Ashley Roman

Dr. McKool & Dr. Hester

ELD 308 & ELD 376
Fall 2019
Writing Lesson Plan: Conclusions
Grade​: 4th

Time​: 7 - 10 minutes

New Jersey Student Learning Standards:

W.4.1.D Provide a conclusion related to the opinion presented.

Objective:​ Students will be able to write a conclusion to their essays.

Materials:
● “Ways to End an Essay” Anchor Chart
● “Conclusion Layers” Anchor Chart
● Student Mentor Texts
○ “Migraines”
○ “Homework”
○ “Dog”
● Teacher Mentor Text
○ “Roller Coasters”
● Document Camera
● Pencils

Lesson Sequence:
1. Lesson Introduction
● “Writers, today we are going to write our conclusions for our essays. That is right,
you are going to be just like a high school student or reporter that will sum up the
gist of their essay! Authors such as Giles Andreae use conclusions to summarize
his picture books.”
2. State the Objective and Purpose
● “Today, we are going to work on concluding our essays. To write our
conclusions, we will need to think of our thesis statement and our main points.
We can find our thesis statement at the end of our first paragraph. Our main points
are found in the overall idea of our body paragraphs. By adding a conclusion to
our essay, we signal to the reader that this is the end of the essay and condense
our information.”
3. Teach and Model
● The teacher will demonstrate the layers of a conclusion; “Writers, I need to tell
you a secret. Writing conclusions is like a piece of pizza! Check out this picture of
pizza that will help us layer our conclusions.”
● “Our entire pizza represents our conclusion, but when we take a slice out of our
pizza we still know the thesis and main ideas.”
○ Pizza slice: “Our plain pizza represents the thesis statement that has been
restated in our first sentence. It is our base.”
■ “What does my thesis tell my reader?”
■ “How can I say my thesis statement differently”
■ Teacher provides an example.
■ Teacher writes down that the cheese pizza is equal to the restating
of the thesis.
○ Pizza toppings: “Each topping type represents one main idea in the essay.
We can find our main ideas by looking at our our body paragraphs. Our
body paragraphs each have a main idea.”
■ “What is the main topic of my body paragraph?”
■ “What does my body paragraph tell my reader about?”
■ Teacher provides three main points.
■ Teacher details point one as a topping.
■ Teacher details point two as a topping.
■ Teacher details point three as a topping.
○ “With our base and toppings all together, our pizza, or conclusion, is
complete and ready to be placed into the next phase: cooking, or
revision!”
4. Guided Practice
● The teacher’s mentor text “Roller Coasters” will be read to the class.
● The teacher will scaffold student learning and construct a conclusion for the
mentor text with the class.
○ “My first sentence must restate my thesis.”
■ Roller coasters are my favorite ride
○ “The following sentences will restate my three main points.”
■ Roller coasters are fast
■ Roller coasters are loud
■ Roller coasters sometimes have loops
5. Independent Practice/Assessment
● “Writers, as you head back to your flexible seating for writer’s workshop, I want
you to think about what a conclusion does. A conclusion paragraph wraps-up the
essay by restating your thesis and sharing our main points. You can refer to the
 anchor chart on the board and the mentor texts to get some thoughts flowing on
your conclusion.”
6. Closure
● “What must the first sentence of the conclusion paragraph do?”
○ Restate the thesis
● “At this moment, how do you plan to restate your thesis in your conclusion?”
○ Student responses will vary based upon their essay’s topic
7. How will you know the lesson has been successful?
● The teacher will determine success based on the student’s essay if a concluding
paragraph is present. The concluding paragraph must appear at the end of the
student’s essay. The concluding paragraph must be at least two to three sentences
long. The topic sentence of the concluding paragraph must restate the thesis of the
essay.