Module | Lesson Title | Instructional Objective | Reading/ Writing Connection Lesson | Lesson Summary | TEK | Resources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reading | Active Reading | (Comprehension) Students will practice several active reading strategies. | None | Students practice three active reading strategies, noting their thoughts, comments, and questions as they read. | Figure: 19 TAC 110.30(b) | Paris, Lipson, & Wixson, 1983; Texas Reading Initiative, 2000; (1) Vaughn, S., Gersten, R., & Chard, D. J. (2000). The Underlying Message in LD Intervention Research: Findings from Research Syntheses. Exceptional Children, 67, 99-? |
Reading | Character Map | (Comprehension) Students will describe the way an author portrays a character in a text. | Writing: SLATE | Students complete a Semantic-Map-like graphic organizer that identifies and maps each of a character's traits in different featured categories. | 110.31.b(5)(B) | Searchlight (SL): link |
Reading | Click and Clunk | (Comprehension) Students will use the Click and Clunk strategy to monitor their reading comprehension. | Writing: Targeted Editing | Click and Clunk is a self-monitoring word identification or comprehension strategy that provides students with fix-up strategies that help them identify or understand an unknown word or sentence. | Figure: 19 TAC 110.30(b)(English I) | Article by Dr. Vaughn (saved in reading server), White resource book |
Reading | Conflict Resolution | (Comprehension) Students will track the development and resolution of a conflict in literature. | Writing: Creating Conflict | The Conflict Resolution lesson utilizes a graphic organizer to assist students in outlining the arc of the plot of a story. | 110.31.b(5)A | Siemmao, A. (2011). Examining Plot Conflict through a Comparison/ Contrast Essay. Retrieved April 2, 2012 from link |
Reading | Get the Gist | (Comprehension) Students will identify the main idea of paragraphs or short sections of text. | Writing: Color-Coding, Connections | During reading, students often need help identifying the main idea of a paragraph or passage. Get the Gist provides teachers with a procedure they can share with their students. | 110.31.b(9)(A), Figure 19, English 1 | Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (EI): link |
Reading | Preview | (Comprehension) Students will improve reading comprehension by previewing text. | Writing: Prompt-Think-Thesis | Previewing text can be used with expository and narrative text to access or build prior knowledge about the reading's subject matter. | 110.31.b(9) | Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (EI): link |
Reading | Visualizing (Comprehension) | Students will use visualizing to increase comprehension and engagement as they read. | Writing: Show Me | Visualizing while reading helps students maintain engagement while reading and increases comprehension. | Figure: 19 TAC 110.30(b) | K. Beers When Kids Can't Read; (Harvey & Goudvis 2000) |
Reading | Context Clues | (Vocabulary) Students will learn to find and interpret context clues to help determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. | None | Students will learn to recognize and use signal words to interpret context clues. | 110.31.b(1) | Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (EI): link |
Reading | Denotation and Connotation | (Vocabulary) Students will identify denotation and positive or negative connotation of specified words. | None | Students will learn to recognize both the denotation and connotation of words. | English I 1(B) | Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (EI): link |
Reading | Word Map | (Vocabulary) Students will learn key vocabulary using Word Maps. | Writing: Denotation and Connotation | Word cards are used to help students deeply understand the meaning of a word. | 110.31.b(1)(A) | Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (EI): link |
Reading | HINTS | (Word Identification) Students will identify multisyllabic words using letter-sound correspondence and structural analysis. | None | Students learn the steps of the HINTS mnemonic to identify unknown words that contain affixes. | 110.31b(1)(A) | Searchlight (SL): link |
