Lesson 3: Microessaying (Create, Share)

Focus Question: In what ways can our writing mirror our thought process and still be effective?

Common Core Standards:

RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel
the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

W.8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and
style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to

Objectives Assessments
Visualize how ideas can flow Microessay, Essay Mentor Text study
and change over the course of
a piece of writing
RL.8.3, W.8.4

Challenge preconceived ideas Essay Mentor Text study

on what essay writing looks
like

W.8.4

Materials:
1. Chromebooks
2. Writers Notebooks
3. Copies of The Outsiders
4. Copies of Essay Mentor Text
Accommodations and Modifications: Utilize newsela.com (or something similar) to alter the
Lexile score of texts as needed. Provide translated sources as needed.

Instructional Plan:
Opening (00:00 00:05): Do Now On a loose piece of paper, answer the following
question: What is an essay? Turn and talk with a partner about your answer.

Microessaying (00:05 00:30): After a short class discussion, move into how the class
will be based around rethinking what an essay looks and sounds like.

Describe the Microessaying activity and ask students to write a few sentences in their
Writers Notebooks about what they remember about the fountain scene. What stands out
to them? Why?

Read from pg. 53-56 of The Outsiders out loud, stopping at 3 different points within this
excerpt (when the Socs show up, right before the Socs start drowning Ponyboy, after
 Johnny kills Bob). At each stopping point, prompt students to write down how their
thoughts and feelings are changing from their initial reaction.

Once the excerpt is finished, ask them to jot down a few final thoughts on the passage
overall, allowing them to look back into the text if needed to find specifics. At what
points did their thinking change and why? Prompt students to turn and talk about the
process and share what they wrote with each other.

Essay Mentor Text (00:30 00:45): Pass out copies of an Essay Mentor Text (found
on tetw.org, in the back of Katherine Bomers book, or from a similar resource). Read
through once and discuss how what the students have written compares to the Mentor
Text. Is there a similar flow of ideas? Whats the same? Whats different?

Closure (00:45 00:53): On the loose paper from the beginning of class, answer the
following: How has your idea on what an essay is changed?

Homework Reread the Essay Mentor Text tonight. In your Writers Notebook, jot
down one thing you like about this type of essay and one thing you dislike.

IF NEEDED Push the exploration of the Essay Mentor Text to the next day and make it a
Jigsaw essay genre study with multiple sources. This would give a broader look at what the essay
can possibly be and may spark more ideas for each student.