Expository writing lesson #15: how do you choose a topic for descriptive writing?

Download and read the article "Cup of Poison" and answer "Reader's Response" question #2 and "Writer's Response" questions #1-5.

When you have finished answering the questions, get a copy of the handout "Finding Your Topic."

Brainstorm a new topic that interests you to write about, and use the handout to plan how to make the topic more focused and what steps you would need to take to write about it.

Which of the steps did you come up with would you do first? are all of the steps possible?

Expository writing lesson #14: how do you write a balanced article or paper?

Avoiding bias can also be done by making sure your paper or article is balanced. Reread the article "The History of Fat" and answer the following questions in your notebook:

1. What is the author's topic? what are the subtopics in the article?

2. Who is the author's audience? what is the author's purpose?

3. Are there any questions you still have about this topic after reading the article?

After you have answered the questions, get a copy of the handout "Balancing Your Research Report."

Using the research and the drafts your have written so far, imagine the questions a reader might have about your topic. How would you respond? do you need to add more information to your article or research paper? does this exercise give you any new ideas for research questions? Think especially about what kinds of questions readers who do not agree with your view on your topic might ask.

Expository writing lesson #13: what is bias?

Bias is when an author makes their opinion about a topic obvious in what they are writing.

Download and read the article "Back on the Chain Gang." As you read, write down any words that you think make the author sound positive, negative or neutral toward the topic. If you think the word is positive, write "p" next to it, if you think the word is negative write "n" next to it, and if you think the word is neutral write "neu." (You can also use the signs +,- and =.)

In expository writing such as feature articles or research papers, writers usually try to avoid bias and to simply give their audience the most information possible about their topic. Even if the topic is a controversial one, expository writing is designed to help readers come to their own conclusions.

Read what you have written so far for your own research paper or feature article. Are there any words that you think are positive or negative? locate them and replace them with neutral words if needed.

Expository writing lesson #12: What are text features?

Download and read the articles "Get Motivated!" and "Will We Ever Cure..."

Which of the following text features did you find in the articles?

maps
graphs
diagrams
charts

In your opinion, which article did a better job using text features?

How did the text features in each article help the author achieve his or her purpose?

In your class notebook, write three paragraphs about a topic of your choice. The purpose of your paragraphs should be to inform a reader about the topic you have chosen. If you can't think of a topic, think of something you are good at. If you are good at writing, for instance, inform the reader what it takes to be a good writer. If you're good at video games, inform the reader how they might be able to become good at video games.

When you have finished your writing, create a text feature (a map, graph, diagram or chart) to go with it. Make sure the text feature supports the information in your article!

Expository writing lesson #11: how do you write with style?

Go back and read the article "The Last Orangutans."

When you have finished reading, get a copy of the handout "Elements of Style."

Read about each of the five elements of style listed in Part I of the handout. Then return to the article and identify two places the author used an element of style on Part II of the handout.

In your class notebook or on your blog, create two examples of your own of each element of style:

1. Rhetorical questions
2. Imagine that... sentence beginnings
3. Imagery
4. Similes
5. Metaphors

Expository writing lesson #9: how do we write conclusions?

Download and read the article "Got Milk?"

Answer "Reader's response" question #5, "Writer's Response" questions #1, #3 and #5 and "Write Time" question #4.

When you have completed the questions, get a copy of the "Writing Conclusions" worksheet. Go back to the article and read the conclusion.

A good conclusion should begin with a summary statement and do at least two of the following things:

- connect the main ideas presented in the body
- connect back to the introduction
- connect the ideas in the text to personal experience
- connect the topic to ideas beyond the text (a text-to-world connection)

Which of these things does the conclusion in the article do?

Go back to your handout "Linking Your Ideas Using Transitions" and identify the main ideas in your article or research paper. Then use the "Writing Conclusions" handout to write a rough draft of your conclusion.

Share your conclusion with a partner. Then, based on your partner's suggestions, get another copy of the "Writing Conclusions" handout and write a second conclusion. Be sure to include a transition so that your conclusion connects to the rest of your paper!

Which of the two conclusions that your wrote do you think was better? why?

Expository writing writing lesson #8: how can you use transitions to link your ideas?

Here are some transition words you can use to link the ideas in your paragraphs and from one paragraph to another:

first
second
third
next
additionally
also
last
finally
therefore
however
similarly

Re-read the article "Teen Smoking Court." What transitions does the author use? what other transition words can you think of in addition to the ones on this list? write them in your notebook. You should also copy the list above into your notebook.

Get a copy of the handout "Linking your Ideas Using Transitions" from Mr. Enders and rewrite the first three paragraphs of your article or research paper. Use your handout "Developing Your Lead" that you filled out in Lesson #7.

Read what you wrote to a partner. Your partner should write down all of the transitions he or she hears as you read. If your partner doesn't hear at least three transitions, go back to your handout and add some.

Expository writing lesson #7: How do we write introductions and supporting paragraphs?

Download and read the article "What Is a Hero?"

When you have finished reading the article, answer questions #2, #3 and #6 under "Reader's Response" and "Write Time" #3 in your notebook or on your blog. For the "Write Time" question, you may use the internet to do a little research.

When you have finished the questions, ask Mr. Enders for two copies of the handout "Developing Your Lead and Supporting Paragraphs." A "lead" is another word for an introduction paragraph. It is a word that is often used when talking about newspaper or magazine articles.

