middle school narrative webquest · web viewthe student will read and analyze a variety of...

University of Richmond

Middle School Narrative WebQuest

UR Lesson Plan

Rachel Dailey

11/11/2013

Lesson Plan OutlineUniversity of RichmondRachel Dailey

Lesson Plan Outline

Introduction Middle School Narrative 4 classes - 90 minutes each

VA Standards of Learning Day 1 and 3

8.5 The student will read and analyze a variety of fictional texts, narrative nonfiction, and poetry. c) Explain how authors use characters, conflict, point of view, voice, and tone to create meaning.

All Days

8.6 The student will write in a variety of forms, including narration, exposition, persuasion, and informational. a) Identify intended audience. b) Use prewriting strategies to generate and organize ideas.d) Organize details to elaborate the central idea and provide unity. e) Select specific vocabulary and information for audience and purpose. g) Revise writing for clarity of content, word choice, sentence variety, and transitions among paragraphs. h) Use computer technology to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish writing.

Context – This WebQuest will be completed by an 8th grade Standard English class in their final writing unit of the school year. Students in this class are average writers, and most tend to have an easier time writing in narrative form. There are a handful of struggling writers in the class who may need more assistance and motivation throughout the WebQuest. This class has used Google Drive and documents extensively and has previously participated in virtual peer review. They have already completed a unit on narrative writing earlier in the school year, so this WebQuest will serve as a review. After the 4 th day of this quest, all materials are due and students will post their final drafts on their websites anonymously. The teacher, as always, will allow students the option to update their final draft based on teacher comments. They will be given one week outside of class to do so and can earn up to 8 additional points with a rewrite.

Cognitive Objectives/AssessmentDay 1

1. Students will analyze several articles that discuss the issues facing rising 6th graders. 2. Students will research narrative writing as a style and identify the most important strengths of

narrative writing. 3. Students will read and react to narrative writing examples.

Formative Assessment1. Completion of 6th Grade Mind Map.2. Completion of Narrative Graphic Organizer. 3. Reading of narrative examples provided in the WebQuest and journal entry that analyzes the

strengths of the examples and narrative style, generally. Day 2

1. Students will brainstorm ideas for their narrative piece. 2. Students will plan their narrative essays. 3. Students will identify narrative strategies that will improve their writing.

Formative Assessment


1. Completion of brainstorming Popplet.2. Completion of Narrative Planning exercise. 3. Watching video in anticipatory set and accompanying discussion. Completion of third column of

their narrative planning document, specifically. Day 3

1. Students will write their narratives independently. Formative Assessment

1. Completion (or near completion) of a rough draft by the end of class.

Day 41. Students will review a classmate’s narrative. 2. Students will analyze and explain the strengths and weaknesses of a classmate’s rough draft. 3. Students will suggest improvements to narrative stories. 4. Students will apply peer review comments to their work. 5. Students will work collaboratively to design their website and introduce their collection of works

in written form. Formative Assessment

1. Completion of peer review.2. Comments written on narrative and provided in the narrative peer review document. 3. Suggestions written on narrative and provided in the narrative peer review document. 4. Replies to comments made by peer reviewer and one-on-one discussion between writer and

reviewer. 5. Creation of the group site, content on the introduction page and introductory content on their

individual page.

Summative Assessment (for entire unit)1. Final narrative essay2. Collection of work from the WebQuest3. Student-created website

Materials/Technology and Advanced Preparation Student laptops Teacher laptop Projector and screen Google drive – teacher shares WebQuest Documents folder with class. WebQuest website http://daileyquest.weebly.com

Teaching and Learning Sequence Day 1

http://daileyquest.weebly.com/


TIME TEACHER ACTIONS STUDENT ACTIONSIntroduction/Anticipatory Set – Outline how the lesson will begin. How will you focus student attention on lesson content, build on prior knowledge, motivate students to learn, etc.?

