 SELECT AN IDEA  NARROW THE IDEA (FOCUS)  ELABORATE ON THE IDEA (DEVELOPMENT)  DISCOVER THE BEST INFORMATION TO DISCUSS ON MAIN IDEA (DETAILS )

 TIP # 1: Your topic should be SMALL and FOCUSED

 Africa (too general)  Animals in Africa (still too general)  Lions in Africa (better but not quite!)  Why African Lions Hunt in Pairs (Perfect!) › It has focus and it’s narrowed down

 1. ) Students  Middle School Students  Cooper Middle School Students  8 th Grade Cooper Middle School students  What 8 th grade Cooper Middle School students do to prepare for the HUGE Constitution Test  Now, you narrow one with your group…The topic is Desserts

 Don’t say “Climbing Is hard”  Instead give a statistic/ fact/ examples/details › “Did you know that only 20% of people who set out to climb Mount Everest succeed” (Hurst, 2003, pg. 12).  Note- you must cite when you get information from a source that isn’t from YOU!

 Telling---The room was a mess  Showing---”My bedroom looked like a pig sty! It had been weeks since I cleaned it up. There was clothes covering the floor to the point that I forgot what color carpet was underneath the mess. Leftover snack wrappers were randomly sprawled out on my dresser and the funky smell coming from the closet made me wonder what I had left in there!”

 When your mom asked you how was school today, you usually response “School was fine.”  In your groups, FIX THIS STATEMENT and remember to not TELL about your day but SHOW!!!!  The more details, the better!!!

 Our trip was exciting (too general)  We went camping and two bears were outside our tent eating our food! (Perfect!)  Listing every ride you went on at Disney World (too specific!!!)  We went on Space Mountain and the ride stopped and we were trapped in the dark for 20 minutes! (Perfect!)

 Your assignment is to identify what the CLEAR MESSAGE / IDEA is  Pay attention to how its written as well.

 BUT we have to know the rubric for IDEAS… SO if they get a 5, that means they have mastered IDEAS  If they get a 3, they are developing  If they get a 1, they are beginning to try

 Rating of 5 (Strong):The paper is clear, focused, and interesting. It holds the reader's attention. Ideas are fresh and original. Related details support the main idea.  The writer writes from experience and seems to know a lot about the topic.  The writing has balance; some ideas are more important than others.  The topic has been narrowed to something specific.  The writer stays on topic, and it is easy to tell what the point or main idea of the paper is.  Supporting details "show" what happens instead of "telling" what happens.

 This was scored a 2 (not 1 but not 3) for the following reasons…

 *The paper has no clear sense of purpose or central theme.  To understand the text, you must assume certain things because of the missing details.  The information is limited and unclear.  The topic is fairly general. Earth is too broad of a topic.  It left the reader with lots of questions.

 What did you rate it?  They rated it a 5  Here are the reasons…

 The topic is narrow and manageble  Relevant, quality details give the reader important information that goes beyond the OBVIOUS and predictable  Reasonably accurate details are present to support the main idea.  The writer seems to be writing from knowledge or experience, the ideas are fresh and original  Insight- an understanding of life and a knack for picking out what is important.