Reading | SPLIT | (Word Identification) Students will use their knowledge of syllable types and the SPLIT strategy to identify unknown multisyllabic words. | None | Students learn the steps of the SPLIT mnemonic and their knowledge of syllable patterns to identify unknown multisyllabic words. | 110.31b(1)(A) | Searchlight (SL): link |
Reading | Syllable Patterns | (Word Identification) Students will be able to identify the six syllable patterns. | None | Students use CO3VF to learn the six syllable patterns and the letter-sound correspondences they represent in order to use the SPLIT strategy to identify unknown multisyllabic words. | 110.31b(1)(A) | Bryant, D. P., Smith, D. D., & Bryant, B. R. (2008). Teaching Students with Special Needs in Inclusive Classrooms. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.; link |
Writing | Creating Conflict | (Prewriting) Students will use the components of plot to develop the conflict in a concise short story. | Reading: Conflict Resolution | Students outline a plot for a creative story by considering character and conflict, and by using a plot diagram. | 110.31.b(14)(A)Schulze, P. (2007). | Teaching plot structure through short stories. Retrieved April 2, 2012 from link |
Writing | Prompt-Think-Thesis | (Prewriting) Students will analyze an essay prompt, define and think about key terms, and write a thesis statement for an essay. | Reading: Preview | Students analyze an expository prompt, and write a thesis statement in response. | 110.31.b.15.E, 110.31.b.16.A | Bowers, K. (2008). Essay Apprentice Essay Writing System (Secondary Solutions LLC Teacher Guide). Somerset, KY: Secondary Solutions LLC." (pp. 80-82) |
Writing | R-BITs | (Prewriting) Students will generate two topic sentences to support a thesis and two supporting details for each of those topic sentences. | None | Students use the R-BITS mnemonic to develop an outline for their writing. | 110.31.b.15.A | DeLaPaz, S. & Graham, S. (1997). Strategy instruction in planning: Effects on the writing performance and behavior of students with learning difficulties. Exceptional Children, 63(2), 167-181.; Bowers, K. (2008). Essay Apprentice Essay Writing System (Secondary Solutions LLC Teacher Guide). Somerset, KY: Secondary Solutions LLC. (pp. 72); Tyner, T. (2007). Writing Voyage: A Process Approach to Basic Writing. Boston, MA: Thomson Higher Education.(pp. 70-72) link |
Writing | SLATE | (Prewriting) Students will develop a character for a literary composition by identifying key traits and details that will demonstrate those traits. | Reading: Character Map | Students will use the SLATE acronym to plan characterization for their own story. | 110.31.b(14)(A) | J. Lewis, Essential questions in adolescent literacy: Teachers and researchers describe what works in classrooms (pp. 101-131). New York: The Guildford Press |
Writing | Connections | (Prewriting/Revising) Students will write an effective transition sentence to join two paragraphs | Reading: Get the Gist | Students learn characteristics of transition sentences, and identify the best transition sentence for two paragraphs, given four options, in preparation for revising transitions in their own writing. | 110.31.b(15)(A) | Tyner, T. (2007). Writing Voyage: A Process Approach to Basic Writing. Boston, MA: Thomson Higher Education.(pp.119) |
Writing | Conclusions | (Drafting) Students will examine model writing to identify three possible strategies for drafting effective conclusions. | None | Students evaluate model conclusions in preparation for revising conclusions in their own writing. | 110.31.b(15)(A) | Bowers, K. (2008). Essay Apprentice Essay Writing System (Secondary Solutions LLC Teacher Guide). Somerset, KY: Secondary Solutions LLC." (pp. 88-89) |
