Common Core

Literar

y Analy

sis Writi

ng

Literar

y Essa

y Grad

e 7

Concept Framing

Teachers understand the key progressions in writing units.

Teachers appreciate the recursive nature of writing.

Teachers can name the important moves of a writing lesson and unit

Connect to prior learningFocus on one teaching pointModel the skill required for that teaching pointActively engage students to check for understandingMove students into independent work/confer with

writersProvide a share structure each day

Teachers break things apart to see the big picture.

With your partner, plan and chart the following for your session:

1. How you will CONNECT to previous day

2. In student language, what is the TEACHING POINT for the day?

3. How you could MODEL the skill

4. What ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT students will participate in with a partner

5. What will you send your students to INDEPENTENTLY PRACTICE?

6. What will you SHARE at the end of the class?

BONUS: What would make sense to confer about today?

Concept #1Building Theories

Writers generate many ideas about theme before settling on one.

Read “Popularity” by Adam Bagdasarian

Session 1: Literary essayists write about a text to identify ideas and theories about a story’s themes. (use prompts, p 12)

Session 2: Literary essayists test theories by looking for examples from the text that serve as evidence.

Debrief• How do writers develop theories about theme?

• How do writers prove or disprove theories?

Concept #2

Students have… Developed theories

about theme within the anchor text and “individual” texts

Found textual evidence to support multiple theories

Now will work on turning theories to claims

Organizing Evidence to Support Claims

Writers use Prompts for Pushing Thinking For example… I think this is important because…

Another example is… In the beginning…then later…finally…

To add on… Many people think… but I think…

This makes me realize… I used to think… but now I’m realizing…

This is important because… This is giving me the idea that…

The reason for this is… Another reason is…

This represents… This connects with…

On the other hand…. I partly agree but… because…

Could it also be that… This is similar to…

This is different from… After a while I thought about…

I noticed that section…connects to the whole story because…

Calkins, Lucy, and Medea McEvoy. Literary Essays: Writing About Reading. Grades 3-5. Portsmouth: FirstHand, 2006. Print.

Session 4: Literary essayists identify reasons and evidence to explain and support a claim.

They often use an organizer to keep their ideas together.

Reasons: independent from the book, the supporting statements that explain the claim

Evidence: examples used from the text to show the reasons/claim

Debrief• How do writers prove the claim?

• What type of evidence do writers use to prove claims?

• How do writers evaluate evidence and explain claims?

Concept #3Drafting and Managing Evidence

Session 7: Literary essayists draft body paragraphs by presenting evidence

through paraphrase and direct quotes.PARAPHRASE

The second way a person can be an individual is by taking risks that involve action.  In the story, Adam walked across the playground and went to the circle of other boys; he took the risk to take action.  To take this risk, Adam crossed the vast space of the playground by himself.  Adam, now, after being someplace where he had been safe, put himself in a risky situation.

DIRECT QUOTEThe second way a person can be an individual is by taking risks that involve action.  In the story, Adam walked across the playground and went to the circle of other boys; he took the risk to take action.  To show this risk, Adam said, “I took a deep breath and then, with great trepidation, crossed the twenty longest yards I had ever walked in my life...”  Adam, now, after being someplace where he had been safe, put himself in a risky situation.

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Literary essayists draft body paragraphs, even when

they’re pooped.

DebriefHow do writer’s organize their evidence in a way that logically builds their argument?

AssessmentProcess vs. Product

Formative Assessments Study samples of student drafts or writers notebooks

Examine conferring checklists and revision/editing checklists

Questions to consider:

How might we assess student growth?

How do these ideas fit into the literary essay rubric?

How do we use these tools to guide

instruction (plan future mini-lessons, form strategy ,

glean conferring teaching points, etc.)?

What other tools do we find helpful as

formative assessments?

Process rubric

Summative Assessments Questions to consider:

How do we assess growth?

How might you translate both the process and product into grades?

Learning Progression

Literary Essay Resources

Wrap UpHow would you like to continue to support each

other for 2013-2014 school year? Do we have your contact information?

Are you interested in facilitating next year?

“To be of use”by Marge PiercyThe people I love the bestjump into work head firstwithout dallying in the shallowsand swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.They seem to become natives of that element,the black sleek heads of sealsbouncing like half submerged balls.I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,who do what has to be done, again and again.I want to be with people who submergein the task, who go into the fields to harvestand work in a row and pass the bags along,who stand in the line and haul in their places,who are not parlor generals and field desertersbut move in a common rhythmwhen the food must come in or the fire be put out.The work of the world is common as mud.Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.But the thing worth doing well donehas a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.Greek amphoras for wine or oil,Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museumsbut you know they were made to be used.The pitcher cries for water to carryand a person for work that is real.