Breathing Life into Essays
Essays: Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to Confer After the Assessment
Session Session the Lesson Teaching Point Workshop
Number Share
1 Collecting Showing Teaching Point: Teach students Challenge Students None
Ideas as students how Essayists that sometimes students to go reflect with
Essayists writers observe observe the essayists put see more, think partners about
the world and world carefully an issue on the more, and feel how these
record their and then push page and then more. Help entries differ
observations themselves to list ideas they them from narrative
have ideas have about that understand entries.
about what issue. They that they can
they see. then develop grow ideas as
one of those they write.
Writing ideas at length.
Process:
Forming
Intentions
Page 1 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8
Homework: Encourage students to record entries about what they see, hear, think, or notice at home in their writers’ notebooks.
Tailoring Your Teaching:
If children don’t seem to grasp the concept of this mini-lesson, don’t be surprised. This is a totally new unit and it might take them some
time to switch gears.
If children have worked through this unit in previous years, teachers can use Lucy’s book Living Between the Lines as a resource for
additional mini-lessons.
If children’s’ observations tend to be obvious or general, students might need support in slowing down and observing an object.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to Confer After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Workshop
Share
2 Growing Essay Teaching Teaching Point: Teach students Help students Share examples None
Ideas in students how Show students another to make the of how living
Notebooks to collect strategies for strategy for transition from like a writer
writing for developing generating writing stories can help
essays and to their thoughts more essay to writing generate essay
begin to write and ideas entries. essays. entries.
at greater around an issue.
length
Writing
Process:
Forming
Intentions
Page 13 Page 15 Page 20 Page 20 Page 23
Homework: Take time to think about a time of day that most people don’t think of as especially important—the bus ride home, for example—and
think about how this could be a seed idea for an essay.
Tailoring Your Teaching: If your children are looking for unusual things to observe and therefore are struggling, teach them that anything can
prompt reflection. If you notice that your students’ observation entries tend to be rushed or bland, teach them strategies for slowing down so
their writing is fresh and detailed.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to Confer After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Workshop
Share
3 Contrasting Orienting Teaching Point: Teaching Meet in small Clarify the Assess student
Narrative and students to the Show students students to groups to meaning of writing for
Non-Narrative genre of essays that writers recognize main examine chosen ―writing about expository
Structures by contrasting can choose idea sentences essays to ideas‖ by having structure,
essay whether to at the beginning observe the students share particularly
structures with structure a of many overall work, listening looking for
narrative text as a paragraphs in structure for ideas that what they are
structures narrative essays could be almost doing.
(story) or a further
non-narrative developed
(an essay)
Process:
Planning
Page 29 Page 31 Page 35 Page 35 Page 38 Page 43
Homework: Collect essay talk from life by listening to the people around you talk about what their opinions on things.
Tailoring Your Teaching: Help your children glean a big picture of how essays tend to go by boxing out one section of an essay and then asking
children to do similar work with an unmarked essay.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to Confer After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Workshop
Share
4 Using Teaching Teaching Point: Look at another Look for Students share Assess
Conversational students to Teach students essay example student writing examples of students’ level
Prompts to stay with their to elaborate a so students get that is fresh, when they used of energy for
Spur topics for provocative a sense of how honest, and conversational this type of
Elaboration longer periods idea by using to begin. cohesive. prompts to writing and find
of time by the support of extend their ways to channel
having conversational thinking. their energy
discussions with prompts toward more
themselves writing.
about their Process:
ideas Planning
Page 45 Page 46 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 56
Homework: Tonight, practice using some of the thought prompts at home.
Tailoring Your Teaching: If your students are skilled at using conversational prompts for extending their thinking, you may want to try a more
sophisticated variation on this lesson by showing students that these prompts can be categorized and used for particular kinds of elaboration.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to Confer After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Workshop
Share
5 Generating Teaching Teaching Point: Show students Expect Students share Mechanics –
Essay Writing students to Show students that they can students to examples of Take an
From Narrative revisit how to reread invent their answer the their own inventory of
Writing narrative previous entries own strategies question ―What essay-like the spelling
entries, adding and choose an for generating are you working writing that needs of your
insights and entry to reflect essay entries, on as a writer?‖ was generated students and
ideas on and such as using with not only a from a plan for small
elaborate. books they’ve topic, but also a narrative entry, groups.
read to spur strategy. showing a shift
Process: ideas. from a detail or
Planning action to broad
insights about
life.
