Writing the 5 Paragraph Essay: A Collaborative Approach to Reading and Writing
This unique and in-depth approach to learning the five-paragraph essay will give students a positive perspective on a task they often dread. An inside-out approach to Critical Reading and Writing.
Tory Anderson
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:(450)
Popular
What's included
8 live meetings
7 hrs 20 mins in-class hoursHomework
1 hour per week. Students will be asked to read The Great Gilliy Hopkins within the first two weeks of class if they haven't already read it. Over the eight units students will be tasked with short writing assignments (a thesis, an opening paragraph, a supporting statement, a concluding paragraph) that they will offer as their ideas to the collective essay effort.Class Experience
US Grade 4 - 7
Learning to write the five paragraph essay can be confusing and frustrating. By collaborating on an essay together as a class with the teacher as guide the students will face each step of the task together. A typically lonely task will become a group project. As each student lends their thoughts and ideas to each step they will see a good essay take form before their eyes—an essay they helped create. The essay the class will create will be based on a critical reading of the literary classic The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Patterson. Unit 1 – Introduction to The Great Gilly Hopkins: author, setting, voice, context Unit 2 – Critical Analysis of The Great Gilly Hopkins. Introduction to “thesis.” Collaborative search for a thesis. Unit 3 – Introduction to “Outlines.” Collaborative effort to create an outline for our essay. Critical Analysis of The Great Gilly Hopkins. Unit 4 – A study of introductory paragraphs. Collaboration on the introductory paragraph to our essay. Critical Analysis of The Great Gilly Hopkins Unit 5 – Introduction to supporting paragraphs. Collaboration on finding material from the book to support our thesis as we follow our outline. Critical Analysis of The Great Gilly Hopkins Unit 6 – Introduction to concluding paragraphs. Collaboration to create our concluding paragraph. Unit 7 – Together we write the essay using all the material we have collaborated on. Unit 8 – The second draft. Together we content edit, copy edit, and write a clean second draft of our essay.
Learning Goals
Students will gain a thorough understanding of the five paragraph essay and tools to find deeper understanding in what they read.
Other Details
Supply List
A copy of The Great Gilly Hopkins. Can be borrowed from a library or purchased.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined June, 2020
4.9
450reviews
Popular
Teacher expertise and credentials
Receiving a master’s degree in English from BYU with an emphasis in creative writing was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with all things creative: novels, plays, movies, painting, music, dance, origami, cosplay, juggling, computer games, DnD . . . the list goes on.
On the STEM side of life I spent eight years in the United States Air Force as a radar technician. Working with the highly mobile radar of a forward air control post I traveled the world in C-130s, was buzzed by A-10s, and became proficient with various weaponry. Since the third grade I have been a student of the history of military aircraft, especially World War II.
As a published author of many short stories and four young adult novels I’m ready to help students create with the written word. In creative writing I teach the power of the word, the beauty of the sentence, the joy of the completed story. As a university instructor in critical reading/writing, I learned that a good author won’t tell you anything. A good author wants to see what you see after you read his/her book. We will learn how to know what we see and how to talk and write about it.
As a dad I homeschooled all eight of my children to support positive, independent thinking. I kept reading with my children long after they could read for themselves—until they left for college. I advocate reading and writing with classroom presentations and programs. I’ve been mentoring youth writers in the Juab Jotters writing group for several years.
When I’m not teaching you will find me pursuing my own never ending education, playing computer games with my children (great family time), cosplaying (last year it was Mystery Men), and spending time with my children and grandchildren (soon to be six).
Reviews
Live Group Class
$96
for 8 classes1x per week, 8 weeks
55 min
Completed by 428 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 9-14
3-9 learners per class