10 minutes

5 minutes

Teacher will pull up the WebQuest website and walk through the introduction, task and evaluation pages.

Teacher will flip to the process page of the website and ask students to complete a quick write on their thoughts, actions and feelings when they were new 6th graders.

Student will read along and ask any questions.

Students will listen to the explanation of the quick write and then write for 3 minutes about the 6th grade version of themselves.

Lesson Development – Outline the sequence to be followed in the development of the lesson. Pay particular attention to concept development and questioning.

65 minutes

Teacher will get students started on Day 1 process and monitor as students work. See WebQuest Day 1 process for more detail.

Students will work independently to complete the day 1 WebQuest process.

Closure – Outline how the lesson will be concluded. How will you summarize, review, reinforce, enrich, and/or encourage students to reflect on what they have learned?

7 minutes

3 minutes

Teacher will go over the rubric for the narrative writing assignment and answer any questions.

Teacher will ask students to fill out an exit ticket with 1 thing they liked about day 1 of the quest, 1 thing they disliked and 1 thing they learned about narrative writing that they didn’t know before.

Students will listen and ask any questions.

Students will complete their exit ticket and give it to the teacher as they leave.

Homework Day 1 Student will complete any outstanding items from Day 1 of the WebQuest. Students will find an example of narrative writing that they like and bring the link or text to class.

References Day 1PBS Kids. (2005). It’s My Life. Retrieved from http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/middleschool/index.html

O’Donnell, Jennifer (2013). Middle School Problems Your Child Might Encounter. Retrieved from http://tweenparenting.about.com/od/educationissues/qt/Middle-School-Problems.htm

DeSoto, Marla (2005). Writing a Narrative Essay. Retrieved from http://web.gccaz.edu/~mdinchak/101online_new/assignment3writing.htm

MrsWood2003 (2011) Narrative Writing. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTft-l5LTG4

Peha, Steve (2013) A Tale of Two Siblings. Retrieved from http://www.ttms.org/PDFs/03%20Writing%20Samples%20v001%20(Full).pdf

Taylor Swift VEVO (2009) You Belong With Me. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw

http://www.ttms.org/PDFs/03%20Writing%20Samples%20v001%20(Full).pdf

http://www.ttms.org/PDFs/03%20Writing%20Samples%20v001%20(Full).pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTft-l5LTG4

http://web.gccaz.edu/~mdinchak/101online_new/assignment3writing.htm

http://tweenparenting.about.com/od/educationissues/qt/Middle-School-Problems.htm

http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/middleschool/index.html


Appended Materials Day 1 Lesson Organizer 6th Grade Mind Map Narrative Graphic Organizer WebQuest Narrative Rubric

Lesson Organizer

Prior Knowledge and Instructional Content DAY 1

Prior KnowledgeThis lesson is designed for the end of the school year, and students will have previously studied narrative writing in another full unit closer to the beginning of the year. They completed a narrative essay in that unit. This WebQuest spends day 1 recapping the most important details about narrative writing.

Instructional Content

Anticipatory Set

The teacher will project the WebQuest on the board and ask for a student volunteer to read the introduction and another student volunteer to read the beginning of the task. Teacher will start reading at the section below.

How will you accomplish this goal? *By closely considering the feelings, needs and fears of your audience.*By reviewing and analyzing the most effective ways to write a strong narrative. *By planning, writing and revising a narrative piece that: speaks to the intended audience, uses the strongest narrative techniques possible and teaches a lesson that will lead your reader to success.*By collaborating with your group to compile your narratives into an engaging and polished website.

So, at the end of this WebQuest, you will have completed a narrative essay on an important middle school experience and you will post that essay on a group website. You will also gather a host of information on narrative writing and provide evidence that you have used every step of the writing process to complete this project.

