Name & Period: ________________________________

English # ____
Date: ________________________________

ITCHES TO SCRATCH
This is a three-week unit. We will be looking at different problems that bug and bother us, just like an itch. In the
process, we will examine a new way to approach essays, we will collaborate in groups, and we will create projects
and presentations. Below is an overview of what is going to happen. There will be assignments every day.

Day 1: Effective Essays Teasing Out Criteria

We will look at a variety of essays to figure out what is in a good essay
We will take some surveys about group work and individual work
We will use a planning sheet to set goals for this unit and plan how to achieve those goals
Day 2: Itches to Scratch in Essays
We will examine issues and problems that bother us and make lists of topics we could possibly write about
Day 3: Class Discussion Teasing Out Criteria and Itches to Scratch
We will share in groups and as a class what makes a good essay and possible topics we could write about
We will chose a topic to focus on for the essay
Day 4: Group Project and Presentation Explanation
We will go over all of the project, presentation, and essay requirements
Students will be assigned their new groups
o Groups will decide what activities to do for the project and presentations and divide up the work
Students will need to join Google Classrooms
o P1 = 7th Grade = Class Code = eaa0qvp
o P2 = 7th Grade = Class Code = 2n0inis
o P5 = 8th Grade = Class Code = 1mj2j9t
o P6 = 8th Grade = Class Code = ydks8j
Students will need to create a SHARED Google Docs/Slides/Sheets and SHARE it with EACH OTHER and
lyons@whittierchristian.org
Day 5: How Do I Scratch the Itch? and Write with Information
We will list questions that we and our readers may have about our chosen topic
We will figure out what types of sources will be necessary to collect so that we can write about our topic
Day 6-8: Research
We will work in the computer lab in our groups to research our topic
We will collect at least 10 pieces of a variety of sources and create a source card for each
We will work on our projects and presentations
Day 9: Order the Information
We will explore different ways to organize the information we have gathered for the essay, projects, and
presentation
Day 10: Leads for an Essay
We will experiment with different types of leads for the essay
Day 11: Group Work
We will work in our groups on our projects and presentation and essay
Day 12: Experiment with Essay Conclusions
We will experiment with different types of conclusions for the essay
Day 13-14: Group Work
We will continue to work in our groups on our projects and presentation and essay
Day 15: Group Presentation and Projects
We will give our presentations and share our projects
We will turn in our essays
We will take some surveys about group work and individual work
We will turn in the planning sheet with goals for this unit
 Name & Period: ________________________________
English # ____
Date: ________________________________
Group Work Expectations
We will take notes as necessary in our black and white journals
We will abide by the following:
o Ground Rules for Group Work
1. Responsible leadership
2. Everyone participates
3. One person talks at a time (no sidebars)
4. Be respectful
5. Positive attitude
6. Dont show favoritism
7. Dont sweat the small stuff
We will evaluate each other several times during the unit on our group participation
We will take a group work survey before and after the unit
The teacher will observe and evaluate us on our group work throughout the unit
Project and Presentation Expectations
We will take notes as necessary in our black and white journals
We will work in groups to complete a presentation that includes three components
o A technology component
o A visual component
o An interactive component
We will fill in a tic tac toe page to choose an activity for each component
We will follow the tic tac toe page and criteria cards for requirements for each component and as rubrics
Essay Expectations
We will take notes as necessary in our black and white journals
We will follow the essay rubric
We will write a minimum of two full completely filled out pages
o Eight to eleven paragraphs in length
We will follow the expectations laid out in lessons and the rubric from the unit (it is like our standard
outline, but much more)
o Lead
o Thesis
o Organized information
o Conclusion with thesis restate
We will follow standard formatting
o Typed (EVERYTHING)
o Times New Roman (EVERYTHING)
o 12-Point font (EVERYTHING)
o Double spaced
o One-inch margins
o Left justified (line it up against the left side of the page)
o Black ink
o Heading in upper right corner (its OK if it is on every page, and its OK if its single spaced)
o Title centered but below heading
o Nothing bold, italics, underlined, all caps (except book/movie titles, ships, USA, etc.)
o Indent the beginning of paragraphs
o No extra space between paragraphs
o Read your essay out loud to check for errors
o Have someone else read your essay to proofread it.
o NO CONTRACTIONS!!! (cant, didnt, wouldnt, etc.)