Achieve3000.

WHILE I AM HAVING MEETINGS… YOU WILL:

Thesis Review from FRIDAYYour thesis is made up of your rectangle, arrow(s), and 2 circles.

The rectangle is your claim, the arrows your connecting words, and the circles your REASONS WHY your claim is TRUE.

Holocaust studies should begin in high school because

older students have the knowledge base that allows them to

understand the big picture.

Claim Sentence ReviewThis is your CIRCLE sentence

This is the first sentence of your body paragraph(s). It should mention your circle/reason but in NEW WORDS.

Experienced students know more about history, not just America’s story, but the world’s.

2 minutes to write your own.2 minutes to trade and help.

Lead-in Sentence Review

This is the second sentence in your body paragraph and its purpose is to SET UP YOUR FIRST PIECE OF PROOF. [If you need your lead-in to be 2 sentences… that is okay.] The reasons for state sponsored genocide is often tied up with not only political, but religious beliefs. University of Illinois professor, Brenda Tofanenko, asks the question, “[insert quote]” (“War, genocide, 6).

2 minutes to JUST WRITE your lead-in

Trade and Check (2 minutes)

Questions to ask yourself while reading your peer’s sentence….

Does this set up the quote? Is all the information there so the reader will understand the evidence?

Does it flow?

Proof Sentence [WHAT is important to your argument]

This is the actual quote from an article. Make sure it isn’t too long.

We must VARY OUR SOURCES, so we can’t quote the same article more than twice. My opinion is that we should try and limit it to once.

Cite your source.

University of Illinois professor, Brenda Tofanenko, asks the question, “How do you properly convey the gravity… to a sixth- or seventh grader?...It’s easier to talk to a 16 year old about how people died because of their religious beliefs…” (“War, genocide,” 6).

ELABORATION Sentences (FEDI’s)[WHY your piece of proof is important to your argument]

These are 2-3 sentences and they are using your piece of proof to ARGUE your claim.

DO NOT just retell me what your quote meant.

Use argumentative language!

Signs of an

Argument

Argumentative Signposts(sentence starters)

To start ELABORATION SENTENCES:

• This evidence highlights that ...

• There is general agreement that ...

• The strength of such an approach is that…• In that case…• It can be seen that…• As a result of…

Example

Here is my previous sentence(s):University of Illinois professor, Brenda Tofanenko, asks the question, “How do you properly convey the gravity… to a sixth- or seventh grader?...It’s easier to talk to a 16 year old about how people died because of their religious beliefs…” (“War, genocide, 6). Through this expert opinion IT CAN BE SEEN THAT students need experience with religious persecution, rather it be through a textbook or through personal familiarity, playing a strong role in political decisions. THE STRENGTH OF SUCH AN APPROACH reduces the tendency of teachers to turn the study of genocide from a fact-based trivia game into a real tragedy that is still happening today. The students’ understanding of the ideology and emotional aspects is vital in order to cultivate emotional empathy towards these events’ victims. ( I am connecting to my next piece of proof… )

Sample Body Paragraph Beginning[Topic Sentence, Lead-in, Quote, 2 FEDIs, transition to my next quote]

Experienced students know more about history, not just in America, but in the world. The reasons for state sponsored genocide is often tied up with not only political, but religious beliefs. University of Illinois professor, Brenda Tofanenko, asks the question, “How do you properly convey the gravity… to a sixth- or seventh grader?...It’s easier to talk to a 16 year old about how people died because of their religious beliefs…” (“War, genocide,” 6). Through this expert opinion IT CAN BE SEEN THAT students need experience with religious persecution, rather it be through a textbook or through personal familiarity, playing a strong role in political decisions. THE STRENGTH OF SUCH AN APPROACH reduces the tendency of teachers to turn the study of genocide into a fact-based trivia game, and promulgates them to show it as a real tragedy that is still happening today. The students’ understanding of the ideology and emotional aspects is vital in order to cultivate emotional empathy towards these events’ victims. ( I am connecting to my next piece of proof… )____________________________________________________Last 20 minutes of class… work on drafting, peer reviewing, fine-tuning your understanding of what is expected. You can use the computer if you need to review something or work on Achieve.