If you click on the Evaluation tab on the WebQuest, you can see how this project will be graded. We will look at both of these rubrics in greater detail later but right now, it’s important to understand that your narrative will be worth a full test grade, AND your work and effort in all of the tasks leading up to it will also be worth a test grade. So, if you slack or get behind in the process each day, you will not do well overall, or you will have to do a whole lot of catching up at home. I’ve provided suggested times in the quest to keep you on track to finish. If you stay focused, you can absolutely finish your work in class. If you are really struggling to get your work done, even working as fast as you can, please let me know so that we can discuss some strategies to get you on track to finish.

You will also be given a grade each day for your behavior and participation. I’ll be looking to see if you can self-motivate and stay on task during the WebQuest.

Today, we will focus primarily on the first two requirements of the WebQuest. We will analyze our audience and remind ourselves of what makes a strong narrative. Today’s work on narratives should be mostly a review for you, so you should be able to keep pace and finish. Everything you need to do your work is either on the WebQuest website, or in the Google Drive folder that I shared with you.

But first, I want you guys to click over to the main process page and read. [[Allow students time to read]] Get out a scrap piece of paper and take 3 minutes to quick write what you were like as a rising 6th grader. You can use this exercise and your own experiences to help you start thinking critically about your audience.

Lesson Development


Students will work through the Day 1 Process and teacher will monitor and answer any questions.

Closure

Teacher will have students pull up the narrative rubric and will walk through a few key points.

This rubric makes it clear that the relevance of your topic is important. You need to make sure that the story you tell will be interesting to your 6th grade audience, and that they will be able to understand not only the words you write, but the places, events and ideas you presented. You also, most importantly, want to make sure that the lesson or moral of your narrative will be helpful to your audience. That is the whole point of this exercise.

You’ll also see that your narrative strategy and specifically the use of literary devices, sequence, mood, etc. will be worth almost as much as the content of your story. By this point as writers, it is not enough that you can string a story together. I will be looking to see evidence of each of the narrative strategies you researched today and more sophisticated and creative ways of writing a story. I hope you will keep this rubric up on your screen as you write and make sure that you are hitting all of the requirements.

Are there any questions on the rubric? [[teacher will answer any questions]]

Now, before you leave, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SHARED YOUR WEBQUEST FOLDER WITH ME. I need to have access to the work you are doing each day. You also owe me an exit slip. Take out a piece of paper and answer the following three questions. You do not need to write your name on it. Tell me: 1 thing you liked about day 1 of the quest, 1 thing you disliked and 1 thing you learned about narrative writing that you didn’t know before or that you thought was particularly interesting.

Instructional Modifications to ASSIST Students Main Events of Instruction Instructional Modifications to

CHALLENGE StudentsBy giving a detailed introduction to the WebQuest, teacher prepares learners who may struggle to get started successfully.

Working to activate prior knowledge and past experience to aid in exploration of the audience.

Using Google Drive and documents will keep students organized and allow me to keep track of how students are doing. I can monitor the work of struggling students closely.

Created to help outline the audience.

Provide visual as well as audio resources. Narrative organizer helps students pull out most important details.Provide visual as well as audio resources.

Introduction and explanation of WebQuest

Quick Write activity

--WebQuest Activities--

Step 1 – Google Drive set up

Step 2 - Middle School Articles and Mind Map

Step 3 – Narrative resources and Graphic Organizer

Step 4 – Narrative samples and journaling

Using Google Drive and documents will allow me to keep track of how students are pushing themselves. I can monitor and suggest new ideas or sharper focus as needed.

Provide visual as well as audio resources.

Provided visual as well as audio resources.


Talking through the rubric should make expectations clear and the task less daunting.

Student can show their knowledge and provide feedback on how the process is working for them, or what they’re struggling with.

--Closure--

Discussion of Narrative Rubric

Exit ticket

Will emphasize the higher-level writing skills that I’m looking for.

Student can share feedback about what is engaging to them and what isn’t.




