+

7th Grade Daily Lessons – Informative Writing Week 2Week Of January 20th

W.7.2e Establish and maintain a formal style.W.7.2f Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.

W.7.2.a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

W.7.2b Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.

W.7.2c Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

W.7.2d Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

W.7.2d Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

2

Activity 4H Using Commas Between Adjectives (p. 39)Below is the second paragraph of the sample essay. If a sentence includes a comma that should be omitted, cross it out with an X. If a sentence is missing a comma, add one and circle it. Asthma is hard on every single individual who has it because it sometimes makes breathing difficult. A trigger, such as smoke, dust, mold, or pet dander, can set it off. For some people, vigorous, energetic exercise is a trigger. Schools can set up reasonable, practical policies to help students control their asthma. For example, schools should keep their air clean. Considerate school leaders should prohibit all smoking on school property. In addition, students should be allowed to keep their inhalers. Schools with strict, written policies on medicines should make exceptions for students with asthma.

3

Activity 4H Using Commas Between Adjectives (p. 39)Places where a comma has been added or removed are highlighted in blue.

Asthma is hard on every single individual who has it because it sometimes makes breathing difficult. A trigger, such as smoke, dust, mold, or pet dander, can set it off. For some people, vigorous, energetic exercise is a trigger. Schools can set up reasonable, practical policies to help students control their asthma. For example, schools should keep their air clean. Considerate school leaders should prohibit all smoking on school property. In addition, students should be allowed to keep their inhalers. Schools with strict, written policies on medicines should make exceptions for students with asthma.

+Monday

Label the following: For thousand of years,

people have raised fish and other water animals for food.

Word of the Week: conjure (v) to bring to mind (make something up- it has the connotation of not being truthful)The driver conjured up an excuse for texting while driving, but the excuse was unacceptable.

Analyze prompts and determine prompt for your informative essay

Practice Prior Skills Learning Goals

+Access Prior Knowledge

When given a choice of topics, what should influence your choice?

+ You are writing an article

for In Style Magazine. Describe a brand and explain what elements or people made this brand successful?

You are writing an article for Sports Illustrated. Describe a famous athlete and explain important events that impacted their life or their career.

You are writing an article for Fox News. Describe the best candidate for President of the United States of America, and explain how he or she would benefit our country.

You are writing an article for Bon Appetite Magazine. Describe a popular restaurant franchise and explain the reasons that has lead to its success.

You are writing an article for People Magazine. Describe a hero, actor, or musician and explain how key events helped them to achieve their current status.

Choose a Topic

You are writing an article for Motor Trend describe an automaker and explain how its vehicles have contributed to their success.

+Assignment

Select a topic from the choices provided. Make sure it is a topic that interests you. Search to make sure you find reputable and relevant

information for your topic. If you cannot find enough usable information or you are

not that interested in your topic, then think about changing your topic.

+Tuesday

Diagram the following: Wealth, poverty, happiness,

and greed were common themes in the writing of Leo Tostoy.

Define and apply MLA format

Practice Prior Skills Learning Goals

+Access Prior Knowledge

Why do you think teachers request that your paper be formatted a specific way.

What is an example of a specific type of formatting?

+MLA Format

MLA – Modern Language Association – primarily used in humanities (anthropology) and liberal arts (English).

12 point Times New Roman Font or similar (Something basic and easy to read)

Double Space One-inch margins on all sides Indent paragraphs (5 spaces tab)

+MLA Format - Title

Title and identification MLA does not require a title page.

On the first page of your paper, place your name, your instructor’s name, the course title, and the date on separate lines against the left margin. Then center your title. Click here for a sample first page, or go to the next slide.

 

+Example of the First Page

+MLA – Pagination and Organization Pagination Put the page number preceded by your last

name in the upper right corner of each page, one-half inch below the top edge. Use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, and so on).

Organization 5 paragraphs containing 3 to 5 sentences each. 1st Paragraph is the introduction and the last sentence

should contain the thesis statement. 2nd - 4th paragraphs are the body. 5th Paragraph is the closing and should restate the thesis

statement. 

+MLA – In-Text Citations – Author named in a single phrase 1. Author named in a signal phrase Ordinarily,

introduce the material being cited with a signal phrase that includes the author’s name. In addition to preparing readers for the source, the signal phrase allows you to keep the parenthetical citation brief.

