Week 1

Saturday School Lesson Plans

Standards:
6th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WS1.2 Create multiple-paragraph expository compositions.
WA2.2 Write expository compositions.
7th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WS1.1 Create an organizational structure that balances all aspects of the composition and uses effective transitions
between sentences to unify important ideas.
WS1.2 Support all statements and claims with anecdotes, descriptions, facts and statistics, and specific examples.
WS1.3Use strategies of note-taking, outlining, and summarizing to impose structure on composition drafts.
8th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WS1.1 Create compositions that establish a controlling impression, have a coherent thesis, and end with a clear and
well-supported conclusion.
WS1.2 Establish coherence within and among paragraphs through effective transitions, parallel structures, and
similar writing techniques.
WS1.3 Support theses or conclusions with analogies, paraphrases, quotations, opinions from authorities,
comparisons, and similar devices.

Materials:
o Student Writer’s Notebooks
o 3 Read-Aloud Book Choices
o 4-Square Writing PowerPoint
o Weekly Reader Writing Contest Rules

Agenda: 1. Welcome Warm-up

2. Read-Aloud
3. 4-Square Writing Introduction
4. Weekly Reader Writing Contest
5. Ticket Out the Door

Warm-up
1. As students enter the class, greet them and give them a Writer’s Notebook.
2. Display the following instructions on the board:
 First, write your name neatly on the front of your Writer’s Notebook.
 Then, on the first page of your journal, answer the following two questions:
 What kinds of books do you enjoy reading?
 List everything you know about writing an essay.
Students should enter class, and complete the warm-up above, giving you time to take
roll and prepare for the lesson.
3. Have students share aloud the kinds of books they enjoy reading. You will discuss essay
writing later in the day.

Developed by Hali Metelak, Vista Middle School, 2011. Page 1

 Read-Aloud
1. Explain to students that, as a group, they will be choosing a book for you to read aloud
each week at the start of class.
2. Display three books from the suggested book list. Give a brief synopsis of each. Then,
allow students to vote on the class read-aloud book.
3. Once the book is chosen, have the students clear everything off of their desks. Explain to
students that during the read aloud, their only job is to listen. They are not to play with
anything or work on any other activities, and they may put their heads down if they
choose.
4. Once all students are ready, read the first chapter aloud to students.
4-Square Writing Introduction
1. Have students share everything they know about writing an essay from the warm-up.
2. Explain to students that they are going to learn and practice an essay writing strategy
called 4-Square Writing.
3. Using the PowerPoint provided, walk students through the 4-Square Writing Process,
modeling how to write an essay. Have the students record the sample essay and any
notes in their Writer’s Notebook.
4. Once students have completed the sample class essay, explain to students that during the
next three Saturday School Sessions they will be using the 4-Square Writing method to
write an essay that will be entered in the Weekly Reader Student Publishing Contest.
5. Review the contest rules and prizes with students to motivate them to attend Saturday
School for the next three weeks.
Ticket Out the Door
1. In their Writer’s Notebooks, have students brainstorm possible topics they would like to
write their essay about.
2. Collect the brainstorms as students leave class. Use these brainstorms to modify/revise
the essay choices for next week’s Saturday School session.

Developed by Hali Metelak, Vista Middle School, 2011. Page 2

Week 2
Saturday School Lesson Plans

Standards:
6th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WS1.2 Create multiple-paragraph expository compositions.
WA2.2 Write expository compositions.
7th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WS1.1 Create an organizational structure that balances all aspects of the composition and uses effective transitions
between sentences to unify important ideas.
WS1.2 Support all statements and claims with anecdotes, descriptions, facts and statistics, and specific examples.
WS1.3Use strategies of note-taking, outlining, and summarizing to impose structure on composition drafts.
8th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WS1.1 Create compositions that establish a controlling impression, have a coherent thesis, and end with a clear and
well-supported conclusion.
WS1.2 Establish coherence within and among paragraphs through effective transitions, parallel structures, and
similar writing techniques.
WS1.3 Support theses or conclusions with analogies, paraphrases, quotations, opinions from authorities,
comparisons, and similar devices.