5 minutes

10 minutes

Teacher will show the following video about narrative writing and ask students to write down the key words they hear as the video plays. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz_UwKMUMTs

Teacher will ask students to share the words they wrote down and lead a discussion about some key narrative concepts in preparation for the planning students will do today.

Students will listen and take notes.

Students will participate in the discussion and contribute their key words.


15 minutes

15 minutes

25 minutes

On this day of the WebQuest, the teacher will time out the activities. See below for timing and see WebQuest day 2 process for details.

Teacher will get students started on Day 2 process and set the timer on the screen for 15 minutes for step 1. Teacher will monitor as students brainstorm.

Teacher will stop the timer, tell students to get into their groups and set the timer again for 15 minutes.

Teacher will set the timer for 25 minutes and monitor as students plan their writing independently.

Students will work independently to brainstorm their topic.

Students will discuss their topics with their groups using the list of questions listed in the WebQuest.

Students will plan their writing independently.


10 minutes

10 minutes

Teacher will show a sample introductory paragraph and discuss the introduction with students. Teacher will reference the introduction section of the rubric.

Teacher will direct students back to the WebQuest to complete the final step for day 2, creating their rough draft and writing a draft of their introductory paragraph.

Students will listen and participate in discussion.

Students will write independently.

Homework Day 2 Student will complete any outstanding items from Day 2 of the WebQuest.

References Day 2Farlin. (2013). Literary Elements - Rags to Riches . Retrieved from http://www.quia.com/rr/482059.html

http://www.quia.com/rr/482059.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz_UwKMUMTs


Santa Barbra City College. (2013). Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay. Retrieved from http://www.sbcc.edu/clrc/files/wl/downloads/StructureofaPersonalNarrativeEssay.pdf

Appended Materials Day 2 Lesson Organizer Narrative Planning document Sample introductory paragraph slide

Lesson Organizer



Anticipatory Set

We’re going to watch a quick, fun video about narrative writing that should be a good recap of what you did last class in the WebQuest. This is a rewrite of a popular song that discusses basic narrative strategy. As you listen, I want you to write down all of the key words you hear. There should be plenty that you have heard before and that you should be able to define. [[play video]]

What were some of the key words you noted? [[Student answers will be written on the board.]] Answers may vary, but the list I am looking for is below. When students list words, I’ll ask for a quick definition and ask them to add any thoughts about how to use each successfully in a narrative.

Plot – the events in a story – the song described the plot as “thick” meaning there should be a lot going on in your story.

Mood – the feeling created by the story, the feeling the writer has toward the audience.

Setting – where the story takes place. The song said that the setting should be “drawn out” meaning you have to make your reader feel like he/she is there. Make them see your setting.

Characters – the people involved in the story. In a narrative, characters are really important. Your reader needs to know what makes your characters tick and has to care about what happens to your characters.

Sensory details – imagery, details that appeal to the senses of the reader. In the song, the sensory details “draw out the setting.” Using strong imagery is a good way to make your reader feel present in your story

Protagonist – usually the main character – the character who is facing the conflict and that you want to see beat the conflict. The protagonist is the character that your reader really has to understand and relate to, that way they will stick around to see what happens. What is the opposite of the protagonist? An antagonist – that is the character that often gets in the way of the protagonist achieving a goal – it can be someone extreme like a villain, or just someone who challenges the protagonist. If your story has an antagonist, make sure that your characterization makes it clear how the reader should feel about him/her.

Conflict – the issue(s) the protagonist faces in the story. The video said a narrative should have a lot of conflict and even that the story you tell should be about something that isn’t super happy, to make your reader more invested or curious about the outcome.

Climax – the height of the action – usually when the conflict comes to a head. Your story has to build to this.

Conclusion – what the protagonist/characters/readers learned at the end of the story. This is a bit different than the

http://www.sbcc.edu/clrc/files/wl/downloads/StructureofaPersonalNarrativeEssay.pdf


resolution. The resolution is simply the events that end the story. The conclusion is the larger discussion of the story’s end and the message/moral.