Frederick Lane reports that employers do not necessarily have to use software to monitor how their employees use the Web: employers can “use a hidden video camera pointed at an employee’s monitor” and even position a camera ”so that a number of monitors [can] be viewed at the same time” (147).

+Example of in-text citation

+MLA – In Text Citations Author named in parenthesis 2. Author named in parentheses If a signal phrase

does not name the author, put the author’s last name in parentheses along with the page number. Use no punctuation between the name and the page number.

Companies can monitor employees’ every keystroke without legal penalty, but they may have to combat low morale as a result (Lane 129).

+MLA – In Text Citations – Author Unknown 3. Author unknown Either use the complete title in a

signal phrase or use a short form of the title in parentheses. Titles of books are italicized; titles of articles are put in quotation marks.

A popular keystroke logging program operates invisibly on workers’ computers yet provides supervisors with details of the workers’ online activities (“Automatically”).

+MLA – In Text Citations – Page # Unknown 4. Page number unknown Do not include the page number if a

work lacks page numbers, as is the case with many Web sources. Even if a printout from a Web site shows page numbers, treat the source as unpaginated in the in-text citation because not all printouts give the same page numbers. (When the pages of a Web source are stable, as in PDF files, supply a page number in your in-text citation.)

As a 2005 study by Salary.com and America Online indicates, the Internet ranked as the top choice among employees for ways of wasting time on the job; it beat talking with co-workers—the second most popular method—by a margin of nearly two to one (Frauenheim).

If a source has numbered paragraphs or sections, use “par.” (or “pars.”) or “sec.” (or “secs.”) in the parentheses: (Smith, par. 4). Notice that a comma follows the author’s name in this case.

+MLA – In Text Citations – Using Websites McCord thinks Woods is an excellent player, but finds

the future of his game unpredictable (Schwartz). "Eldrick (Tiger) Woods, now 38 year of age has had an

unprecedented career," ("About Tiger Woods").

+Works Cited Page (Reference Page)

+Works Cited Page - WebsiteLast name, first name. “Title.” Website. URL Code

You do not need a published or access date.

+Works Cited Example using Websites with known and unknown authors.Works Cited

"About Tiger Woods." tigerwoods.com. http: web.tigerwoods.com/aboutTiger/bio.

Schwartz, Nick. "Gary McCord say Tiger Woods is in his 'own prison.'" usatoday.com. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/01/mccord-tiger-woods-tiny-prison/.

+Works Cited Page (Reference Page)

+Works Cited Page (Reference Page)

+Assignment – Cite a Source

Find two articles on the internet. Write a sentence citing each source directly or indirectly.

Create a Works Cited page and properly record each source.

+Wednesday

Diagram and label the following sentence:

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world.

To analyze and evaluate strong points of your argumentative essay on turnitin.com.

Reflect objectively on areas of improvement.

Practice Prior Skills Learning Goal

+Assignment -Review Your Argumentative Essay Write down each type of comment one time (example:

don’t write in 1st or 2nd person). Write down what you did well for each category in the

rubric (Development: I thoroughly addressed the prompt)

Write down what you could do better in each category that you did not score exemplary.

Reflect on what you learned from evaluating your argumentative essay and write your reflection in a paragraph.

+Thursday

There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement.

Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers.

Review Works Cited and in Text Citation.

Read and annotate sources for essay.

Which is the stronger thesis statement? Why? Learning Goal

+Access Prior Knowledge

Review Students MLA Citations and Works Cited In what order are the references to be listed on the

Works Cited page? What do you use if the author is unknown?

+Assignment - Research and annotate sources – Due Monday Research your topic online and find 3 sources to apply

to your essay. Read and annotate your sources (either highlight or

underline or take notes)

+Friday

Some problems with Katy Elementary School is that it needs a playground, an air conditioned gym, new landscaping, restrooms connected to classrooms, running water in the classrooms.

To provide a more effective learning environment, Katy Elementary School should improve its indoor and outdoor facilities.

Read and annotate sources for essay.

To analyze and organize notes.

Which is the stronger thesis statement? Why?

Learning Goals

+Assignment – Research, Annotate, & Organize your notes – Due Tuesday Research your topic online and find 3 sources to apply

to your essay. Read and annotate your sources (either highlight or

underline or take notes) Use an outline or a graphic organizer to organize your

notes.