Materials:
o Student Writer’s Notebooks
o Read-Aloud Book
o Weekly Reader Writing Contest Rules
o Essay Prompt Selections handout (class set)
o Vista Writing Rubric handout (class set)
o 4-Square Writing PowerPoint

Agenda: 1. Warm-up
2. Read-Aloud
3. 4-Square Writing
5. Ticket Out the Door

Warm-up
1. Greet students as they enter the class. Distribute Writer’s Notebooks to students as they
enter, have students find theirs on a table near the door, or have notebooks already at
their respective desks.
2. Display the following warm-up on the board:
 Last week we began reading ________________. Summarize the events in the
story up to this point.
 Predict what you think is going to happen next in the story.
Students will answer the warm-up questions in their Writer’s Notebook. Ask for
volunteers to share aloud. Use the warm-up to refresh the students’ memories about the
reading.

Developed by Hali Metelak, Vista Middle School, 2011. Page 3

Read-Aloud
1. Have students clear everything off of their desks for the read-aloud. Remind students
that their only job is to listen.
2. Read the next chapter in the reading selection aloud to students.
4-Square Writing
1. Review the Weekly Reader Student Publishing Contest rules and prizes with students.
Remind them that the essays written in Saturday School will be entered into the contest.
Deconstructing the Prompt
2. Distribute the essay prompt options to students. Read through the prompts as a class, and
have the students place a star next to the prompt that is the most interesting to them.
3. As a class, deconstruct the prompts together, generating a thesis statement for each.
Completing the Graphic Organizer
4. Then, using the key PowerPoint slides from last week, walk students through the 4-
Square Writing Graphic Organizer. (NOTE: It may be helpful to model the essay writing
process using a 5th prompt. This way you model each step for them, while they compose
a completely original piece of writing.)
Rubric Review
5. Prior to drafting the essay, distribute a copy of the Vista Writing Rubric to students.
6. As a class, generate a Criteria Chart for this essay using the Vista Writing Rubric. The
Criteria Chart should be a checklist of everything students should do to draft a quality
essay.
Drafting
7. Students will then begin writing the rough draft of their essay. Assist students as needed.
Ticket Out the Door
1. For the ticket out the door, students must show you a copy of their completed essay rough
draft in their Writer’s Notebook.
2. Collect Writer’s Notebooks and store for next week.

Developed by Hali Metelak, Vista Middle School, 2011. Page 4

Week 3
Saturday School Lesson Plans

Standards:
6th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WOLC1.1 Use simple, compound, and compound-complex sentences; use effective coordination and subordination
of ideas to express complete thoughts.
WOLC1.4 Use correct capitalization.
7th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WOLC1.1 Place modifiers properly and use the active voice.
WOLC1.3 Identify all parts of speech and types and structure of sentences.
WOLC 1.4 Use correct capitalization.
8th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WOLC1.1 Use correct and varied sentence types and sentence openings to present lively and effective personal
style.
WOLC1.5 Use correct punctuation and capitalization.

Materials:
o Student Writer’s Notebooks
o Read-Aloud book
o Masterpiece Sentences Step-by-Step Guide handout (class set + 1 for Elmo/Overhead)
o Small Sticky Notes
o Student Essay Rough Draft

Agenda: 1. Warm-up
2. Read-Aloud
3. Masterpiece Sentences Introduction
4. Editing with Masterpiece Sentences
5. Ticket Out the Door

Warm-up
1. Greet students as they enter the class. Distribute Writer’s Notebooks to students as they
enter, have students find theirs on a table near the door, or have notebooks already at
their respective desks.
2. Display the following warm-up on the board:
 Today we will continue reading ________________.
 Describe the setting of the story.
 Identify the main characters in the story.
 Predict what you think is going to happen next in the story.
Students will answer the warm-up questions in their Writer’s Notebook. Ask for
volunteers to share aloud. Use the warm-up to refresh the students’ memories about the
reading.