Resolution – the outcome of the conflict or how the conflict is solved and discussion of theme or message.

Theme – the message, moral or big idea of your story. All of the action should lead to this. The theme is really your purpose for telling the story – what you want your readers to get out of it.

Bubble Map – planning! This is important!

Dialogue – words spoken between characters. Often dialogue can make the story come alive and can tell your readers a lot more about your characters.

First-Person point of view – the main character is telling the story

Limited perspective – the narrator doesn’t know everything. They only understand their side of the story.

Other key words that aren’t literary terms, but are important: Struggle – every story needs a struggle to be compellingEmotions – your reader should feel how your characters feel Relate- you want your reader to relate to the story or your character’s feelingsDetails – these are everything in a story Purpose – every word should have a purpose. Good tip for any writing!

I’m going to leave all of this on the board. Make sure that you are considering each of these items as you plan your essay today.

Lesson Development

Students will work through the Day 2 Process and teacher will time activities as outlined above, monitor student work and answer any questions.

Closure

In the final 10 minutes of class, you are going to write a draft of your introduction. Before you do, I want to walk you through a quick example and show you my thought process.

The parking lot was a ghost town. Only a handful of sad cars and a huge green dumpster greeted me as I stepped out of the building. Even though it was only 8 am, the North Carolina sun was already beating down and the air was heavy with mid-May humidity. Move out day had come about a week earlier for most of my neighbors in my college apartment building. I stayed that extra week to wait tables during graduation festivities, a surefire way to end the year with some extra cash. Maybe I made the wrong choice. My exhaustion from the slammed weekend, my intense desire to finally start my summer like all my friends had and my fiery hatred for being awake at 8 am were too much to handle. And things got messy.

What do you see in this paragraph? What do you like? What strategies did I use? (Answers may include the following)

Metaphor in sentence one. Sentence one is also the hook that catches the reader’s attention. Why is the parking lot so empty? Where are we?

Personification of cars – they’re sad ... why?

Why is there a huge green dumpster? Or why mention it? That must be an important thing to know. Foreshadowing.


The setting is explained in a lot of detail and imagery – it’s hot and the air is heavy. We know it is early in the morning.

The narrator doesn’t seem happy about this and we learn why through some good detail and characterization. She is tired and ready to move out – and she is not a morning person.

“Maybe I made the wrong choice” and “things got messy” foreshadow some difficulty to come. Makes you want to keep reading.

I could have communicated the same information in a much less compelling way. “I was awake at 8 am to move out of my college apartment. Everyone else was gone already, but I stayed behind to work one more weekend. I was exhausted and ready to be home”

That does the job, but it’s not a story that you can picture a crowd listening to with rapt attention. The narrative strategies we’ve been talking about make it sizzle and make the reader want to get to the bottom of the story.

You’re going to have the rest of class now to write or start writing your own introduction. Just get down as much as you can in 10 minutes – even if it is just your hook and one other sentence. Remember from your rubric that the introduction should have a hook, grab attention, introduce some of the setting and characters, foreshadow what’s to come and transition into the telling of the story.

Since your rough draft will be saved in the WebQuest folder you shared with me, I will take a look at your introduction before next class and make comments. Make sure there is something there for me to review.


CHALLENGE Students Video is an interesting recap of narrative writing that uses repetition and will appeal to students. Makes narrative writing seem fun.

Students will have ample time to brainstorm and will do so in a visual and colorful format.

This meeting will give students feedback from their peers about their topic before they begin writing. Groups will have both strong and weak writers, so that strong writers can give good feedback.

Giving students ample class time to plan will prepare them for writing. The planning guide walks them through step by step.

Anticipatory Set

--WebQuest Process—

Brainstorm

Group Meeting

Planning

Students are being asked to come up with multiple story ideas and determine which would be best.

This meeting will give students feedback from their peers about their topic before they begin writing. Groups will have both strong and weak writers, so that strong writers can analyze others ideas as well as their own.