Page 57 Page 58 Page 63 Page 63 Page 66 Page 69
Homework: Remind students that it is not only poems that hide in everyday places, but issues as well. Tonight write an entry in which you step
back from the hurly-burly of life and say, ―There’s a bigger issue here.‖
Tailoring Your Teaching: If your children need support before they can benefit from this mini-lesson, revisit it. If your students are having
trouble making decisions about which piece to choose or about what matters most in a particular place, narrow their task a bit by structuring
their work more.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Confer Workshop
Share
6 Finding and Showing Teaching Point: Ask students Support Students None
Crafting students how Teach to revise students to reread
Thesis to reread their students how thesis craft and notebooks and
Statements writing to find to select their statements by revise their share a small
or invent a thesis—the answering thesis story that
thesis. idea they want specific statements, so could evoke a
to advance, questions. that they are big idea, as
explore, or clear, concise, another way of
defend. and state an generating a
idea, not a thesis
Process: fact. statement.
Draft/Revise
Page 71 Page 72 Page 76 Page 76 Page 78
Homework: Tonight please look back at our Monitoring My Writing Process checklist and think: How is our process for writing essays the same
as, and different from, the process we cycled through when we wrote personal narratives?
Tailoring Your Teaching: If your students are having difficulty understanding what a thesis statement is and if they have trouble finding one in
their entries, help them pay attention to how we make thesis statements all the time in life. Help them name and notice these statements in
life.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Confer Workshop
Share
7 Boxes and Teaching Teaching Point: Suggesting that Keep students Sharing a Looking for
Bullets: children that We plan the students can in the whole- thesis students who
Framing essayists sections of our support their group area to statement that will need help
Essays frame their essays by thesis by work/confer has been revising their
writing before deciding how thinking/writing today. revised thesis
they draft we will about one part statement
elaborate on or about Help students
our main idea. different kinds set up their
of things essay (some
Process: may need help
Planning saying it in a
sentence).
Page: 84 Pages: 89 - 91 Pages: 89-91 Page: 92 Page: 95
Homework: Students read over two essays from last year to determine if the reasons are aligned with the thesis or claim.
Tailoring Your Teaching:
Students may need support making their thesis statement more specific or more general (you might want to model trying this with your
own thesis statement).
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Confer Workshop
Share
8 Learning to Teaching Teaching Point: Share a Meeting with Partners read None
Outgrow a children that Essayists don’t student’s students who their theses to
First Thesis* writers wait until an writing who is need help each other and
―free-write‖ essay is done writing with being ―pushed practice listing
and ask before revising insight & past‖ their the supporting
questions to honesty original idea or ideas on their
outgrow early Language thesis fingers
drafts of a Used:
thesis
*If this is statement Process:
students’ first Revision
experience
with essay, you
might skip this
lesson
Page: 98 Pages: 103-104 Pages: 103-104 Page: 105
Homework: Provide thesis statements for students. Ask students to try to write supporting details thinking about: kinds, parts, reasons, ways,
and times when they had experiences to support their thesis.
Tailoring Your Teaching:
Do another mini-lesson on how to grow your ideas
Discuss qualities of an essay with students
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Confer Workshop
Share
9 Composing and Teaching Teaching Point: Remind Supporting Using a Look for a
Sorting Mini- children to Writers make students that students who created ―essay variety of
Stories write, angle, files. Tape they should be don’t yet have guidelines goals that span
and unpack your thesis ―angling‖ a thesis with chart‖ to all units:
mini-stories across the top stories to supporting evaluate a fluency,
that support of a colored highlight what statements piece of stamina,
the idea they outer folder the story writing for writing in
want to and write one needs to show Supporting what qualities specifics,
advance of the support students who are there and transitions,
sentences need help what qualities etc.
along the top adding to their are missing
of each manila stories in the
folder right places
and ―angling‖
Language used: their stories
Angling a story
Process: Plan/
draft
Page: 110 Pages: 116-117 Pages: 116 -118 Page: 119 Page: 123
Homework: Children practice orally rehearsing their stories to practice angling their story to support one of their points.
