Friday, September 30, 2016

05 Thesis Statements // Due the week of Oct. 6, 2016

Hi Everyone!

Your homework this week is to get practice writing thesis statements! The thesis statements are the absolute foundation of the persuasive essay, so I reeeaally want them to be ingrained in your brains :)

thesis is a statement that says what you think and why you think it—in three separate reasons.

For example:



  • Cats are the best animal because they are clean, useful, and good companions.*
Key points:
  1. I state my opinion: Cats are the best animal. Then, I include the very important key word "because," as this leads into my reasons. Then I state my three reasons, that cats are clean, useful, and good companions.
  2. I do not say "I think" before I begin my thesis statement because this is unnecessary—we already know it is what you think because you are saying it! :)
  3. Make sure your reasons are somewhat broad. Later on, you will be taking each reason and turning it into a paragraph of it's own. 
    • Therefore, instead of saying as one of my reasons how cats catch mice (about which I might not be able to find much to write), I instead write about how cats are useful (as this reason can include cats catching mice, bringing food home, and sweeping the floor—which we're going to pretend cats do for the purpose of this example). 

Homework: Choose 15 of the prompts from either: 1) our Google Drive handouts folder or 2) your brain, and write one thesis statement for each. Post to Google Drive when finished.

Example:
Should students be allowed to drink soda?
Students should not be allowed to drink soda because it is bad for their teeth, it will prevent them from focusing, and it can spill and be messy.

**Grammar note: No comma is needed directly before or after the word "because" in these sentences**

Thursday, September 22, 2016

04 Elephant Paragraphs // Due the week of September 29, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week, you will take the elephant articles from last week and use them as resources to write your own paragraphs!


  1. Each of the paragraphs from the different articles had a different elephant-related topic (i.e.: appearance, behavior, etc). Choose three topics that interest you (make sure the topics you choose have at least 3 article paragraphs about each). Do not choose domestication, as we did that in class.
  2. Make an outline in which you have your:
    1. Topic: (ie: elephant domestication)
      1. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
      2. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
      3. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
      4. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
      5. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
      6. Interesting or relevant fact/detail from one of the article paragraphs
    2. Conclusion: (ie: elephant domestication)
  3. Turn your outline into a paragraph that tells about your topic in your own words and is about 6-7 sentences).
  4. Write 3 paragraphs like that, one for each of your three chosen elephant topics.
  5. Post your paragraphs on Google Drive in a document with your name in the name. 
**Soon we will be getting to writing in which you choose the topic. I've just found that if I don't start with this activity, I end up with a lot of 3 sentence paragraph—not great!


Email me if you have questions!