Writing | Color-Coding | (Revising) Students will organize topically related sentences to form paragraphs. | Reading: Get the Gist | Students highlight a rough draft of their own writing by topic, and analyze the results for organizational problems. | 110.31.b.15.A | Tyner, T. (2007). Writing Voyage: A Process Approach to Basic Writing. Boston, MA: Thomson Higher Education. (pp.106-115) |
Writing | Comma Splices | (Revising) Students will correct comma splices using a comma plus a “FANBOYS” word or by replacing the comma with a period and capitalizing the second sentence. | N/A | Students revise comma splices using FANBOYS conjunctions, or by adding a period and capital letter. | English I 17(C), 18(B) | Jeff Anderson, Mechanically Inclined |
Writing | Hooks | (Revising) Students will identify four different types of “hooks” for an expository composition, and revise an introduction to add a hook. | None | Students evaluate introductory paragraphs to write the missing hook, practicing all four types, in preparation for revising introductions in their own writing. | English I (15) A | Patel, N. (2005). Survival Guide: Writing a Personal Narrative. Retrieved April 9, 2012 from link |
Writing | Peer Conferencing for Revision | (Revising) Students will learn to provide specific feedback on their peers’ writing as part of the revising process. | None | Students share a previously written composition in a small group and tell their peers “one thing they liked” and “one thing they want to know more about.” | 110.31.b(13) | Carroll and Wilson, Acts of Teaching |
Writing | Show-Me | (Revising) Students will revise a literary composition to replace telling information with more compelling showing details. | Reading: Visualizing | Students will practice replacing "telling information" with descriptive detail. | 110.31.b(14)(A) | Holmes, K. P. (2003). Show, Don’t Tell: The Importance of Explicit Prewriting Instruction. Clearing House, 76(5), 241. |
Writing | Targeted Editing | (Editing) Students will learn a routine for editing each other’s papers for specific errors and will be able to edit for correct use of common homophones. | Reading: Click and Clunk | Students work in rotating pairs to edit their papers for specific error types, one at a time. | 110.31.b.17, 110.31.b.18, 110.31.b.19 | Carroll and Wilson, Acts of Teaching |
Module/Lesson | Supported TEKS |
---|---|
Reading Module | |
Active Reading | Figure: 19 TAC 110.30(b) |
Character Map | 110.31.b(5)(B) |
Click and Clunk | English I (Figure: 19) TAC 110.30(b) |
Conflict Resolution | 110.31.b(5)A |
Denotation and Connotation | English I 1(B) |
Context Clues | English I (1) |
Get the Gist | 110.31.b(9)(A), Figure 19, English 1 |
HINTS | English I (1)(A) |
Preview | 110.31.b(9) |
SPLIT | English I 1(A) |
Syllable Patterns | 110.31.b(1)(A) |
Visualizing | Figure: 19 TAC 110.30(b) |
Word Map | English I (1)A |
Writing Module | |
Color Coding | English I 15(A) |
Comma Splices | English I 17(C), 18(B) |
Conclusions | English I 15(A) |
Connections | 110.31.b.13.B |
Creating Conflict | 110.31.b(14)(A) |
Hooks | English I (15) A |
Peer Conferencing | English I (13) |
Prompt-Think-Thesis | English I 15(E), English I 16(A) |
R-BIT | English I 15(A) |
Show Me | 110.31.b(14)(A) |
SLATE | 110.31.b(14)(A) |
Targeted Editing | English I (17), (18), (19) |
Teacher/Peer Scaffolding: Increased support when new concepts are introduced. Support is gradually faded as students gain proficiency.
Content Scaffolding: Easier concepts/skills are introduced first. Increasingly difficult concepts are slowly and gradually introduced.
Task Scaffolding: Building from easier to more difficult task and questioning strategies.
Material Scaffolding: Any change (deletion, addition, substitution) of materials made for any part of the lesson by the teacher. Offering a variety of materials to support student thinking.
For reading, the lessons focus on Word Identification, Vocabulary, and Comprehension, the three main areas identified by teachers as being key weaknesses for a number of their lower functioning students, especially those with LD. Writing lessons focus on the four initial stages of the writing process: Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, and Editing.
