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Guide to Writing a Basic Essay by Kathy Livingston
Details
Activity Website:
Activity Description
This site takes a student through the basic steps of writing an essay.
Preparation
- Preview the Web Site (link below) to decide how you want to handle the topic.
- Decide if you want to assign a writing topic or let students choose one. (If your students are planning on taking the High School Equivalency test, it might be good practice to have them work with an assigned topic.)
- The Example Document, Guide to Writing a Basic Essay (above) will help students take notes while you go over the Web site as a class. Print it for students to write on during the discussion.
- The Example Web Site link (above) will take you to a sample essay from the Web site.
Teacher Tips
- Decide if the material is at the appropriate level for class.
- Materials can be downloaded and used as print materials, or students can work through material on their own or in pairs using the online version.
More Ways
- To include more technology use, have students use a computer with a word processing program to create their essay. Pre-teach word processing skills such as formatting text, touch-typing, file saving and printing.
- Another possibility would be to put the finished product on a class or individual blog site, so other students can read their essay.
- Under Links there are a multitude of other Web resources for essay writing that may be helpful.
Program Areas
- ASE: High School Equivalency Preparation
- ABE: Adult Basic Education
- ASE: High School Diploma
- CTE: Career Technical Education
Levels
- Intermediate
- High
Lesson Plan
Warm-up
Objective: Activate prior knowledge and set the stage for learning about essay writing.
Activity:
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- Conduct a brief discussion about students' prior experiences with essay writing.
- Use an interactive poll or brainstorming session to gather students' ideas on what elements make a good essay.
Introduction
- Objective: Introduce the topic of essay writing and outline the goals of the lesson.
- Activity:
- Explain the importance of essay writing skills for academic success and standardized tests.
- Provide an overview of the steps involved in writing a basic essay: organizing ideas, composing a thesis statement, writing body paragraphs, and crafting introduction and conclusion paragraphs.
Presentation
Preparation:
- Preview the Website: Review the provided website on essay writing to determine how to present the topic.
Assign Topic: Decide whether to assign a writing topic or let students choose their own. For High School Equivalency test preparation, assigning a topic might be more beneficial.
Materials: Print the "Guide to Writing a Basic Essay" for note-taking during the discussion. Use the Example Document and Website link to access a sample essay for reference. - Instruction:
- Guide to Writing a Basic Essay:
- Distribute the "Guide to Writing a Basic Essay" document.
- Walk through the steps of writing an essay using the guide: organizing ideas, composing a thesis statement, writing body paragraphs, and crafting the introduction and conclusion.
- Interactive Component:
- Break students into small groups to discuss and brainstorm essay topics.
- Use the ReadWriteThink Essay Map tool to help students organize their ideas. Provide both print and digital versions for students to use.
Practice
Engagement
Individual Work:
- Assign Writing Topics: Allow students to choose or assign a topic. Offer guidance to narrow down broad topics if necessary.
- Note-Taking: Have students use the "Guide to Writing a Basic Essay" to take notes during the lesson.
- Essay Map Activity: Students complete the Essay Map individually to organize their thoughts and structure their essay.
Collaborative Work:
- Peer Review: Pair students to review each other's essay maps and provide feedback.
- Group Discussion: Facilitate a class discussion on the importance of each part of the essay and share examples from students' work.
Evaluation
Teacher Review:
- Collect and review the completed essays. Provide feedback on organization, clarity, grammar, and adherence to the essay structure.
Class Blog:
- Publish the finished essays on a class or individual blog site to share with peers and receive additional feedback.
Application
Extended Activities:
- Explore other web resources for essay writing under the "Links" section.
- Encourage students to read and comment on each other’s blog posts, fostering a community of writers.
- Use word processing programs for essay writing to enhance students' technology skills.
- Pre-teach necessary word processing skills such as formatting text, touch-typing, file saving, and printing.
Documents
- Guide to Writing a Basic Essay.docx - Guide to Writing a Basic Essay Template
- Guide to Writing a Basic Essay.png - Screenshot of the Guide to Writing a Basic Essay homepage
- 6-8-essay-map FINAL.pdf - ReadWriteThink Essay Map
Subjects
- Language Arts - Writing
- Writing Conventions
- Reasoning Through Language Arts
- Essays
- Mechanics (Capitalization, Punctuation, Spelling)
- Organization
- Writing
- Mechanics (Capitalization, Punctuation, Spelling)
- Paragraph Skills
- Report Writing
CTE Sectors
- Information and Communication Technologies
CTE Anchor Standards
- Anchor Standard 4: Technology - Writing Standard: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments and information.
- Anchor Standard 10: Technical Knowledge and Skills - Writing Standard: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
Tags
collect data, conclusion, draft, edit, essay, essay writing, guide to writing a basic essay, introduction, main idea, model, outline, purpose, thesis, topic, write an essay, body, brainstorm