Developed by Hali Metelak, Vista Middle School, 2011. Page 5

Read-Aloud
1. Have students clear everything off of their desks for the read-aloud. Remind students
that their only job is to listen.
2. Read the next chapter in the reading selection aloud to students.
Masterpiece Sentences Introduction
1. Distribute the Masterpiece Sentences: A Step-by-Step Guide handout and small sticky
notes to students.
2. Have students place one sticky note on each square on the handout.
3. Explain to students that you are going to review the structure of a sentence using
Masterpiece Sentences.
 Explain to students that all sentences have a subject and a predicate.
 The SUBJECT answers, “Who/What is doing the action?” (noun)
 The PREDICATE answers, “What did the subject do?” (past tense verb)
4. Ask for a student volunteer to share a sentence from his/her essay. Write the sentence on
the board.
5. Then, using this sentence, identify the subject of the sentence and write it on the
SUBJECT sticky note. Model for students on the Elmo. If there is no subject in the
sentence, come up with a subject for the sentence together.
6. Next, using the same sentence, identify the predicate (verb) in the sentence and write it
on the PREDICATE sticky note. Model for students on the Elmo. Again, if there is no
predicate in the sentence, come up with one together.
7. Using the SUBJECT and PREDICATE sticky notes, ask students if this is a complete
sentence. Many students will say no because the sentence is so short. Explain that as
long as there is a subject and predicate, then it is a complete sentence.
8. Then, explain to students that they can make a sentence more interesting by “painting the
predicate.” To paint the predicate, they must answer the questions WHERE? WHEN?
and HOW? the action (verb) was done.
9. Looking at the same student sentence, decide which information answers WHERE?
WHEN? and How? If this information is missing, see if you can add details to the
sentence by answering these questions. Record the information on the sticky notes as a
class.
10. Next, explain that some sentences have a DIRECT OBJECT. This answers the question,
“What did they do it to.” Determine whether or not the sentence has/needs a direct
object.
 A sentence that has a direct object: I ate pizza. Pizza is the DO. It is what I ate.
 A sentence that doesn’t have a direct object: He ran. No DO is needed because
there is nothing physically receiving the action.
11. Finally, take the sticky notes off the paper and rearrange them into a sentence. Have the
students continue to rearrange the sticky notes until they come up with a sentence that
sounds pleasing.
12. Share and discuss sentences.

Developed by Hali Metelak, Vista Middle School, 2011. Page 6

Editing with Masterpiece Sentences
1. Next, have students choose three sentences from their essay. Have them underline each
sentence and number them from 1-3.
2. For each of the three sentences, students will move through the three stages of
Masterpiece Sentences to make these sentences more descriptive.
3. At the bottom of their paper, they will number from 1-3, and write their new sentences
next to the corresponding number. These sentences will be inserted into the final draft of
their essay.
4. If students have time, they can work on more sentences.
5. Share Masterpiece Sentences as a class.
Ticket Out the Door
1. In their Writer’s Notebook, have students respond to the following questions about the
Masterpiece Sentence process:
 Why is it important to use the Masterpiece Sentence process when writing
compositions?
 How will this writing strategy help you improve your writing?