Planning challenges students to make smart decisions, rather than to just “write”. The 2nd column of planning asks for ideas about narrative strategy, which is more challenging than listing out events.


Sharing a sample introduction will model successful writing for students.

Students are assured that they don’t have to finish their intro in this short time. They just have to get their thoughts on paper.

Closure - Sample Introduction

Closure - Writing Introduction

Sample models some of the high-level strategies that I expect in this assignment.

Compressed time frame will challenge students to write quickly and with purpose.




5 minutes

10 minutes

Teacher will briefly share some common strengths/weaknesses of the introduction drafts that were reviewed and read 2 of the strongest introductions aloud.

Teacher will share a sample body paragraph (using the same story example students saw in the sample brainstorm, outline and introductory paragraph) and discuss some strategies for strong story development.




60 minutes

Teacher will monitor, assist and conference as students write their drafts.

Students will work independently to write their drafts, using the WebQuest and WebQuest materials to assist them.


7 minutes

7 minutes

The teacher will pass out a handout containing 3 sample concluding paragraphs and ask students to rank them from strongest to weakest in their groups.

The teacher will lead a brief discussion on the rankings and ask students to share their thoughts.

Students will collaborate with their group members to rank the paragraphs.

Students will share their group rankings and participate in discussion about the samples.

Homework Day 3Student will complete their rough draft if they did not complete it in class.

Appended Materials Day 3 Lesson Organizer Sample body paragraph slide Concluding Paragraph handout & corresponding slides


Lesson Organizer



Anticipatory Set[[Without real student work, I can only guess what the strengths/weaknesses of the introductions might have been and I can’t provide the two examples of student work I would share. My hunch is that most students would need some development on their hook sentences, foreshadowing without giving things away and building up the description of character and setting. I would ask the students whose samples I want to share if it is ok to do so before class and I would share them anonymously.]]

Now, moving on to the body paragraph. The body of your story is where the events unfold, where you focus on sequencing, details, introducing your conflict and building up to the climax. Your rubric lists the big goals for the body of your narrative as: details/maintaining interest, pacing, transitions, conflict and climax. I have a sample body paragraph to show you. This would be the 1st body paragraph of the same essay whose introduction we read last class.

I had been running around like a chicken with its head cut off all morning. My shift ended at 1 am the night before and that meant I was packing up the last few of my boxes, bleary-eyed, when I awoke at 6:00 am. I also had to pack the car that morning. Of course, my apartment was on the third floor. Hauling boxes to the elevator and finding a way to keep the door open long enough to load and unload them by myself certainly required some creativity. It also created more than a little frustration. But I persevered! I had just completed my final sweep of the apartment and was bringing down my last two bags of trash. Those bags were all that stood between me, my home and my summer vacation. DING! The elevator signaled the ground floor. And I was out into the sunshine.

What is good about this? What sticks out to you? *Simile in the first line. *Lots of detail about the night before, the morning and the narrator’s state of mind.*Bolded “but I persevered” to create emphasis on my being (presumably) almost done and ready to go. This is ironic when you see what happens next. *More foreshadowing with the trash and it being “the only thing” standing between me and home. *Onomatopoeia in the final line. *“Out into the sunshine” acts as a transition to the next paragraph.

Lesson Development

Today, you will write the rest of your story’s rough draft. Keep your rubric close at hand and make sure to remember my examples and our discussions as you work. You will have 1 hour to write today, which is a lot of time because you’ve already done so much planning.

I want you to take the first 20 minutes to write furiously. It needs to be absolutely silent in here. I won’t take questions and I don’t want you all to talk at all. I want you to have no distractions and to just get all of your ideas out on paper, no matter how rough or partial they are. Then you can go back to craft them into better sentences, add detail, etc.

