Friday brought the completion of our discussion of thesis statements, hooks, and how to use them to build a strong introduction paragraph. We then had a discussion centered around the topic below:
- When is it okay for someone to step in and resolve an issue between two people? What if they are countries?
In addition to discussion concerning fights in school the topic of Tuesday’s attack on the American Consulate in Libya came up in discussion. Both instances provided real-life situations from which the students could draw in order to write their BCRs.
Our usual Friday quiz has been tentatively pushed back to Monday the 17th and will address gerunds functioning as different sentence parts.
HOMEWORK: None today.
On Thursday we included more practice with getting an introductory paragraph started. The students had the opportunity to use the 3-Sentence Introduction again as the foundation of their introductory paragraphs.
For the last few minutes of class, we went to the Media Center where everyone had the opportunity to check out a non-fiction library book as we will be working more with non-fiction texts next week.
HOMEWORK: None today.
PowerPoint: 9-13-12 Building Strong Introductions
Wednesday was an energetic day in class. After using 5 gerunds in a paragraph on any topic, we then had our first-ever Fist Pump Competition! When a popular song was played, the students had to pump their fists exactly when the hook (chorus) came in. If they fist pumped prematurely, their group was disqualified for that song. The first group with 100% fist pumping at the hook of each song got a point. The group with the most points was promised a super-special prize in the near future. Until then, they have bragging rights.
We then picked up from where we left off in class yesterday by creating a 3-sentence introduction. We worked together to identify the topic, audience, and purpose (pattern will be included later). Then we selected a hook (attention-grabber). We then generated a thesis based on our topic from yesterday which asked us to support our claim regarding the effects of smoking on one’s health. Finally, we tied the hook and thesis statement together using a transitional sentence. Please take a look at the example to the right (the link below opens the image in PowerPoint).
The goal will be to use this 3-sentence introduction structure as a foundation for a larger, more extensive, yet still concise introduction.
HOMEWORK: Write a 3-sentence introduction with a question to open, a transitional sentence, and a thesis.
PowerPoint: 9-12-12 Thesis Statements in Action