1. Objective: Students will learn the formal essay writing format. Bellwork: What is so important about the thesis statement?

2.  Questions from previous class  What parts of the essay did we learn?  Why is the thesis so important?

3.  When writing a formal essay you want to make it easy for the reader to understand what you are saying.  To help the reader understand the focus of your writing each paragraph should begin and end with a transition sentence.  The intro transition will start a body paragraph  The conclusion transition will finish a body paragraph  Transition sentences should NOT introduce new information.

4.  The Intro Transition should borrow a bit of information from the final sentence of the previous paragraph.  This will help the reader easily understand the connection from the previous paragraph to the new paragraph  The Conclusion Transition should borrow a bit of information from the Intro Transition of the SAME paragraph.  This will clearly tie together the main idea of the paragraph.

5.  For the 1 st Paragraph Intro Transition you need to borrow the paragraph 1 part of your THESIS STATEMENT  Thesis: To fully understand your laptop and how it operates it is important that you understand the hardware and software of your laptop, the difference in input and output as relates to your computer, and the storage options available to you.  What part of the thesis applies to Paragraph 1?  What is Paragraph 1 about?  Write a Intro transition for Paragraph 1.  One of the first things you should learn about your laptop is its hardware and software.

6.  The last sentence: this should summarize what the reader has learned in that paragraph.  It should borrow some from the Intro Transition of the same paragraph.  Introduction Transition: One of the first things you should learn about your laptop is its hardware and software.  Sample Conclusion Transition: Understanding your computer’s hardware and the software will help you when troubleshooting errors and in purchasing new software.  You can’t read paragraph 1… what did the author talk about?

7.  The first paragraph is called the …  It starts with a…  It ends with the…  The next paragraphs are all called…  The begin and end with…

8.  The first sentence of your conclusion should restate your thesis in reverse order.  You will then provide a quick summary of the most important aspects of your paper to finalize your paper. Don’t restate the entire paper but take the main ideas from each paragraph to summarize  Start with a sentence about body paragraph 3, then 2, then 1.  The final sentence  The final sentence should be a statement and provide a clear ending to the paper. It should not introduce any new information that was not already provided in the paper. Example:  Understanding the features of your computer will help you to use it correctly and efficiently so that you get the highest performance from your machine.

9.  I want you now to break into pairs to work to create an essay outline with the following worksheet.