Writing Lesson Template

Reading, Writing, and Oral Language

2007 ACEI Standards
Big Idea: Hand in Hand
READINESS
I.
Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
a.
Goal: Students will be able to make connections with each other and the
world around them.
b.
c.
2.W.4

Objective(s): After completing peer reviews, students will be able to

write a paragraph with at least 3 different sentence beginnings.
Standard(s):
Apply the writing process to
Generate a draft by developing, selecting and organizing ideas
relevant to topic, purpose, and genre; revise writing, using
appropriate reference materials, by adding details (e.g.,
organization, sentence structure, word choice); edit writing for
format and conventions (e.g., spelling, capitalization, usage,
punctuation); and provide feedback to other writers.

II.

Use available technology to publish legible documents.

Management:
a.
Time: 45 minutes total
b.
Materials: exemplar research paper draft, highlighter, writing
folders, and document camera

c.

Space: We will start off in the family room then students will work
at their desks.
d.
Students: I will pair students based on their clock partner
assignments for 6 o clock. I will say Scooby Dooby Doo and the
students will respond Where are you? to get the class attention. I will
use precorrection to communicate my expectations of behavior. If I see
on-task behavior, I will reward students with Mrs. Arnolds money and
if they are not following directions, I will take money.
III.

Anticipatory Set (5 min): I will tell the students a story of a time that I
visited a zoo and a giraffe licked my face.
So, I have a funny and slightly gross story I thought of this morning that I
thought you guys would like to hear. I was 14 years old, Lauren was 13,
Alisha was 3, and Sara was 2 at the time. It was the summer time and our
mom decided to take us to the Louisville Zoo. We all loved going to the
zoo! My favorite animal, as many of you already know, is a giraffe so I was
especially excited to see the giraffes. We went to go see the lions for
Alisha and the elephants for Sara and the monkeys for Lauren and it was
finally my turn to see the giraffes. I could see them from pretty far away
as we started walking in that directions because theyre so tall. Well, as
we got closer, I realized that a couple of them were standing right by the
fence munching on some leaves. I could barely contain my excitement, I
bolted right up to the fence! Once my family caught up, we stood there
admiring the beautiful and graceful animals eating for a few minutes. I
turned to my little sisters to tell them all about how cool giraffes were
when all of a sudden, I felt a HUGE WET TONGUE ON MY FACE! Thats
right, one of the giraffes licked me! That was the best trip to the zoo ever.

IV.

Purpose (2 min): Today, we are going to continue working on our

research papers, but were going to specifically look at something called
sentence fluency, or how well our sentences connect together. This is
important because it helps our writing sound better so that it makes sense
and people enjoy reading our writing.

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

V.
Adaptation to Diverse Students:
I will allow students to either write or type their papers
I will allow students to work at their own pace throughout the writing
process

I will specifically encourage my students with attention deficits for on-task

behavior with money. Karter will also have his wiggle chair and Velcro, as
usual.
(ACEI 3.2)

VI.

Lesson Presentation (30 min):

I will show the students my exemplar research paper on the document camera and
model for them how to revise sentence fluency.
Heres the research paper that we have been working on this week. (read it aloud)
Do you notice anything about my sentences? (highlight the beginning of all my
sentences) Thats right, most of them start off the same way. When you talk, do you
always start your sentences off the same way? Right, it would get a little boring if
we talked like that. In the same way, we dont want to be too repetitive in our
writing. We want our sentences to flow naturally, like how we talk. So how can we
change some of these sentences to add some variety?
I will allow students time to peer review each others papers, make revisions, and
continue writing.
Now I want to give you all a chance to look over your own papers. All of you are
either on the drafting or revising stage right now. No matter how far along you are, I
want you to switch papers with someone sitting next to you for peer revisions. Just
like I showed you, I want you to highlight the beginning of all your sentences. If you
have a lot of sentences that are starting off the same way, I want you to work with
your 6 oclock partner to figure out different ways you could help it flow better.
Once you finish, just spend some time continuing to draft or revise on your own. Ill
set the timer for 20 minutes. Go find your 6 oclock partner and get to work. Dont
forget to keep the noise level no higher than a level 2.
While students are working, I will walk around meeting with particular students for
about 5 minutes each for conferences.
(ACEI 2.1,3.3)
VII. Check for understanding (2 min): I will ask the students to rate
themselves on how well theyre understanding sentence fluency.
Without talking, show me with your fingers how well you think you
understand how we changed some of our sentence beginnings to make our
writing flow better. One being youre totally confused, two being you might
need to see one more example, and three being you can go work on your own
with no difficulty.
VIII. Review learning outcomes / Closure (6 min): I will ask the students to
share one of their revisions and have the class provide feedback.
Thank you for working so hard on your papers today. Would anybody like to
share one of the ways they changed a sentence today or maybe a sentence
you helped your partner change? Good, what do you all think of that new
sentence? Much better, right? Does anyone else have another idea for how
he/she could reword that sentence?
PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT
Formative: During the minilesson, I will be assessing student input on whether
they can provide suggestions for how to change sentences to improve sentence
fluency. I will also be walking around the room while the students are working and
taking anecdotal notes for future conferences.
Summative: I will assess sentence fluency on their research papers once they have
completed the editing stage.

(ACEI 4.0)
REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS
1.
How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did
not, why not?
2.
What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3.
How should I alter this lesson?
4.
How would I pace it differently?
5.
Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
6.
What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability
levels?
a.
Blooms Taxonomy
b.
Gardners Multiple Intelligences
7. What part of the minilesson (if any) were the students having a difficult
time understanding? How could I teach this differently in the future?
8. Are any of my students far behind the others in the writing process? Is
there anything else I can do to support them?