As a class, we will fill out a copy of the handout using the information from the article we just read. Then, you will use your second copy of the handout and your research so far to start planning a first draft of your article or research paper.

Once you've filled out the handout for your paper, ask yourself:

1. Have I included detains that meet the needs of the intended audience? (Go back to your "Audience Appeal" worksheet.)
2. Have I achieved my writing purpose?
3. Have I used an organizational scheme that is easy for the reader follow? (a scheme is a plan)

Show your worksheet to a partner.

Expository writing lesson #6: Selecting the best graphic organizer

Reread the article "Coping with Conflict" and download and read the article "Teen Smoking Court."

For the article "Teen Smoking Court," answer Writer's Response Questions #1-#5.

Just like you often do, adult writers also use graphic organizers to plan their writing. I am certain most of you are familiar with at least one or two of these. These organizers include:

Venn diagrams


cause and effect charts
Harvard Outlines
problem/solution charts
sequence chains or flow charts
reader's response journals (double entry journals)

Which of these organizers do you think the authors of the two articles you just read would have used? why?

Choose one of the articles and one of the organizers and try to fill out the organizer like you think the author of the article might have.

Think about the research topic you have chosen. What graphic organizer will work best for your research?

Use the internet or our classroom library to find two more sources for your topic. Then begin filling out an organizer using this new information. Don't forget to add your new sources to your bibliography!

Expository writing lesson #5: Appealing to your audience

Download and read the article. When you are finished reading, answer question #5 under "Reader's Response," and questions #1-#5 under "Writer's Response."

When we write, we have to think about who will be reading what we write. The people who will read the writing are your audience. When you have finished answering the questions above, ask Mr. Enders for a tw0 copies of the worksheet "Appealing to the audience." You will answer the questions once for the article you just read and once for the article you intend to write.

Expository writing lesson #4: How do you conduct an interview?

Download and read the article "Coping with Conflict" and then answer the following questions on your blog or in your class notebook: Reader's Reponse #3, #5 and #6 and Writer's response #1-#5.

Then make a list of possible experts on the topic of conflict in schools that the author of the article interviewed for his information or could have interviewed.

Then, using one of the research topics you have chosen, make a list of possible experts to interview for your article or research paper. For instance, if your topic is Ancient Rome, perhaps you could interview one of the Latin teachers at our school or a professor of Roman history at one of the many universities in New York.

If your topic is African American culture and history, you could interview someone at the Schomburg Library.

But no matter who you would like to interview, you have to write questions first.

When you have completed the questions for the reading, ask Mr. Enders for a copy of the "Interview Questions" worksheet or download it here. Read over the questions on the worksheet and then think of five more questions you could ask. Write them on the back of the worksheet.

Good interviewers always complete the following four steps:

1. come to the interview prepared with questions
2. listen patiently for the interviewee to answer
3. take notes during the interview
4. plan follow-up questions

Expository writing lesson #3: How do we cite sources?

Look back at the article about E.T. that you read in Lesson #2. How does the author show where his information came from?

You should look for key phrases, such as "According to..."
What other phrases does the author use?

Write down three new research questions in your notebook, using the same format you used on the Research Questions worksheet. You can choose a new topic or use the topic you used in lesson #2.

Get a copy of the "Citing sources" worksheet from Mr. Enders or download it here.

Use the Internet and our classroom library to help answer your research questions. After you have finished filling out the sheet, put the sources on your blog. Arrange them by the author's last name. When you have a page in a research paper or article that lists all of the sources you used by the author's last name, this is called a bibliography.

Expository writing lesson #2: How do we decide if a source is reliable?

Download and read the second article for this unit.

Answer the following questions on the 2nd page: "Reader's Response" questions 1 and 3, and "Writer's response" questions 1-5.

When you have finished answering the questions, look at the sources you wrote down on your handout during lesson 1. Here are three things we can do to find out if the information from a source is reliable:

1. who published it? what can you find out about them or their company?
2. can you confirm the information from at least 2 other sources?
3. who is the author?
4. what does the website look like? who do you think its audience is? are there any visual clues to whether this seems like a reliable website?

Perform this checklist for each of your three sources, and decide whether each one is "reliable" or "unreliable." Write your decision on your handout.

Expository writing lesson #1: How do we conduct research?

To complete, click here to download the article you must read.

When you have finished reading the article, answer the following questions in your class notebook or on your blog.

Answer question #4 under "Reader's Response," Question #3 under "Writer's Response," and question #5 under "Write Time."

When you have finished that, you will choose a topic for a short research assignment. You can pick from the following topics:

1. Latino culture and Latino American history
2. Islamic culture and Arab American history
3. African-American culture and history
4. Early American culture and history
5. Ancient Egyptian culture
6. Ancient Greek culture
7. Ancient Roman culture

Examples of questions you might ask are:

Question: Have there been any famous Arab American athletes?
Topic: Arab American history
Answer: One famous Arab American sports player is Doug Flutie, who used to be quarterback for the Buffalo Bills and is the oldest player in the NFL to ever score a rushing touchdown. His parents are from Lebanon.
Sources: http://arabamericansports.tripod.com/id2.html and http://aladdinsrant.blogspot.com/2006/02/doug-flutie-arab-american.html

Ask Mr. Enders for a copy of the "Research Questions Worksheet" handout or download it here.

Make sure your research questions are open-ended (that they are not simple "yes" or "no" questions.) Think before you begin answering questions: will they be hard or easy to answer.

Fill it out, then use the internet to find resources to answer your questions.