After the initial 20 minutes is up, I will be walking around to conference, help, give suggestions and answer questions. Make sure you use all the work you’ve done in your planning to help you write. Your goal should be to get through as much of your draft possible today because we are going to peer review next class. If your draft isn’t finished today, you will have to complete it for homework.

ClosureWe’ve talked about introductions and body paragraphs, so now we move on to conclusions. I want you to get


together with your groups. I will hand you a document that has three different concluding paragraphs on it. I want you, as a group, to rank them from 1-3. 1 being the best and 3 being the weakest. Jot down some notes that explain why in the margin, or you can underline/circle the parts of the text that you like or hate. Be prepared to share your rankings and your reasoning. You may want to look at your rubric to jog your memory about what a concluding paragraph should do.

[[Students will raise their hands to vote for first and last place.]] I ranked these in the following order - #1, #3, #2

#1 is strongest because it shows rather than tells. He uses dialogue, detail and action to tell the end of the story. His description of his grandfather’s actions is particularly strong – you can almost see him. He is able to make his final point and share him message quickly and simply because his good storytelling has already done all of the work.

#3 is a good, solid paragraph. The author uses a bit of internal dialogue and gives us more detail about what has happened since the story ended. You can feel the author’s passion for the subject and the statement about recommending Ukraine to blasé travelers is strong. This doesn’t feel a lot like a story though. It almost reads as an advertisement or persuasive piece. That isn’t necessarily wrong, but a reader may not relate to it as well because it doesn’t seem as personal. Maybe she could have tied what she learned and loved about Ukraine to a lesson that other people, who don’t travel or haven’t been there, would identify with.

#2 does not save any story for the conclusion – instead the entire paragraph is the author telling us what he/she learned. While the lessons learned are certainly good ones and they are explained well, this doesn’t read like a story. It’s stiff, like a lecture, and a bit repetitive.

Whether or not you got to your conclusion today, make sure you remember that your conclusion needs to provide a resolution, state a theme or moral and end with a bang! And remember that we will peer review next class, so if you haven’t finished your rough draft, you need to do so for homework. If you come with it partially done, you will not be able to take full advantage of having someone review your paper – and this is the only review we are doing before you turn it in.

[[I could allow students who struggle with writing to have the 4th day (next class) to continue writing in class and I could review their draft in the latter half of class when they move on to group work. That would give those students more time to write with support available and may alleviate some of the pressure that a peer review puts on a struggling writer. I would imagine that I would know who these writers are at this point and would be able to give them a heads up and the option to take this approach before the next class.]]


CHALLENGE StudentsDiscussing strengths of the introductory paragraphs provides students another touch point on this information. Sharing a sample body paragraph will help prepare students to write their draft.

Students are being given ample time to write in class when teacher is available to assist. Teacher will also walk around and conference with students and will pull struggling writers aside for more detailed conversations.

Working in groups to analyze concluding paragraphs will allow students to discuss and explain their strengths and weaknesses. These

Anticipatory Set

Writing Rough Draft

Closure

This sample paragraph will use the high-level strategy that I am looking for in this assignment.

This is a critical thinking activity that asks students to use higher levels of Bloom and defend their answers.


samples are also good for students to see as they write their drafts.



5 minutes

5 minutes

Teacher will hand out the “Edit This Paragraph” bell ringer.

Teacher will review the bell ringer and answer any questions.

Students will complete the bell ringer activity.

Students will listen, ask questions and take notes.


5 minutes

20 minutes

20 minutes

25 minutes

On this day of the WebQuest, the teacher will time out the activities. See below for timing and see WebQuest process day 4 for details.

Teacher will monitor as students prepare for peer review and answer any questions.

Teacher will set the timer for 20 minutes and monitor as students peer review.

Teacher will set the timer for 20 minutes and monitor as students comment on their peer reviews and meet with their reviewer.

Teacher will monitor as students work with their groups on their websites.

Students will complete step 1 in day 4 process on the WebQuest.

Students will peer review following the guidelines on the WebQuest.