Developed by Hali Metelak, Vista Middle School, 2011. Page 7

Week 4
Saturday School Lesson Plans

Standards:
6th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WS1.2 Create multiple-paragraph expository compositions.
WA2.2 Write expository compositions.
WOLC1.1 Use simple, compound, and compound-complex sentences; use effective coordination and subordination
of ideas to express complete thoughts.
WOLC1.2 Ensure that verbs agree with (compound) subjects.
WOLC1.3Use commas when linking two clauses with a conjunction in compound sentences.
WOLC1.4 Use correct capitalization.
WOLC1.5 Spell frequently misspelled words correctly.
7th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WS1.1 Create an organizational structure that balances all aspects of the composition and uses effective transitions
between sentences to unify important ideas.
WS1.2 Support all statements and claims with anecdotes, descriptions, fact and statistics, and specific examples.
WS1.3Use strategies of note-taking, outlining, and summarizing to impose structure on composition drafts.
WOLC1.1 Place modifiers properly and use the active voice.
WOLC1.3 Identify all parts of speech and types and structure of sentences.
WOLC 1.4 Use correct capitalization.
8th
LR3.0 Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature.
WS1.1 Create compositions that establish a controlling impression, have a coherent thesis, and end with a clear and
well-supported conclusion.
WS1.2 Establish coherence within and among paragraphs through effective transitions, parallel structures, and
similar writing techniques.
WS1.3 Support theses or conclusions with analogies, paraphrases, quotations, opinions from authorities,
comparisons, and similar devices.
WOLC1.1 Use correct and varied sentence types and sentence openings to present lively and effective personal
style.
WOLC1.4 Edit written manuscripts to ensure that correct grammar is used.
WOLC1.5 Use correct punctuation and capitalization.
WOLC1.6 Use correct spelling conventions.

Materials:
o Student Writer’s Notebooks
o Read-Aloud book
o Peer Editing Cards
o Red Pens
o Student Essay Rough Draft
o Paper/Computers for Final Draft

Agenda: 1. Warm-up
2. Read-Aloud
3. How Will it End? Writing Activity
4. Peer Editing
5. Final Draft
6. Ticket Out the Door

Developed by Hali Metelak, Vista Middle School, 2011. Page 8

Warm-up
1. Greet students as they enter the class. Distribute Writer’s Notebooks to students as they
enter, have students find theirs on a table near the door, or have notebooks already at
their respective desks.
2. Display the following warm-up on the board:
 Today we will continue reading ________________.
 Describe the main conflict in the story.
 Predict what you think is going to happen next in the story.
Students will answer the warm-up questions in their Writer’s Notebook. Ask for
volunteers to share aloud. Use the warm-up to refresh the students’ memories about the
reading.
Read-Aloud
1. Have students clear everything off of their desks for the read-aloud. Remind students
that their only job is to listen.
2. Read the next chapter in the reading selection aloud to students.
How Will it End? Writing Assignment
1. Explain to students that because today is the last day of Saturday School, they will not get
to find out how the book ends.
2. Provide approximately 10 minutes for students to write the ending of the story. What
will happen? How will the conflict be solved?
3. Share out in small groups and as a whole class.
Peer Editing
1. Break the students into groups of five, and have them take out the rough draft of their
essay.
2. Distribute a red pen to each student.
3. Distribute a Peer Editing card to each student. Notice that each student in a group will be
focusing on something different during the editing process.
4. Working in their groups, students will pass their rough draft to the person sitting on their
left.
5. Students will then have 5 minutes to edit the paper in front of them. They should read the
paper OUT LOUD, making corrections as they go. They should read through the paper
as many times as possible within the 5 minutes to ensure that they have made all of the
necessary corrections.
6. After 5 minutes, tell students to pass the rough draft to the person sitting on their left.
Continue until students have had a chance to edit all of the papers in their group,
including their own.
Final Draft
1. Distribute full-sized notebook paper (or a laptop) to each student.
2. Have the students place their heading in the top right-hand corner of their paper.

Developed by Hali Metelak, Vista Middle School, 2011. Page 9

 3. Students should then begin writing (typing) the final draft of their essay. NOTE—
Weekly Reader contest entries must be typed.
4. Once students have completed the final draft of their essay, they will turn it in to you.
Ticket Out the Door
1. In order for students to reflect on their learning, their Ticket Out the Door today is to
describe three things they have learned in Saturday School this session.
2. They will give this to you on the way out, along with the final draft of their essay.
3. Students may take their Writer’s Notebooks home with them.

Developed by Hali Metelak, Vista Middle School, 2011. Page 10