PRE-WRITING STRATEGIES  PLANNING BEFORE WRITING IS A MUST!!!!!!  Types of Pre-Writing Strategies:  Web  Umbrella  Charts  Listing Ideas

SAMPLE WRITING PROMPT  Writing Situation:  The principal of your school has suggested that watching TV causes students’ grades to drop.  Directions for Writing:  Think about the effect watching TV has on your grades and your friends’ grades.  Now write to convince your principal whether watching TV causes students’ grades to drop.

SAMPLE PLANNING SHEET Reason 1=B.P. 1 TV is a distraction Reason 2= B.P. 2 Students stay up late TV does Cause students’ grades to drop Reason 3=B.P.3 TV interferes with study time

TIME MANAGEMENT CHART  10 minutes – PLAN  30 minutes – WRITE  5 minutes – PROOF  45 MINUTES = ESSAY

THE ESSAY  There are 3 major parts to a standard essay:  The Introduction  The Body Body Paragraph 1 Body Paragraph 2 Body Paragraph 3  The Conclusion

WRITING PROMPT: (PERSUASIVE ESSAY)  Writing Situation: Many movies and television shows receive special awards for their excellence.  Directions for Writing:  Think of a television show that you feel deserves an award of excellence.  Now write to convince your reader why your television show or movie deserves an award.

WRITING PROMPT: (EXPOSITORY ESSAY)  Writing Situation:  Everyone has places that they dream of visiting. Suppose that you have been offered an all- expense paid trip to anywhere in the world that you would like to go.  Directions for Writing:  Think about one place you would choose to visit if you could go anywhere you wanted.  Now write to explain why you would choose to go to this place. Literary Terms

WRITING PROMPT: (EXPOSITORY ESSAY)  Writing Situation: Many people have someone in their life who has an influence on them. This person may be a family member, a historical figure, or celebrity.  Directions: Now select an individual who has an influence on you, and explain in an essay how that person has had an impact on your life.

 Expository Essay  Explains  Informs  Defines  Tells how to do something by giving information  States only the facts  Does not contain opinionated statements  The reader learns something  Persuasive Essay  Persuades  Convinces  Makes readers feel, think and act a certain way  Contains opinionated statements  Contains suggestions  Contains advice Expository v/s Persuasive

HELPFUL WRITING HINTS  Read the prompt carefully.  Plan your writing by organizing your ideas.  Support your ideas by telling more about each reason or argument.  Use a variety of sentence structures.  Choose words that help others understand what you mean.  Review and edit your writing.

ESSAY RULES  Read the writing prompt carefully.  Determine what type of essay you are asked to write. (Pay close attention to key words in the writing prompt.)  If the prompt is a persuasive, the first thing you must do is determine if the side has already been chosen for you in the writing prompt.  If not, before you begin to plan, choose a side to take.  Once the side you wish to support has been chosen, then immediately start to plan.

SAMPLE WRITING PROMPT  Writing Situation:  The principal of your school has suggested that watching TV causes students’ grades to drop.  Directions for Writing:  Think about the effect watching TV has on your grades and your friends’ grades.  Now write to convince your principal whether watching TV causes students’ grades to drop.

THE INTRODUCTION  KINDS OF INTRODUCTIONS: Introduction techniques that can capture a reader’s interest  Make a surprising statement.  Provide a description.  Ask a question.  Relate an anecdote.  Address the reader directly.  Begin with a thesis statement.

INTRODUCTION (Continued)  The introduction is the part of the essay that should grab the reader’s attention.  It let’s the reader know what to expect in the remainder of the paper.  Key points and details are not to be explained or elaborated in the introduction. If this mistake is made, the writer will not have anything left to express in the body paragraphs of the essay.

SAMPLE INTRODUCTION  Dear Principal Gunn or Miss Gunn,,  Many students think that watching TV does not affect students’ grades or their friends’ grades. However, I strongly disagree! I think that TV has a negative effect on grades because it is a distraction, it causes students to stay up late, and it interferes with students’ study time. Now I will convince you why I think TV has a negative effect on students and their friends’ grades.

TRANSITIONS  Transitions are words and phrases that show the connection between details. Clear transitions help show how your ideas relate to each other.  KINDS OF TRANSITIONS:  TIME OR SEQUENCE ( first, second, always, then, next, later, soon, before, finally, after, earlier, afterward, and tomorrow)  SPATIAL ORDER: (in front, behind, next to, along, nearest, lowest, above, below, underneath, on the left, and in the middle)

BODY PARAGRAPHS TRANSITIONS  Body Paragraph 1 To begin To begin with To start off First of all The first reason why Body Paragraph 2 In addition Another reason Secondly The second reason Body Paragraph 3 Finally Ultimately Last but not least My final reason As a result Conclusion Ultimately Finally My final reason In conclusion Last but not least As a result

BODY PARAGRAPHS  Every paragraph should include a topic sentence.  A topic sentence states the main ides of the paragraph; all other sentences in the paragraph provides supporting details. (Refer back to main idea and supporting details)  A topic sentence is often the first sentence in the paragraph. However, it may also appear later in the paragraph or the end, just like the main idea.