Students will read the peer review of their work, reply to all comments on their draft and meet briefly to discuss the review with their classmate.

Students will use the rest of class to build their websites collaboratively and edit their page on their own.


10 minutes

Teacher will walk through the WebQuest rubric, answer any questions and explain what is due the following class. Teacher will also remind students of the steps they should take in preparing their final draft.

The student will pull up the rubric, follow along, take notes (if necessary) and ask any questions.

Homework Day 4


Student will apply peer review comments and complete and edit their final draft. Student will finish their page of the website if they did not do so in class.

Appended Materials Day 4 Lesson Organizer Edit This Paragraph Bell Ringer WebQuest Rubric

Lesson Organizer

Prior Knowledge and Instructional Content


Anticipatory Set

Bell ringer – edit this paragraph. Students will have 5 minutes to do so, then the teacher will pull it up on screen to have students share their corrections. Mistakes are bolded below.

Nothing is more embarrassing then making a spelling or grammer mistake in a important document. Of course, we all think its funny when we spot a word spelled wrongly in some one elses work but what if you made the mistake instead.

Then its not so funny any more. If you have a typo in a final draft, you usually loose point’s. Plus, you’re teacher will be frusterated with you. These kinds of mistakes can be prevented, with just a little bit editing. Its worth it too take a few extra minutes to reread you’re writing and check for spelling grammar capitalization and syntax errors. Your teacher (and your grade) will Thank-You!

Be sure to edit your draft before you turn it in!! Most of the mistakes I see are issues that you guys know and would catch with close editing. We don’t focus on editing in the peer review stage, but you guys can help each other out by quickly noting the errors you see that you are certain about.

Lesson Development

Students will work through the Day 4 Process and teacher will time activities as outlined above, monitor student work and answer any questions.

Closure

I want to take a closer look at the WebQuest Rubric. We’ve spent a lot of time looking at the narrative rubric and focusing on the grade your writing will get, but remember that there is another test grade at play here that is based on all the other work and other stages of the writing process. Go to the evaluation tab of your quest and go down to the second document.

The majority of your grade comes from completing each item the WebQuest required and completing it well. If you have the activity finished, you will get three points. So if you left the last thing blank on two activities, you are already down to a 94. On top of that, the quality of your work for each piece is worth additional points. For instance, your Narrative Planning is worth 10 points total. You’ll get three of the 10 for having it done, but is it lacks detail and seems rushed, you might only get 2 more points and you’ll lose the other 5. So quality matters here. If you know that you really rushed or ran out of time for an activity, please fix it before next class!

Also, I have to have your materials to grade them, so make sure everything is in your WebQuest folder that you shared with me!! The only things that won’t be are your popplet and your journal entry.


Your website is worth 10 points and your participation and behavior is worth 20. 5 points per day.

In addition to completing any outstanding items, you need to complete your final draft by next class. You need to apply your comments from peer review, review it again yourself and then edit, edit, edit!

I’ll take any questions on this rubric, your writing, any activity or the website now. Last chance!


CHALLENGE Students Teacher will go explain the errors found as part of a larger discussion. This reminder will help students as they edit their papers.

Students will be paired for review. Struggling writers will work with slightly more developed writers so that they can get good feedback and read a good rough draft.

Responding to comments while they are fresh in students mind will help them remember later how they plan to update their papers and will help kinesthetic learners. Having a conversation about peer review comments might be better for auditory learners.

Having students look at the rubric again will help them evaluate their success and whether or not they need to revisit some of their work.

Anticipatory Set

--WebQuest Process—

Peer review

Responses to peer review

Closure

Strongest writers will review each others papers, so that they have to think harder about their review comments and so that they can read other examples of good writing.

Asking good writers to read and respond to each comment will force them to think critically about their work and not settle until all possible improvements are made. Communicating their peer review comments verbally is good practice for having productive, constructive conversations as an adult.