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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Examining effective openers and closures in writings

Students will listen to a reading of Dr. Seuss' and Jack Prelutsky's Hooray for Difendoofer Day! Students will then work cooperatively to edit one another's rough drafts of analytical essay, focusing on openers and closures.

A lesson plan for grade 10 English Language Arts

By Heather Bower and Michele Hicks

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • recognize effective openings and insightful closures in a work.
  • edit a peer’s paper using prescribed criteria for effective openings, content, mechanics, and closures.
  • work cooperatively with peers.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

55 Minutes

Materials/resources

draft of analytical writing
Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! (Seuss/Prelutsky)

Technology resources

None.

Pre-activities

Students have prepared a rough draft of an analytical writing and brought the writing to class.

Activities

Modeling/Minilesson

  1. The teacher has assigned a piece of analytical writing. Students have prepared a rough draft to bring in to class.
  2. The teacher will read Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! by Dr. Seuss and Jack Prelutsky to the class.
  3. The teacher will ask for students’ input concerning the reading. The teacher will guide the students to discovering that the story’s introduction and closing are distinct using the following statements and questions:
    • Describe your school.
    • Describe Diffendoofer School.
    • How did the introduction bias your opinion of the school?
    • How did the conclusion influence your opinion of the school?

Guided Practice

  1. The teacher will begin compiling a list of qualities of effective openings on the board. Students will write the following qualities down to serve as a scoring guide later as they participate in peer editing.
    • Have a “hook” that grabs the reader’s interest.
    • Provide a strong thesis.
    • Do NOT reveal everything in the opening.
  2. Students will add additional qualities of effective openings.
  3. The teacher will begin compiling a list of qualities insightful closures.
    • Do NOT provide any new information!
    • Do NOT repeat yourself!
    • Provide fresh insights.
  4. Students will add additional qualities of insightful closures.

Independent Practice

  1. Students will work cooperatively in groups of three (3) to peer edit one another’s papers. Students will use the compiled items as their checklist as a basis of review.
  2. Students will review the analytical writing for an effective opening, substantive content, correct mechanics, and an insightful closing.

Closure

  1. Students will select a paper from their group that best exemplifies an effective opening, substantive content, correct mechanics, and an insightful closure.
  2. Students will share the best paper from their group with the class.
  3. Students will provide one strengthand one improvement for each paper after it has been presented.

Assessment

Students will include a checklist and written comments from an evaluator with their final draft.

Students will receive credit on their final copy for providing meaningful feedback.

Supplemental information

None

Related websites

N/A

Comments

This lesson was created as part of the NCDPI Writing Lessons for Writing Features Workshop. (Style and Convention)

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 10 — English II

  • Goal 4: The learner will critically interpret and evaluate experiences, literature, language, and ideas.
    • Objective 4.03: Analyze the ideas of others by identifying the ways in which writers:
      • introduce and develop a main idea.
      • choose and incorporate significant, supporting, relevant details.
      • relate the structure/organization to the ideas.
      • use effective word choice as a basis for coherence.
      • achieve a sense of completeness and closure.
    • Objective 4.04: Evaluate the information, explanations, or ideas of others by:
      • identifying clear, reasonable criteria for evaluation.
      • applying those criteria using reasoning and substantiation.
  • Goal 6: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.
    • Objective 6.01: Demonstrate an understanding of conventional written and spoken expression by:
      • employing varying sentence structures (e.g., inversion, introductory phrases) and sentence types (e.g., simple, compound, complex, compound-complex).
      • analyzing authors' choice of words, sentence structure, and use of language.
      • using word recognition strategies to understand vocabulary and exact word choice (Greek, Latin roots and affixes, analogies, idioms, denotation, connotation).
      • examining textual and classroom language for elements such as idioms, denotation, and connotation to apply effectively in own writing/speaking.
      • using correct form/format for essays, business letters, research papers, bibliographies.
      • using language effectively to create mood and tone.