You will be writing an essay about what you are most thankful for in your life. When we think about what we are thankful for, our lists could be huge. In fact, we could probably write a book about all of the many things that cause us to be grateful. The challenge of writing this essay is choosing ideas that you can write with great detail. For example, you might be thankful for pizza. But think about it, how much can you write about pizza? On the other hand, if you think of a broader (bigger) topic like; you have a family that cares for you. You probably could write in more detail about that topic. Use the information below to help guide you through the writing process for this essay.
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1. BrainstormYou will have 5 minutes to list as many things as you possibly can that you are thankful for. Your challenge is to not stop listing things until the time is up. After you have done that. Narrow it down to your top 3-5 items. It is important that you choose items that you can write IN DETAIL about.
4. Revise and Edit Revising and Editing are similar BUT also VERY different. It is an important step in the process because this is wear you polish your writing to make it sound that absolute best. You should try to :
1. USE transition words 2. NOT start sentences with the same word 4. USE the thesaurus to use stronger and more specific words 5. Have at least 2 peers read through your essay to revise and edit it as well. (Revise and edit should take place with a printed copy of the rough draft so that Mrs. Yoder can see the changes that you made.) |
2. Pre-writeThis step is super important. You need to decide HOW you want to organize your ideas. Take the 3-5 choices from your brainstorm and elaborate on them. Think of as much detail as you can about these ideas. Think about WHY you are thankful for each idea as well as examples of what makes you so very thankful. The more you include in your pre-write the easier your rough draft will be for you to write.
5. Scoring GuideAs you are creating the rough draft as well as when you are revising and editing. ALWAYS look at the scoring guide to be sure you have included all of the required parts. If you see that your essay is missing something (according to the scoring guide) then ADD it before publishing a copy. In the link below you will find the scoring guide used for this essay.
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3. Rough DraftUse your pre-write to help you create your rough draft. Remember an essay has three main parts. INTRO, BODY, CLOSING. The intro should get my attention and show me what your writing is going to be about. Also the body might be in 1-3 paragraphs. Your body paragraphs should be STRONG and at least 8-10 sentences long. Include transition words to help make your writing stronger. The intro and closing paragraphs should be at least 2-3 sentences.
6. PublishingThis is the final step! After you have made the corrections that you decided to make while revising and editing and with your two peer revise and edits -- make those changes official and print a published copy. Remember a published piece:
1. is free from errors 2. looks like an essay -- paragraphs indented, etc. 3. includes the proper heading 4. uses a more serious font (Essays are a more serious kind of writing. So, you should use a font that is not curly-q or script, but more like a PRINTED font. Also, choose a font size that fits your page nicely; not too small, not too big.) |