4.5 Flash-drafting a Literary Essay

CONNECTION Story of crashing pilots. Checklists helped! Bus drivers also have to use checklists.

TEACHING POINT Essayists, like pilots, use checklists to get their essays off the ground.

TEACHING We can use this as our checklist. It’s almost like a recipe for a good essay! Example of writing in the air for my essay. Hook: peer pressure Text: Little Red Riding Hood Claim: People should listen to advice from loved ones, not strangers. 1st Body Paragraph: Early in the story, Little Red Riding Hood learns to listen to advice from loved ones, not strangers. For instance, the girl’s mother gives her very clear advice: not to wander in the forest and to go straight to grandmother’s house. But does Little Red Riding Hood do any of these things? No! One example of this is…

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT Write in the air and practice with your partner, using the checklist.

MIDWORKSHOP Remember to glue the different parts of your essay together using transition words!

SHARE Use the checklist to evaluate your flash-draft. What are you doing really well? What do you still need to work on? Tomorrow we will start working on new literary essays off of texts you know and love. If you have a favorite short story or picture book or memoir, bring it in tomorrow so you can use it for your essay.

HOMEWORK Pick which text you would like to write about: One Green Apple by Eve Bunting The Stranded Whale by Jane Yolen Selections from Marshfield Dreams by Ralph Fletcher, especially: “Attack” “Last Kiss” “A Pox upon Us All” “Scuttlebutt” “Tea Rock Lane”