Jan

2

Look What I Found

Filed Under Computers In The Classroom, Graphic Organizers, Writing Better Essays | 2 Comments

womanI’m always poking around on the net to see what I can find that will help me make my lessons more interesting and more engaging for my students. I came across Read Write Think today and I think it has lots of potential. (That could well be the biggest understatement yet) I especially like the persuasion map which is really a graphic organiser your students can use to write opinion paragraphs or essays. Students could fill it in right on the computer or you could print a blank one to be used in the more traditional way. Check it out if you have a moment. There’s even a lesson called blogtopia that has lots and lots of info on it. I’m going to take a more careful look at this lesson because it has useful links to other resources about blogging. As you might remember, I want to set up a class blog in my Learning Strategies Class in semester two and appreciate all the help I can get doing this. Although I have my own blog and feel comfortable with blogging, a classroom blog is different, and I want to keep the surprises at a minimum.

Dec

18

Writing Better Essays- Expressing an Opinion

Filed Under Uncategorized, Writing Better Essays | Leave a Comment

Too often we… enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
John F. Kennedy

Ain’t isn’t that the truth! When I ask my students to write expressing their opinions on a topic, they’ll usually write something like this: I think I should be able to quit school if I don’t want to go; I think the legal drinking age is stupid; I think school should start at at 11:00 am. That’s it! Just an opinion with no support. Why do they do this despite being told over and over again by all their past and present teachers that they need to support their opinion? Discomfort of thought. Discomfort of writing. Discomfort of who knows what. The point is that they don’t do it. So what am I to do?
I’ll tell you what I do. (Do I sound a little combative here?) I give them a graphic organizer so they can see in black and white exactly what I want them to do. Actually, I like using colour in graphic organizers but because colour printing is so expensive, I limit it to the overhead transparency I use when I teach the lesson) The trick is to keep the directions simple-they don’t like reading either. I keep reminding myself to use the KISS principle -Keep It Simple Sweetie.
I’ll post the graphic orgainzer I use. If someone has a better one- please send it to me and I’ll post it.

Dec

11

Writing Better Essays- Using A Graphic Organizer To Structure The Essay

Filed Under Writing Better Essays | 5 Comments

organisingStudents sometimes have a difficult time organizing their jot notes into a five paragraph essay. I use the five paragraph essay graphic organizer to help them do this. Notice the colour coding.  The coding helps them see the structure. I simply ask them to fill in the organizer using their jot notes. I don’t expect complete sentences or paragraphs at this point. That comes later. The organizer will structure the essay for them. After they compete the organizer they can begin writing the actual paragraphs. I usually check the completed organizer to see that they have filled in all the parts.

Sometimes students don’t understand that they have to support their arguments or thesis. They just want to state it. I tell them it’s like court. They are like lawyers and have to convince the jury of their argument -the thesis, so they have to give the best possible evidence they can to support what they are trying to prove. They usually understand it when I put it that way.

organizing

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