Expository Writing

Grab your journals as normal and take out

your independent reading book. Instead of writing this morning, we’re going to

begin with 15 minutes of silent reading. You will need your journal throughout today’s

lesson.

Warm-Up – Day 1

SWBAT brainstorm for their expository essays

by completing a graphic organizer web. TEKS 13A

Objective(s)

Exposition is writing that seeks to

communicate ideas and information to specific audiences and for specific purposes. It relies on facts to inform or explain.

Exposition

Effective expository writing reflects

organization that is well planned—with effective introductory paragraphs, body paragraphs, and concluding paragraphs.

In addition, good expository writing uses a variety of sentence structures and rhetorical devices—deliberate uses of language for specific effects.

Traits of Good Exposition

Analytical Essay Compare-and-Contrast Essay Cause-and-Effect Essay Classification Essay Problem-Solution Essay Pro-Con Essay On-Demand Writing (STAAR Writing)

Types of Expository Essays

An analytical essay explores a topic by supplying

relevant information in the form of facts, examples, reasons, and valid inferences to support the writer’s claims. An introductory paragraph presents a thesis

statement, the main point to be developed. The body of the essay provides facts about the

topic, using a variety of sentence structures and transitions to help the writing flow.

The concluding paragraph sums up ideas, helping readers understand why the topic is important.

The Analytical Essay

What processes or steps do you go through

when you write? What is involved in each step?

How do you approach writing?

Prewriting Drafting Revising Editing Publishing

The Writing Process

In prewriting, you will:

Explore ideas Choose a purpose and an audience Gather details Sequence ideas

Prewriting

In drafting, you will:

Put ideas down Develop a thesis or controlling idea Structure ideas in a sustained way

Drafting

In revising, you will:

Re-read draft to see what works and what does not

Use a rubric to evaluate Analyze what you want to change or improve Make changes

Revising

In the editing phase, you will:

Check the accuracy of facts Correct errors in spelling, grammar, usage, and

mechanics.

Editing

In publishing, you will:

Produce a final polished copy of your writing Share your writing

Publishing

Which of the stages of writing process do you

feel you take most seriously or try your best on? Why? Reminder: The stages are Prewriting, Drafting,

Revising, Editing, and Publishing.

Reflect

For ANY type of writing, planning during the

prewriting stage is crucial. You’re determining your purpose and audience. You’re also coming up with topics and narrowing

them down.

The Value of Prewriting

Fill out the web graphic organizer I’m going to

give you to generate ideas for your essay. Fill out ALL the bubbles for full credit. If you want to write more in a bubble than will

fit, do the following: Put a number in the bubble. On the back of the organizer, put that same

number and write down what you want to put in that bubble.

Prewriting Your Essay (Graded)

Grab your journals as normal and take out

your independent reading book. Instead of writing this morning, we’re going to

begin with 15 minutes of silent reading. You will need your journal throughout today’s

lesson.

Warm-Up – Day 2

SWBAT complete an outline with complete

sentences to draft out their expository essays. TEKS 13B, 15Ai-v

Objective(s) – Day 2

Hooking (grabbing) your reader’s attention is

essential. The next slide has several opening sentences.

Which of these first sentences are strong openers? Read these examples and decide which is most interesting to you. Explain why they grab your attention. Then, explain why the others are weak.

The Introduction & The Hook

1. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to

wake up one morning to find you’re someone else?2. There are many ways to paint a room.3. Yogi Berra, the famous baseball star, said, “You got

to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”

4. Autumn is a beautiful season.5. On Sunday, we went to the store.6. When I woke up that morning, I had no idea it

would be the best day of my life.

Which grabs your attention? Why?

1. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to

wake up one morning to find you’re someone else?2. There are many ways to paint a room.3. Yogi Berra, the famous baseball star, said, “You got

to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”

4. Autumn is a beautiful season.5. On Sunday, we went to the store.6. When I woke up that morning, I had no idea it

would be the best day of my life.

Rewrite a weak one with a neighbor.

The body of a paper develops the main

ideas and details that elaborate on and support the thesis. As you tell your story or build an argument these details may include interesting facts, examples, statistics, anecdotes (stories), quotations, personal feelings, and sensory descriptions.

The conclusion typically restates the thesis and summarizes the most important concepts of a paper.

The Body and Conclusion

Using the outline I provide, draft your

expository essay. To get maximum credit, you must:

Have an entry with a complete, on-topic sentence under each bulleted heading.

Use evidence from the article “Adolescent Brain Development” in your first body paragraph.

Drafting Time! (Graded)

Grab your journals as normal and take out

your independent reading book. Instead of writing this morning, we’re going to

begin with 15 minutes of silent reading. You will need your journal throughout today’s

lesson.

Warm-Up – Day 3

SWBAT employ the RADaR strategy in order to

revise 4 sentences in their expository essay’s rough draft. – TEKS 13C

Objective(s) – Day 3

No one ever gets every single thing right in a

first draft. Most people require multiple drafts. Revising means “re-seeing.” Look for ways to improve style, word choice,

figurative language, sentence variety, and subtlety of meaning.

Revising

R A D (and) R

Replace . . .•Words that are not specific•Words that are overused•Sentences that are unclear

Add . . .• New

information• Descriptive

adjectives and adverbs• Rhetorical or

literary devices

Delete . . .• Unrelated

ideas• Sentences

that sound good, but do not make sense• Repeated

words or phrases• Unnecessary

details.

Reorder . . .• So that most

important points are last• To make

better sense or to flow better• So that

details support main ideas

Revision RADaR

Before:

As I ran to the finish line, my heart was beating. After:

As I sprinted to the finish line, my heart was pounding in my chest.

How did the writer replace the overused verb ran? What other replacements do you see? How do they improve the text?

Replace

Before:

Shadows made the night seem scary. After:

Ominous shadows made the dark night seem even more sinister.

How did the second sentence make you feel, compared with the first? Explain.

Add

Before:

The candidates talked about the issues, and many of the issues were issues that had been on voters’ minds.

After: The candidates talked about the issues, many of

which had been on voters’ minds.

Describe the revision you see. How did taking out unnecessary repetition of the word issues help the sentence flow more naturally?

Delete

Before:

Put the sunflower seeds over the strawberries, which are on top of the pineapple in a bowl. You’ll have a delicious fruit salad!

After: To make a delicious fruit salad, cut pineapple into

a bowl. Add strawberries and then sprinkle a few sunflower seeds over the top.

Which of the models flows more logically? Why?

Reorder

With a partner:

Identify four sentences from your draft to improve.

Work together to use each step of the RADaR strategy.

Try RADaR on your draft!

R A D (and) RReplace . . .• Words that are not

specific• Words that are

overused• Sentences that are

unclear

Add . . .• New information• Descriptive

adjectives and adverbs

• Rhetorical or literary devices

Delete . . .• Unrelated ideas• Sentences that

sound good, but do not make sense

• Repeated words or phrases

• Unnecessary details.

Reorder . . .• So that most

important points are last

• To make better sense or to flow better

• So that details support main ideas

Now that you’ve had practice, use the RADaR

strategy on your rough draft to improve as many sentences as possible.

Use RADaR on Essay

R A D (and) RReplace . . .• Words that are not

specific• Words that are

overused• Sentences that are

unclear

Add . . .• New information• Descriptive

adjectives and adverbs

• Rhetorical or literary devices

Delete . . .• Unrelated ideas• Sentences that

sound good, but do not make sense

• Repeated words or phrases

• Unnecessary details.

Reorder . . .• So that most

important points are last

• To make better sense or to flow better

• So that details support main ideas