Module | Lesson Title | Instructional Objective | Reading/ Writing Connection Lesson | Lesson Summary | TEK | Resources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reading | Active Reading | (Comprehension) Students will practice several active reading strategies. | None | Students practice three active reading strategies, noting their thoughts, comments, and questions as they read. | Figure: 19 TAC 110.30(b) | Paris, Lipson, & Wixson, 1983; Texas Reading Initiative, 2000; (1) Vaughn, S., Gersten, R., & Chard, D. J. (2000). The Underlying Message in LD Intervention Research: Findings from Research Syntheses. Exceptional Children, 67, 99-? |
Reading | Character Map | (Comprehension) Students will describe the way an author portrays a character in a text. | Writing: SLATE | Students complete a Semantic-Map-like graphic organizer that identifies and maps each of a character's traits in different featured categories. | 110.31.b(5)(B) | Searchlight (SL): link |
Reading | Click and Clunk | (Comprehension) Students will use the Click and Clunk strategy to monitor their reading comprehension. | Writing: Targeted Editing | Click and Clunk is a self-monitoring word identification or comprehension strategy that provides students with fix-up strategies that help them identify or understand an unknown word or sentence. | Figure: 19 TAC 110.30(b)(English I) | Article by Dr. Vaughn (saved in reading server), White resource book |
Reading | Conflict Resolution | (Comprehension) Students will track the development and resolution of a conflict in literature. | Writing: Creating Conflict | The Conflict Resolution lesson utilizes a graphic organizer to assist students in outlining the arc of the plot of a story. | 110.31.b(5)A | Siemmao, A. (2011). Examining Plot Conflict through a Comparison/ Contrast Essay. Retrieved April 2, 2012 from link |
Reading | Get the Gist | (Comprehension) Students will identify the main idea of paragraphs or short sections of text. | Writing: Color-Coding, Connections | During reading, students often need help identifying the main idea of a paragraph or passage. Get the Gist provides teachers with a procedure they can share with their students. | 110.31.b(9)(A), Figure 19, English 1 | Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (EI): link |
Reading | Preview | (Comprehension) Students will improve reading comprehension by previewing text. | Writing: Prompt-Think-Thesis | Previewing text can be used with expository and narrative text to access or build prior knowledge about the reading's subject matter. | 110.31.b(9) | Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (EI): link |
Reading | Visualizing(Comprehension) | Students will use visualizing to increase comprehension and engagement as they read. | Writing: Show Me | Visualizing while reading helps students maintain engagement while reading and increases comprehension. | Figure: 19 TAC 110.30(b) | K. Beers When Kids Can't Read; (Harvey & Goudvis 2000) |
Reading | Context Clues | (Vocabulary) Students will learn to find and interpret context clues to help determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. | None | Students will learn to recognize and use signal words to interpret context clues. | 110.31.b(1) | Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (EI): link |
Reading | Denotation and Connotation | (Vocabulary) Students will identify denotation and positive or negative connotation of specified words. | None | Students will learn to recognize both the denotation and connotation of words. | English I 1(B) | Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (EI): link |
Reading | Word Map | (Vocabulary) Students will learn key vocabulary using Word Maps. | Writing: Denotation and Connotation | Word cards are used to help students deeply understand the meaning of a word. | 110.31.b(1)(A) | Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (EI): link |
Reading | HINTS | (Word Identification) Students will identify multisyllabic words using letter-sound correspondence and structural analysis. | None | Students learn the steps of the HINTS mnemonic to identify unknown words that contain affixes. | 110.31b(1)(A) | Searchlight (SL): link |
Reading | SPLIT | (Word Identification) Students will use their knowledge of syllable types and the SPLIT strategy to identify unknown multisyllabic words. | None | Students learn the steps of the SPLIT mnemonic and their knowledge of syllable patterns to identify unknown multisyllabic words. | 110.31b(1)(A) | Searchlight (SL): link |
Reading | Syllable Patterns | (Word Identification) Students will be able to identify the six syllable patterns. | None | Students use CO3VF to learn the six syllable patterns and the letter-sound correspondences they represent in order to use the SPLIT strategy to identify unknown multisyllabic words. | 110.31b(1)(A) | Bryant, D. P., Smith, D. D., & Bryant, B. R. (2008). Teaching Students with Special Needs in Inclusive Classrooms. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.; link |
