LESSON #3: Essay Writing and Test Hints
Learning Goals: By the end of this lesson you will be able to
(1) choose an appropriate approach to reading a text to match the purpose of reading (e.g., scan to locate the relevant section in a text; skim to identify the main point; increase speed in completing the OSSLT Test on time;
(2) Use the PEEL System to organize an essay outline.
Here is a list of 5 words that will appear in today's class. If you don't know them, please insert them in your NOTEBOOK with a definition and an example of how it can be used in a sentence.
1. enthusiastic (adjective)
2. snowmobile (noun)
3. Vatican (Noun)
4. slur (verb)
5. shame (verb form_to shame)
Today's song choice is a video dramatizing the lyrics to The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead by the Canadian band Crash Test Dummies.
;Peter Pumpkinhead came to town
spreading wisdom and cash around.
Fed the starving and housed the poor;
showed the Vatican what gold's for,
but he made too many enemies
of the people who would keep us on our knees.
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin!
Who'll pray for Peter Pumpkinhead?
Oh my!
Peter Pumpkinhead pulled them all -
emptied churches and shopping malls.
Where he spoke, it would raise the roof.
Peter Pumpkinhead told the truth,
but he made too many enemies.
Peter Pumpkinhead put to shame
governments who would slur his name.
Plots and sex scandals failed outright.
Peter merely said,
“Any kind of love is alright!”
But he made too many enemies.
Peter Pumpkinhead was too good -
had him nailed to a chunk of wood.
He died grinning on live TV.
Hanging there, he looked a lot like you,
and an awful lot like me,
but he made too many enemies.
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin
Who'll pray for Peter Pumpkin?
Hooray for Peter Pumpkinhead
Oh my oh my oh!
Doesn't it make you want to cry oh?Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Andy Partridge
The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead lyrics © BMG Rights Management
You will work in pairs assigned by the teacher to SHARE your Opinion Essay Charts with each other and provide PEER FEEDBACK.
Download the resource "WRITING A SERIES OF PARAGRAPHS: Expressing an Opinion"
USE THIS CHART in planning your series of paragraphs expressing an opinion
OPEN THIS RESOURCE. IT WILL HELP IMPROVE YOUR READING SPEED AND COMPREHENSION
USING THE HINTS Document, read the brief text titled Night On A Bare Mountain and be prepared to answer the questions. MAKE NOTES - DON'T SUBMIT ANY WRITING
1. Skim the 5 paragraphs first by yourself;
2. Read the questions out loud to each other;
3. Read the whole article quietly to yourself;
4. Discuss the answers with your partner to reach an agreement.
WE WILL TAKE UP THE ANSWERS ORALLY AS A CLASS.
Your Independent Work Assignment is to develop the outline for an Opinion Essay which will be due Sunday, November 6 at 12 noon.
ESSAY TOPICS
DEVELOP THE OUTLINE FOR AN OPINION ESSAY BASED ON ONE [1] OF THE FOLLOWING THREE TOPICS:
1. Homework should be abolished after Grade 11.
2. Only people who have a college or university degree can be successful.
3. Our childhood years (the time from birth to 12 years of age) are the most important years of our lives.
USE THE PEEL SYSTEM TO ORGANIZE YOUR ESSAY:
Your outline should have three (3) specific POINTS that are clearly EXPLAINED with details, supported by EVIDENCE (examples, facts, statistics etc) and LINK back clearly to your opinion (which is your essay THESIS)
The PEEL System Doc and the Blank Chart (EXAMPLE ONLY!) can be downloaded below.
POST YOUR OUTLINE at least 2 hours before the next class begins- This homework will be your first assignment to be saved in your Personal Portfolio. Your Portfolio can be either digital or handwritten but not both!
The Portfolio will be marked out of 15 points toward your Final course grade. It will be assessed on November 21 for the P1 mid-term, and again as part of the P2 Final (Dec 14).Your assignment is to write a poem of not less than 200 words on one of the following themes WITHOUT FEET or WITHOUT EYES.
OR, you can write it as a prose paragraph.
- Short Survey