Lillie McPhee FRIT 8530 Applications of Instructional Technology Fall 2011

Title of Unit Writing Conventions Curriculum Area English / Language Arts

Grade Level Time Frame

5th Grade 8th Grade Weekly

Stage 1 Identify Desired Results

Content Standards: Georgia Performance Standard: ELA5W1: The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and signals a satisfying closure. The student a. Selects a focus, an organizational structure and point of view based on purpose, genre, expectations, audience, length, and format requirements. b. Writes texts for a length appropriate to address the topic or tell the story. c. Uses traditional structures for conveying information (e.g. Chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, and posing and answering a question). d. Uses appropriate structures to ensure coherence (eg. transition elements).

Understandings
Students will understand that: - Short story characters are often imperfect, and this can make writing more interesting. - Writing good stories engages the mind and encourages creativity. - We utilize a variety of tools and strategies within the scope of the writing process. - Differences in points of view are encouraged while maintaining the scope of the subject - Each learner has traits and strengths that are not necessarily equivalent to others. - Making and correcting mistakes are both part of the learning process. - Writing is a form of communication. - Chronological order is important in successful writing. - Writing is a process, and each step is equally important. - Peer review is an important aspect of the revision process. -Purpose often dictates what genre of writing should be utilized. -Claims about a work of literature in an essay must be supported by evidence from the

text and an explanation of that evidence in their own words. -Different genres of writing have criteria and expectations that must be met. Related Misconceptions: - The teacher is always the target audience because he/she is the only one who will read student papers. - All essays must contain exactly five paragraphs. - Correct grammar is all that is needed for good writing. - Listening and paying attention is the same thing.

Essential Questions
Overarching Questions: - How can critical thinking improve the flow of writing? - In what ways can writing be improved to keep the audience engaged? - Why is it important to evaluate your writing? - Why is it important to involve the writing process when writing? - Why is it important to use traditional structures such as chronological order in writing? - How can improving writing strengthen other communication skills? - What can be gained by peer review of your writing? Topical Questions: - What are the differences between various genres of writing? - What is the difference between a topic sentence and a supporting sentence? - How do you construct an organized paragraph (e.g. main idea, supporting sentences, proper length, transitions)? - How can you organize a written work (e.g. introduction, body, conclusion)? - What structures can be used in good writing (e.g. chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, etc.)? - How can you analyze your target audience and their needs? - How does the purpose of your writing affect your style and content?

Knowledge and Skills

Knowledge Students will know: - Paragraph structure - Main idea, supporting sentences, appropriate length. - Difference in genre - Short story vs. report. - Traditional structures - Chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, posing and answering questions. - Transitions - to connect ideas in a written piece.

Skills Students will be able to: - Write a report. - Write a short story. - Write a letter. - Maintain focus in writing. - Demonstrate and maintain specific point of view. - Write text of appropriate length. - Utilize appropriate conventions in writing.

Instructional Unit Planning

Weekly Plan Podcasting. Each day will begin with a podcast to hook students with an interesting writing topic. Students will be allowed freedom to respond to the podcast in any manner that they choose, as long as they use at least four complete sentences. For the first podcast, ask the students, "What are some reasons that people write, and why is it important to write correctly?" to help students begin thinking about the importance of the writing process. The podcast will also refer students to Web 2.0 resources. (Daily) Pre-Test To help the instructor assess prior knowledge, students will complete a writing conventions pre-test that consists of three parts. Part one will consist of a multiple choice section that asks students to select correctly written sentences. Part two will consist of a matching section in which students will match language terms to their correct definition. Part three will consist of an essay question that requires an answer in paragraph form. In addition to helping the teacher know where to begin with students, this pre-test should serve as a means to help students recall and assess prior knowledge of the topic. The pre-test also gives the instructor knowledge that will help the teacher tailor instruction for individual students. (Weekly) Loose Stitch Outline (Pre-writing / Organization): Students will create an outline to organize the content of each paragraph that will be written in the student interest essay. Loose Stitch (http://www.loosestitch.com) provides Web 2.0 software that allows students to easily create an outline. (Weekly) Photo Story 3 / YouTube - Writing Elements / Essential Questions: Introduce the elements of writing and essential questions that will be addressed each day. Using a Photo Story 3 (http://www.microsoft.com) presentation which has been uploaded to

YouTube (http://www.youtube.com), provide necessary vocabulary and show examples of appropriate language usage in writing. Use imagery in the presentation, and student examples to engage student interest, explain what you hope the class will accomplish today, and equip students with necessary tools to complete other activities. (Weekly) Group Activity. A Power Point Presentation will be delivered to the class about the different parts of the essay. The teacher will use a design of an apple to introduce the Introduction, Body, and Conclusion of an essay. (Daily) Peer Review. Working in groups of 3-4 members, students will read out loud their essays. Other group members will use a three-column Praise-Question-Polish graphic organizer to record what they find best about the essay, what they are unclear about, and what the author could do to improve the essay. The group will discuss feedback for each member. Each student will then work to revise their essay based on the advice they received during peer review. The teacher will once again review the grading rubric for the interest essay with the class. Each student will be asked to score their own draft in its current state, allowing students to determine how they should spend any additional time revising. (Daily) Editing. Using Power Point, teacher will provide students with a checklist to proofreading and editing their revised essays. This checklist will include the best strategies to identify and correct errors in spelling, complete sentences, subject/verb agreement, and pronoun agreement. Students will work through each step to find and correct errors throughout their essay. (Daily)

Performance Task(s) Rubric(s)

Writing Process Rubric: Specification Excellent (3) Sentence & Paragraph All sentences are complete, constructed, and of varied structure Good (2) All sentences are complete and constructed. Satisfactory (1) Most sentences and paragraphs are complete. Needs to Improve (0) Sentences need improvement

Elements of Writing a Letter Grammar & Spelling

All requirements All requirements Elements met, inclusive, content inclusive, content need is well organized is organized. improvement on organization There are no errors in There are 1 to 2 errors in There are 3 to 4 errors in

Insufficient elements, poorly organized There are more than 4 errors in

grammar/spelling grammar/spelling grammar/spelling grammar/spelling Tone Tone presented in Appropriate tone, a constructive subject outline is manner, subject clear outline is clear. There are 1 to 2 errors in cap./punct . Tone is reasonable, subject outline needs improvement There are 3 to 4 errors in cap./punct. Tone is reasonable, subject outline unclear There are more than 4 errors in cap./punct.

Capitalization There are no & errors in Punctuation cap./punct. Legibility & Neatness

Writing is legible, Writing legible, 1- Marginal writing, Writing not no corrections, 2 corrections, few stains legible, few stains and neat wrinkle paper

TOTAL: ____ / 18

Resources
Daily language review, grade 5. (1998). Monterey, CA: Evan Moore Expert Software Applications. (2011). Mindomo [Software]. Available from http://www.mindomo.com/ Go!Animate. (2011). Retrieved from http://goanimate.com/ Microsoft. (2011). Photo Story 3 [Software]. Available fromhttp://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=11132 Noden, H. R. (2011). Image grammar: Teaching grammar as part of the writing process (2nded.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann LooseStitch. (2011). Retrieved from http://loosestitch.com/ Sweeney, J. (1995). 350 Fabulous writing prompts: Thought-provoking springboards for creative, expository, and journal writing. New York, NY: Scholastic.