Writing | Creating Conflict | (Prewriting) Students will use the components of plot to develop the conflict in a concise short story. | Reading: Conflict Resolution | Students outline a plot for a creative story by considering character and conflict, and by using a plot diagram. | 110.31.b(14)(A)Schulze, P. (2007). | Teaching plot structure through short stories. Retrieved April 2, 2012 from link |
Writing | Prompt-Think-Thesis | (Prewriting) Students will analyze an essay prompt, define and think about key terms, and write a thesis statement for an essay. | Reading: Preview | Students analyze an expository prompt, and write a thesis statement in response. | 110.31.b.15.E, 110.31.b.16.A | Bowers, K. (2008). Essay Apprentice Essay Writing System (Secondary Solutions LLC Teacher Guide). Somerset, KY: Secondary Solutions LLC." (pp. 80-82) |
Writing | R-BITs | (Prewriting) Students will generate two topic sentences to support a thesis and two supporting details for each of those topic sentences. | None | Students use the R-BITS mnemonic to develop an outline for their writing. | 110.31.b.15.A | DeLaPaz, S. & Graham, S. (1997). Strategy instruction in planning: Effects on the writing performance and behavior of students with learning difficulties. Exceptional Children, 63(2), 167-181.; Bowers, K. (2008). Essay Apprentice Essay Writing System (Secondary Solutions LLC Teacher Guide). Somerset, KY: Secondary Solutions LLC. (pp. 72); Tyner, T. (2007). Writing Voyage: A Process Approach to Basic Writing. Boston, MA: Thomson Higher Education.(pp. 70-72) link |
Writing | SLATE | (Prewriting) Students will develop a character for a literary composition by identifying key traits and details that will demonstrate those traits. | Reading: Character Map | Students will use the SLATE acronym to plan characterization for their own story. | 110.31.b(14)(A) | J. Lewis, Essential questions in adolescent literacy: Teachers and researchers describe what works in classrooms (pp. 101-131). New York: The Guildford Press |
Writing | Connections | (Prewriting/Revising) Students will write an effective transition sentence to join two paragraphs | Reading: Get the Gist | Students learn characteristics of transition sentences, and identify the best transition sentence for two paragraphs, given four options, in preparation for revising transitions in their own writing. | 110.31.b(15)(A) | Tyner, T. (2007). Writing Voyage: A Process Approach to Basic Writing. Boston, MA: Thomson Higher Education.(pp.119) |
Writing | Conclusions | (Drafting) Students will examine model writing to identify three possible strategies for drafting effective conclusions. | None | Students evaluate model conclusions in preparation for revising conclusions in their own writing. | 110.31.b(15)(A) | Bowers, K. (2008). Essay Apprentice Essay Writing System (Secondary Solutions LLC Teacher Guide). Somerset, KY: Secondary Solutions LLC." (pp. 88-89) |
Writing | Color-Coding | (Revising) Students will organize topically related sentences to form paragraphs. | Reading: Get the Gist | Students highlight a rough draft of their own writing by topic, and analyze the results for organizational problems. | 110.31.b.15.A | Tyner, T. (2007). Writing Voyage: A Process Approach to Basic Writing. Boston, MA: Thomson Higher Education. (pp.106-115) |
Writing | Comma Splices | (Revising) Students will correct comma splices using a comma plus a “FANBOYS” word or by replacing the comma with a period and capitalizing the second sentence. | N/A | Students revise comma splices using FANBOYS conjunctions, or by adding a period and capital letter. | English I 17(C), 18(B) | Jeff Anderson, Mechanically Inclined |
Writing | Hooks | (Revising) Students will identify four different types of “hooks” for an expository composition, and revise an introduction to add a hook. | None | Students evaluate introductory paragraphs to write the missing hook, practicing all four types, in preparation for revising introductions in their own writing. | English I (15) A | Patel, N. (2005). Survival Guide: Writing a Personal Narrative. Retrieved April 9, 2012 from link |
Writing | Peer Conferencing for Revision | (Revising) Students will learn to provide specific feedback on their peers’ writing as part of the revising process. | None | Students share a previously written composition in a small group and tell their peers “one thing they liked” and “one thing they want to know more about.” | 110.31.b(13) | Carroll and Wilson, Acts of Teaching |
Writing | Show-Me | (Revising) Students will revise a literary composition to replace telling information with more compelling showing details. | Reading: Visualizing | Students will practice replacing "telling information" with descriptive detail. | 110.31.b(14)(A) | Holmes, K. P. (2003). Show, Don’t Tell: The Importance of Explicit Prewriting Instruction. Clearing House, 76(5), 241. |
