Lesson Plan #: AELP-WCP0058
Date: May 2, 1999
Grade Level(s): 10, 11, 12
Subject(s):
Description: Uses the direct instruction model to teach or review the rules for creating an effective topic outline - useful before beginning a research paper or analytical essay
Goals:
UNIT: Writing analytical essays based on the elements of the short storyVIRGINIA SOL: 12.7
Students will be presented with the grammatical rules and procedures for constructing a formal topic outline that will be used to create outlines for research papers
Objectives: The students will be able to:
1. Describe the steps in creating a formal outline
2. Write/brainstorm main ideas, themes, topics, and thesis statements for an analytical essay
3. Organize their ideas into a formal outline using the correct grammatical and parallel structure
Materials:
I. Introduction
A. State the purpose of the lesson: To learn outlining techniques so that we can begin to write our final analytical essay.
B. Say: We are going to use Silko's story as a basis to create a topic outline that we might use to write a paper about the story.
C. Relate the lesson to prior learning: Ask - Does anyone use outlines to organize their work before they write? What other ways do you organize your thoughts before beginning a piece of writing?
D. Overview of the content: Present a sample outline of the Silko story. Discuss how the story is divided into four sections and relate this to the division of the outline. Ask: How does the outline help you understand the themes/points/ main ideas of the story? What do you think the main ideas are? How will Teofilo bring rain clouds?
E. Would you have created a different outline or divided the information differently? What would your thesis statement be? Which details would you want to discuss to enhance this thesis?
F. See example outline in attached handout.
II. Presentation
A. The teacher will present a PowerPoint presentation that details the rules for formal outlining. Students will follow along and make notes on their rules handout as necessary.
B. See
attached PowerPoint
and speakers notes for factual information to be discussed during this phase of the lesson.
III. Guided Practice
A. Students will have selected a topic for their final essay for homework the night before. The teacher will ask the students to brainstorm ideas related to their topic that they will want to discuss/include in their final paper.
B. Students will list the major themes, topics, main ideas, and supporting facts or quotes that they plan to write about in their paper. They should also identify a preliminary thesis statement to focus their outline.
C. Students will begin to organize their brainstorming ideas into a formal outline that they will use to research their topic and write their final essay.
D. The teacher will monitor the students' writing process to make sure that everyone is following the correct format and to answer any questions.
Assessment:
IV. Independent Practice/Assessment
A. Students will continue working on their outlines for homework if they do not finish them in class.
As students finish, they will show their outlines to the teacher who will check them for correct format and reasonability for future writing.
Correct format includes having each heading and subheading ‘bulleted' with the appropriate roman numeral, capitol or lower case letter, or number.
Reasonability for future writing includes having enough points under each subheading (2 or more) to develop a thorough discussion of the heading in the full paper
(1 or more paragraphs of 5-8 complete sentences each.)
B. Because the students will need their outlines to research and write their final essay,
they will be allowed to keep their outlines - which will eventually be placed in their writing portfolio.
(Hopefully, it will be possible to obtain copies of the students' outlines from the cooperating teacher after the students have written their essay).
Closure:
V. Summary/Review
A. The teacher will review the purpose of the lesson and ask for any remaining questions that have not been answered.
B. Students will be reminded of the requirements for their analytical paper due at the end of the six weeks.
(Library research the next day, essay due two days from today's lesson. Requirements are already listed in student notes.)