Tailoring Your Teaching:
If students need a revision, give them a pep talk
If the supporting detail stories are too long, you will need to revisit the difference between telling a story as a personal narrative and
using a story to support your claim.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Confer Workshop
Share
10 Seeking Teaching Teaching Point: Remind Supporting Share a Mechanics –
Outside children that Writers of students that students to student’s Some students
Sources writers seek essays are essays should reread asking, writing that might be
outside collectors, both show and ―Does this demonstrates trying complex
sources, such collecting not tell. Students really support how the author sentences that
as other only their own should reread my topic revised the are too
people’s stories, but checking to sentence?‖ story to angle complicated or
stories, to also the make sure they it towards the need additional
support their stories of have done Supporting topic sentence punctuation.
ideas in essay others both. students to
writing revise the Some students
Process: Draft length of their might also
stories. struggle with
grammar in
Supporting complex
students to sentences.
show and tell.
Page: 128 Page: 131 Pages: 131-132 Page: 133 Page: 135
Homework: Write two or three stories on separate sheets of paper so that they can be filled into their topic sentence folders.
Tailoring Your Teaching:
If writers are having trouble angling their narratives to support an idea, demonstrate how you would write a story keeping the main idea
in mind.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Confer Workshop
Share
11 Creating Structuring Teaching Point: Use a If students Show an Look at
Parallelism in information to Essay writers student’s are struggling exemplar text students’
Lists support a claim sometimes writing to show with creating that shows writing for
in the same collect how a writer parallel lists, active verbs substantial
way again and examples that can think of a students could and precise compliments.
again. are story, but reread to find details in list
heard/written write it as a a line that format. Often the
as stories, but list using the they like, then students are
that we make most important study what only partially
into a list parts. they did in attempting
instead. that line to see something, but
if they can it is supportive
This list starts make another to compliment
with a key like it. attempts as
phrase and is well.
repeated.
Process:
Drafting
Page: 139 Pages: 143-144 Pages: 143-144 Page: 145 Page: 148
Homework: Students collect specific information related to their topic.
Tailoring Your Teaching:
If students are skilled at creating a parallel list, offer them some more complex examples to emulate.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Confer Workshop
Share
12 Revising Striving to tell Teaching Point: Sharing some Reading Teaching Use students’
Toward the truth even Sharing with students’ students’ students that folders to
Honesty when inventing students a writing that entries with all stories in assess
what happened story written shows very care, their essay students’
one time with true writing expecting that need to understandings
first words they will support their about this unit.
that were easy Ask students struggle with claim.
to right, but to find a place aspects of Some of the
not true, then in their writing writing. Encourage challenges
rewritten for that is true. students to students might
honesty. We need to read through have are:
plan to their stories repeating
Process: compliment making sure themselves,
Draft/revise students and that they all adding more
to teach skills support the writing that is
they need to claim. unnecessary,
know now. and/or lack of
sentence
complexity,
Page: 150 Pages: 153-154 Pages: 153-155 Pages: 156-157 Page: 159
Homework (page 157):
At this point in the unit, students need to begin combining the information that they have gathered into paragraphs. Ask students to
collect two or three entries amounting to at least a page of writing, but on separate sheets of paper.
Tailoring Your Teaching (page 157):
If students have experienced writing essays in previous years and they tend to write with honesty already, you may want to teach students
any one of a host of qualities of good writing. For example, surprise is important in writing.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Confer Workshop
Share
13 Gathering a Gathering a Teaching Point: Use evidence Show children Create a chart A mechanics
Variety of variety of Teaching that from books to how to take of writing lesson is
Information information to essayists build support your the contents examples from included here.
support our their case by thesis. of their students who
claims collecting folders and have used
different begin different
kinds of selecting, types of
information. ordering, information.
combining, and Ask students
Language used: rewriting work to talk over
In essay to make an the kinds of
writing, variety essay. information
can come from they’ve
different included and
kinds of still could
information. include in their
essays.
