Self-Paced Class: Scaffolded Essays (Animals & Disasters/Landmarks/Countries)
This engaging self-paced (video-based) course makes essay composition easy! If your student needs a bridge between basic paragraphs and a five-paragraph essay, this course will help them by using a scaffolded approach.
Dana Lorelle, Writing, Vocabulary, Essays
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(1,293)
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What's included
4 pre-recorded lessons
4 weeks
of teacher support1 year access
to the contentAssignments
1-2 hours per week. Students will be writing two complete five-paragraph essays.Assessment
I provide feedback (often through video) on all submitted paragraphs. Essays receive a detailed evaluation.Class Experience
US Grade 4 - 7
A "scaffolded" essay means that the instructor provides a ladder, or scaffold, as the backbone of the essay, and students build around it by adding details. This means that the writing process is simplified, and the focus is placed on the inclusion of information and crafting well-written sentences. It also means that students can relax and learn the essay-writing process without worrying about all the moving parts at once! The ideal student for this class can independently write a paragraph with topic, supporting, and concluding sentences. In this self-paced class -- which means no live meetings and is based on pre-recorded videos -- students will spend two weeks working on a five-paragraph essay about animals, and then two weeks working on a five-paragraph essay about a topic of their choice from several categories (country, landmark, geographical feature, or natural/man-caused disaster). All classes consist of an engaging warm-up activity, instructor presentation, guided practice, and workshop writing time. Conducting research, citing references, and avoiding plagiarism will also be key elements of class. All submitted essays will receive a full evaluation. As this is a self-paced class, special attention is given to student engagement. I regularly touch base with the students in the online Classroom and through messaging. Students should send me body paragraphs for review and essays for evaluation.
Learning Goals
Students will understand the structure of an essay.Students will understand and compose a thesis statement.
Syllabus
4 Lessons
over 4 WeeksLesson 1:
Class 1
Students are asked to select their own animals before watching the first video. They should have information about the animal with them as they watch the video (name, location, what it eats, any interesting facts). Students will learn about the structure of an essay and look at examples of essays about animals. They will then start to plan their own essays, specifically looking at the information they will need for the three body paragraphs. We will go over the proper structure of a paragraph, a Lesson 2:
Class 2
After reviewing the body paragraphs for both content and mechanics, students will work on writing an introduction and conclusion for their essays. The presented information will discuss how to use a hook in the introduction and how to answer “So what?” in the conclusion. Special emphasis will be given to writing a thesis. Lesson 3:
Class 3
Now that students understand the structure of an essay, they’re going to do more independent work! First, they will select a topic for their second essay (a natural or a man-caused disaster like Pompeii, the Titanic, or the San Francisco Fire; a landmark, monument, or geographical feature like Mount Everest, the Golden Gate Bridge, or Uluru; or a country of their choice). In this class, they will practice taking copious notes, organizing that information with the use of graphic organizers, and c Lesson 4:
Class 4
Almost done! We’ll perfect those body paragraphs, paying more attention this time to transitions between paragraphs, sentence structure, and sentence variety. Now we just need to write an intriguing introduction and a fantastic conclusion -- and we’re done! Other Details
Parental Guidance
Parents, one of the classroom activities involves an Edpuzzle about plagiarism. Edpuzzle requires parental consent.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Joined February, 2019
5.0
1293reviews
Star Educator
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Teacher expertise and credentials
Bachelor's Degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
My passion -- as well as my professional background -- is writing. Professionally, I hold a B.A. in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and I've been published in numerous newspapers and magazines. I've also taught writing and literature classes to students of all ages and abilities.
On a personal note, I have homeschooled all five of my children and taught them all to read and write... and with each it has been a different experience! What's easy for one child is not easy for another. When I teach online, I always remember that it's important to keep learning fun and to incorporate different methods of teaching to reach all my students. Reviews
Self-Paced Class
$20
weekly or $80 for all content4 pre-recorded lessons
4 weeks of teacher support
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1 year of access to the content
Completed by 45 learners
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Ages: 9-13
