1. Introduction
Kicking It All Off!

2. Notes

3. Attention grabbing sentence
What TO do . . .
Attention grabbing sentence
an interesting example
a thought-provoking quote
an odd scenario
a surprising fact
a surprising anecdote (an anecdote is a short story told to prove a point)
Supporting sentence leading to your thesis
Thesis statement

4. Introductory sentences that ask the reader a question
What NOT to do . . .
Introductory sentences that ask the reader a question
Example: Have you ever… Do you think… etc.
Dictionary opening
Example: Webster’s Dictionary defines ______ as ____.
Introducing yourself opening
Example: Hi. My name is ______________, and my paper is about _________________.

5. Practice

6. Good or Bad?
An amazing 36% of teen writing takes place outside of school.
Texting doesn’t make teens dumb.
Wikipedia says that texting is sending short messages between different phones.
Have you ever used abbreviations like LOL, BRB, TTYL, or C U L8TR?
The great movie creator Tim Burton once said, “Art is exercise for the restless imagination.”

7. Lable the attention grabber with (1)
In the United States, nearly 2 million people are artists by profession. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, that is “only slightly smaller than the total number of active-duty and reserve personnel in the U.S. military (2.2 million).” Arts education is vital to the American education system because it not only sharpens problem-solving skills and improves student test scores on standardized tests but it also trains students to fill millions of jobs in the American workforce.

8. Lable the attention grabber with (1)
In the United States, nearly 2 million people are artists by profession. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, that is “only slightly smaller than the total number of active-duty and reserve personnel in the U.S. military (2.2 million).” (1) Arts education is vital to the American education system because it not only sharpens problem-solving skills and improves student test scores on standardized tests but it also trains students to fill millions of jobs in the American workforce.

9. Write

10. Brainstorm
Create 3 possible opening sentences for your paper that will engage the reader. Remember: WRITE YOUR FIRST SENTENCE SO YOUR READER WANTS TO READ YOUR SECOND.
The seconds tick by in a deafeningly silent room. Students agonize over a 25% chance of selecting the right answer in hopes of being perceived as intelligent by the state, the teacher, peers, oneself. One wrong bubble and their trajectory of academia will change. (surprising anecdote)
“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think,” as so insightfully expressed by Margaret Mead, a well known social anthropologist. Standardized testing does just that what Mead argues against. (Thought provoking quote)
One test, three hours, two #2 pencils, one scantron sheet, and a life altering result. This is the reality of standardized testing. Starting in third grade, each year students are evaluated to put them in a “track” that is “best suited” for their “abilities.” (Odd scenario)

11. Expand upon attention getter Relate attention getter to topic
Outline
Attention Getter
Expand upon attention getter
Relate attention getter to topic
Introduce topic / claim
Thesis

12. Outline
The seconds tick by in a deafeningly silent room. Students agonize over a 25% chance of selecting the right answer in hopes of being perceived as intelligent by the state, the teacher, peers, oneself. One wrong bubble and their trajectory of academia will change.
Reality of children
Standardized testing occurs at least once a year
Standardized testing weight and frequency
The level and weight of standardized testing is inappropriate for the developmental stages of school-aged children, the tests are flawed in their assessments, and they causes instruction to be less effective at preparing students for the future.

13. Sample
The seconds tick, tick, tick by in a deafeningly silent room. Students agonize over a 25% chance of selecting the right answer in hopes of being perceived as intelligent by the state, the teacher, peers, oneself. One wrong bubble and their trajectory of academia will change. This is the reality that students face each year, starting as early as 3rd grade. The crippling pressures of standardized testing is doing a disservice to educating the next generation. The level and weight of standardized testing is inappropriate for the developmental stages of school-aged children, the tests are flawed in their assessments, and they causes instruction to be less effective at preparing students for the future.