Process: Plan/
draft
Pages: 162-165 Page: 166 Pages: 166-167 Page: 168 Page: 170
Homework: Be ready to write an essay tomorrow, so you may need to collect more support material tonight.
Tailoring Your Teaching: If your children have worked through this unit in a previous year and you’d like to vary this mini-lesson, you can add
your own stories and metaphors to any session. If your children don’t see ways to collect information related to their topic sentences, show
children that researchers find valuable data everywhere.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to Confer After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Workshop
Share
14 Organizing for Transforming Teaching Point: Organize Gather a group of Remind Watch for
Drafting files of writing Use a writing for students students that sentences with
into a draft by metaphor to body together to watch talking through unclear
organizing and infuse your paragraphs. as you help one essay drafts antecedents,
piecing them students with student to get can help but don’t jump
together a sense of started in writers on every error
celebration drafting their organize their or students
and essay by matching thoughts. Ask will feel
anticipation. material/research them to tell inadequate.
Teach your to their thesis the first
children that statement. paragraphs of
writers have a their essay to
process they a small group.
use to go from
folders of
entries to a
draft each
day.
Process: Plan/
draft
Page: 172 – 175 Page: 176 Pages: 176 – 177 Pages: 178-179 Page: 181
Homework: Tonight find two different people and teach each one of them about the subject of your essay.
Tailoring Your Teaching: If your students seem overwhelmed with the task of organizing the writing in their folders into rough drafts, help your
students to cull through all of their ideas and choose just one or help them to select supports, not feel they have to use every one they have.
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Confer Workshop
Share
15 Building a Using repeated Teaching Point: Line up For students Share with none
Cohesive phrases and Teach children materials who have your students
Draft logically how to according to folders that that writers
sequenced assemble the importance. are almost cement their
information to building empty, suggest ideas together
create materials of they read by using
cohesion in essays into an through their transition
drafts essay. notebooks words. Give
Essayists looking for any them some
collect folders entry that in examples of
full of diverse any way fits transition
material, then with one of words to use
sort through their topic and show them
this material sentences. how to use
to begin their them.
writing.
Process: Plan/
draft
Pages: 184-187 Page: 188 Page: 188 Pages:189-191
Homework: Tonight do the same organizational work we did today in class for your next piece: think through the way you will sequence your
material, organize it into paragraphs, and choose transitional words to connect your ideas.
Tailoring Your Teaching: If your students seem to be getting tangled up as they organize their piles of supporting evidence, you may decide to
devote more time to teaching students how to organize evidence chronologically.
Breathing Life into Essays
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Confer Workshop
Share
16 Writing Teaching Teaching Point: Make a list of Meet with a Explain that none
Introductions children the Writers use three small group essayists
and ways writers several different who are having sometimes use
Conclusions commonly open phrases to help possibilities trouble turning a mini-story to
and close create for your their materials show, not tell,
essays introductions introduction, into a draft. their thesis.
and conclusions then share Use a student Pages:204-205
for essays. them with your who has gone
Process: Plan/ partner to help through the
draft decide which process of
one to use. organizing
Pages:196– 199 Page: 200 their materials
and has
successfully
started a
draft to model
for the
students how
to do this.
Pages:200-203
Homework: For homework tonight, I am going to ask you to practice being a reader of essay drafts. Pretend this copy of an essay I’m giving you
is your essay and ask: ―Is this writer’s support material really aligned with her/his claim?‖ If it isn’t, see if you could help the writer out by
either revising the claim or by revising the support material.
Tailoring Your Teaching: If your students have already worked through this unit in previous years and you’d like to teach a variation, you could
teach that another technique writers use to introduce an essay is to quote a published author or a famous person.
Session Title of Overview of Mini-lesson Mid Workshop Time to After the Assessment
Number Session the Lesson Teaching Point Confer Workshop
Share
17 Celebrating Sharing Teaching Point: none none none none
Journeys of personal Review how
Thought discoveries the
that they have celebration
made with process works.
family and Explain how
friends the ―symphony‖
celebration
works.
Pages: 210-215
Homework: none
Tailoring Your Teaching: none