1. Find your essay… And find your new seat

2. Thesis Statements & Introductions “The experienced writer realizes that many readers would rather do almost anything than make a commitment to read” (Rosa & Eschholz, p. 133).

3. How do you feel about your introductions? What this says to Mrs. Young: 1.You’ve never heard of it or had an opportunity to practice them. 2.You have heard of it, but have not had time to practice or have and do not do well continually. 3.You have heard of it and practiced it, but your confidence is not where it needs to be. 4.You have practiced and do well when prompted to write. 5.You know how to do these things and include all elements of an introduction, including a thesis, even when not prompted to do so.

4. End-of-Course Instruction Persuasive Writing Checklist Demonstrates Control Lacks Control

5. Time to Reflect… 1.Put a bracket around your introduction. 2.Underline your thesis. 3. Looking at your introduction, does it reflect the rating you gave yourself for thesis statements and introductions? 4. Do you think your introduction/thesis is of a 3-4 value using the SOL rubric? 5. Should you reconsider the rating you gave yourself?

6. Thesis Diagnostic In pencil, go through and write “A” next to each statement that is arguable and “F” next to each statement that is “F” factual. When you finish turn it over and sit quietly until we proceed.

7. Today’s Focus: Thesis Writing ▪T he thesis is an opinion stated as fact. ▪T he thesis is the last sentence of the first paragraph. ▪T he thesis cannot be more than one sentence. ▪“ I ” should never be used in a thesis.

8. Examples: ▪ Fact: Smoking can cause health problems. ▪ Thesis: The government should ban smoking altogether. ▪ Fact: Foul language is common in movies. ▪ Thesis: The amount of foul language in movies is disproportionate to the amount of foul language in real life.

9. Diagnostic Check: Write the correct answer if you go them incorrect so you can use this as a reference and study guide later.

10. Today’s Assignment: Pre-Writing & Thesis ▪ Look at Prompt #4 of your SOL Writing Prompts. ▪ You need to complete a pre-writing strategy for the prompt. ▪ You need to formulate an effective thesis for the prompt. ▪ This will count as 2 formatives.

11. The Thesis Statement ▪T he thesis is an opinion stated as fact. ▪T he thesis is the last sentence of the first paragraph. ▪T he thesis cannot be more than one sentence. ▪“ I ” should never be used in a thesis.

12. Example Thesis Statement J ohn Steinbeck’s, The Grapes of Wrath, is an excellent example of historical fiction because it effectively presents the challenges families of the Dust Bowl faced.

13. Pre-Writing Review Commentary ▪ Take it seriously. ▪ It is essential to good writing. ▪ Practice makes perfect.

14. Pre-Writing is the map to your writing! Driving to new destination without a map: you know where you want to end up, but the middle will include extra time, unnecessary steps and may take you further from your destination before you finally find it.

15. Thesis Review Pre-Self AssessmentActual Achieved Levels

16. What this data tells Me… 1.Some students are over confident in their thesis writing abilities. Some of this can be rectified by simply improving pre-writing strategies. 2.Most students are highly capable of performing on the mastery level, but made careless mistakes such as using first person. 3.We still need to do a lot more work on thesis statements to get to our 88% goal.

17. Thesis Improvement Plan 1.Follow all the previously established rules of thesis writing. 2.Use terms from prompt not words you think relate. 3.Don’t be vague; give your main points. 4.State in positive terms rather than negative terms. Focus on what will you prove rather than what you will disprove. 5.State in solid, confident terms. Avoid words such as: may, can, might, could, etc.

18. Thesis Re-Visit At the end of this lesson you will have to re-visit this thesis when you write an introduction. Anyone who earned below 100% must rework their thesis statements prior to resubmission.

19. How do you feel about your introductions? What this says to Mrs. Young: 1.You’ve never heard of it or had an opportunity to practice them. 2.You have heard of it, but have not had time to practice or have and do not do well continually. 3.You have heard of it and practiced it, but your confidence is not where it needs to be. 4.You have practiced and do well when prompted to write. 5.You know how to do these things and include all elements of an introduction, including a thesis, even when not prompted to do so.

20. Introductions: The Purpose  Gain reader’s interest.  Present necessary ideas.  Introduce main ideas.  State thesis.

21. Introductions: A Visual Y our introduction needs to be one of the most refined and eloquently written paragraphs of your essay. It is important that you stay very close to your purpose and leave all distracting, unnecessary information out. General Information Specific Information

22. Introductions: A Formula

23. Ways to Start your Essay Anecdote Analogy/Comparison Dialogue/Quotation Facts/Statistics Irony/Humor Short Generalization Startling Claim Rhetorical Question Listen to the example and write the strategy your hear.

24. BAD BEGINNINGS ▪ Apology ▪ Complaint ▪ Webster’s Dictionary ▪ Platitude (assumingly thoughtful/moral) ▪ Reference to Title

25. Your Task Using all of this information, your pre-writing and thesis, you will create an introductory paragraph for Prompt #4. This will be a formative assessment. After we review these paragraphs, you will write a summative introductory paragraph. Due at end of class on Friday.