Writing | Targeted Editing | (Editing) Students will learn a routine for editing each other’s papers for specific errors and will be able to edit for correct use of common homophones. | Reading: Click and Clunk | Students work in rotating pairs to edit their papers for specific error types, one at a time. | 110.31.b.17, 110.31.b.18, 110.31.b.19 | Carroll and Wilson, Acts of Teaching |
Lesson | Vocabulary | Vocabulary Reviewed |
---|---|---|
Active Reading | active reading strategies: strategies used during reading to improve comprehension and engagement | connection: a causal or logical linkage predict: to declare or indicate in advance based on observation, experience, or scientific reason |
Character Map | trait: a characteristic that contributes to a character’s personality the way an author portrays a character characterization: the way an author portrays a character SLATE: an acronym to help students remember methods of characterization: Says, Looks like, Acts, Thinks, Effect on others |
character: any representation of an individual in a dramatic or narrative work. portray: to describe in words or make a picture of |
Click and Clunk | click and clunk: A during-reading strategy in which students use context clues and word parts to help clarify meaning. click: words or ideas that students understand while they are reading clunk: words or ideas that students do not understand while they are reading fix-up strategies: the four specific during-reading strategies of “Click and Clunk” that students use to clarify the meanings of their clunks |
context clues: clues in the words and phrases that come before and/or after an unknown word, and that can help you identify the unknown word’s meaning |
Conflict Resolution | conflict: a struggle between two forces plot diagram: a graphic organizer that outlines the development and resolution of a story |
climax: the point in a play, novel, short story, or narrative poem when the action is the most intense and the problem is thereafter resolved exposition: events that will happen that set up the main conflict falling action: that which happens after the climax plot: the plan or main story in a movie or literary work resolution: how loose ends in a story are wrapped up rising action: the part of the story that builds up to the the part of the story that builds up to the climax |
Context Clues | context clues: clues in the words and phrases coming before and/or after an unknown word that can help you identify the unknown word’s meaning | Synonym: a word that means the same as another word Antonym: a word that means the opposite of another word |
Denotation and Connotation | denotation: the dictionary definition of a word. connotation: an idea or feeling that is associated with a word in addition to its literal meaning. |
convey: communicate or make known implied: expressed, stated, or indicated indirectly |
Get the Gist | Get the Gist: a during-reading strategy in which students identify the main idea of short sections of text gist statement: a summary of about 10 words or fewer that identifies the most important “who” or “what” of a text, and the most important information about that “who” or “what” |
main idea: the most important or central thought of a paragraph or larger section of text summary: a shortened version of a text that highlights its key points |
HINTS | prefix: a word part added to the beginning of a word suffix: a word part added to the end of a word base word: the main part of a word to which prefixes and suffixes are attached |
vowel: a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y consonant: all letters that are not vowels |
Preview | previewing: the process of identifying big ideas and making predictions about the content of a text | headings: titles or topics that stand at the top or beginning of a paragraph, letter, or chapter subheadings: the secondary headings or titles labeling a subsection of a printed work captions: an explanatory comment or designation that accompanies a picture or illustration |
SPLIT | syllable: a unit of spoken language that has one uninterrupted sound, or “beat” | consonant: all letters that are not vowels vowel: a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y |
Syllable Patterns | syllable: a unit of spoken language that has one uninterrupted sound, or “beat” | consonant: all letters that are not vowels vowel: a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y |
Visualizing | visualizing: an active reading strategy in which readers create images in their minds that go beyond any imagery in the text | imagery: The use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas |
Word Map | context clues: clues in the words and phrases that come before and/or after an unknown word, and that can help you identify the unknown word’s meaning assuaged: made less intense |
antonym: a word of opposite meaning parts of speech: traditional grammar classifications for the categories into which words are classified according to their functions in sentences: the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection. prefix: a letter or group of letters attached to the beginning of a word that contributes to its meaning. root: the form of a word after all affixes are removed suffix: word part added to the end of a word synonym: one of two or more words that have the same or nearly the same meaning |
Lesson | Vocabulary | Vocabulary Reviewed |
---|---|---|
Color Coding | topic: the main subject of a sentence or paragraph key: a space in which to record the topic that each color represents freewriting: writing without focusing on organization or mechanics elaborate: add more detail about a topic redundancy: repeated ideas |
conclusion: the final section of a composition, which connects the ideas in the essay with the world outside the essay introduction: the first paragraph of a composition that catches the reader’s interest and includes the thesis |
Comma Splice | comma splice: an error in which two independent clauses are joined by a comma with no connecting word FANBOYS: a mnemonic tool for remembering the conjunctions for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so |
subject: the main noun or pronoun verb: an action or state of being |
Conclusions | conclusion: the final section of a composition, which connects the ideas in the essay with the world outside the essay | thesis: the writer’s opinion about the topic and the main idea of the essay |
Connections | transition sentence: a sentence that connects two paragraphs by joining the main idea of one paragraph with the main idea of the next paragraph | gist: the main idea of a paragraph |
Creating Conflict | conflict: a struggle between two forces | climax: the point in a play, novel, short story, or narrative poem when the action is the most intense and the problem is thereafter resolved exposition: events that will happen that set up the main conflict falling action: that which happens after the climax fiction: a story about imaginary events. plot: the plan or main story in a movie or literary work resolution: how loose ends in a story are wrapped up rising action: the part of the story that builds up to the climax |
HOOKS | introduction: the first paragraph of a composition that catches the reader’s interest and includes the thesis hook: the opening sentence of an introduction that catches the reader’s interest, also known as a lead transition: a sentence that connects the ideas in your hook with the ideas in the last part of the introduction thesis statement: an explanation of the topic or purpose of the composition |
thesis: the writer’s opinion about the topic and the main idea of the essay thought-provoking observation: something the writer knows or has seen that would make the reader think about the topic |
Peer Conferencing | peer conference: students share their writing with each other in pairs or a small group, and give and receive feedback feedback: a response to a piece of writing that can help the writer make improvements |
revising: a writing stage in which the writer looks over a manuscript again in order to correct or improve it |
Prompt-Think-Thesis | thesis: the writer’s opinion about the topic and the main idea of the essay key words: the important ideas in the essay prompt that the composition must address |
essay prompt: the essay question or assigned writing topic |
R-BIT | thesis: the writer’s opinion about the topic and the main idea of the essay reasons: why the writer believes that thesis to be true BITs of proof: details and examples that support the reasons |
essay prompt: the essay question or assigned writing to |
Show Me | details: descriptive information about a person, place, thing, event, or idea in a story showing details: details that draw the reader in by using vivid or graphic descriptions telling information: writing without detailed description that states information |
graphic: marked by clear lifelike or realistic description vivid: producing a strong or clear impression on the senses |
SLATE | trait: a characteristic that contributes to a character’s personality characterization: the way an author portrays a character SLATE: an acronym to help students remember methods of characterization: Says, Looks like, Acts, Thinks, Effect on others |
character: any representation of an individual in a dramatic or narrative work. portray: to describe in words or make a picture of |
Targeted Editing | editing: reading in order to find errors and mark corrections | homophones: words that have the same pronunciation but different meanings and spellings |