Writing Process Lesson Plans

Kyle Dyck, Amanda Burgess and Miguel Navarro

Prewriting Lesson Plan

Grade: 4 Subject: ELA

Time allotted for the 40 minutes

lesson.

Standards ELA Standard

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1A
Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational
structure in which related ideas are grouped to support the writer's purpose.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1.B
Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details.

Social Justice Standard

Action 16 - AC.3-5.16
I pay attention to how people (including myself ) are treated, and I try to
treat others how I like to be treated.

Objectives After hearing “Hey Little Ant” by Phillip and Hannah Hoose:
“Students will know”
“Students will be able” ● Students will create an opinion about whether or not they would squish
“Students will the ant.
understand” ● Student will be able to state their opinion out loud.
● Students will understand that they want to be treated just like how they
would want to be treated and should treat others the same way.

Assessments I will make several informal assessments when I read the book.
I will check for understanding by asking questions about what is happening in
the story. Additionally, students will share out their conversations during the
think-pair-share.

Language Supports Pictures in the story

The teacher will discuss the meaning of different words like squish, crack, nest,
nest mates, crook, by defining these words as I read. I will check for
understanding several times.

Sentence frames
 Students will use the sentence frame ““In my opinion, I would _________
because _____, ______ and _________.” when discussing their opinion during
think pair share.

Accommodations Comprehension Strategies

The teacher will use various comprehension strategies (predicting, questioning,
connections, and more) to help students understand the story and have
context.

Pictures
The teacher will do a read-aloud with the book and reveal the pictures
throughout the story so students.

Think-Pair-Share
Students will have many opportunities to discuss with their peers their ideas to
help accommodate the students who need extra support.

Materials and
Resources “Hey There Little Ant” book

Lesson Plan Teacher: ​Today we are going to read, “Hey There Little Ant” by Phillip and
Formative Assessment, Hannah Hoose. (Show students cover and ask what they think it’ll be about.
Opening, Introduction, What will happen?)
Body of lesson,
Closure, Summative Student: ​Will guess what the book is about. Ask questions about the book.
Assessment
Teacher: (​Will begin to read “Hey There Little Ant” to class) Check for
understanding as the teacher reads.

Student: ​Should be listening and actively participating in any questions I ask

about the story.

Teacher:​ After the story has been read have the students discuss with you what
an opinion is.

Student: ​Discuss in a grand converation what is unique about an opinion.

Teacher: ​Engage the students in a think-pair-share activity. Ask the students to

spend 1 minute thinking about what they would choose to do. Would they step
on the ant or not?

Student: ​Think about their opinion on what they would do.

Teacher: ​Tell the students to then think about 3 reasons why they chose their
opinion.
 Student: ​Think about the reasons for their opinion.

Teacher: ​Tell the students to find a should partner and discuss your opinion
using this sentence frame, “In my opinion, I would _________ because _____,
______ and _________.” Tell the students switch partners after a minute or
two.

Student: ​Share with your partner using the sentence frame and discuss opinion
and 3 reasons for the opinion. After sharing, switch roles and listen to partner.

Teacher: ​Have the students share their opinions and 3 reasons using the
sentence frame through a grand conversation.

Drafting Lesson Plan

Grade: 4th Subject: ELA

Time allotted for the 1 hour

lesson.

Standards ELA Standard

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons
and information. (Standards A-D)

Social Justice Standard

Action 16 - AC.3-5.16
I pay attention to how people (including myself ) are treated, and I try to
treat others how I like to be treated.

Objectives LO1: ​Student will be able to identify the components of an Opinion essay.
“Students will know” LO2: ​Students will be able to craft a first draft of an opinion essay featuring an
“Students will be able” introduction, body and conclusion paragraphs.
“Students will
understand”
Assessments Informal assessments - ​Students will engage in a grand conversation about the
components of an opinion essay. This conversation includes ideas about what a
hook can be, what evidence would they include in the body paragraphs and an
example summary for the conclusion. The teacher will be able to gauge the
students' understanding of the text.
 Formative Assessment - ​First Draft Essay. Students will write their first draft of
their opinion essay based on the book, “Hey Little Ant”. They will choose an
opinion and spend time writing an introduction with several body paragraphs
that support their opinion, finishing with a conclusion paragraph. The teacher is
able to walk around and see if the students understand the structure of an
opinion essay.

Language Supports
Students will discuss the different language demands through the step by step
grand conversation about the structure of the opinion essay. Sentence frames
will be used to help the students have a conversation about the different
language functions used throughout writing this essay.

Language Demands and Functions: Introduction, Body, Conclusion, evidence,

support, opinion essay, Hook, topic sentence.

Accommodations Sentence frames​ - Students will be provided sentence frames to think of ideas
for their hook, conclusion statements and others if needed.
Modeling - ​Students will see the teacher model an opinion essay with the
students ideas. The teacher will walk through the parts of the essay one by one.

Materials and
Resources ● Hey Little Ant​ Book
● Paper and Pencil (per student, students can use computers if possible)
● Easel paper and sharpie

Lesson Plan Teacher: ​Instruct the students to have a seat on the carpet. Setup the easel
Formative Assessment, paper and have a sharpie in hand.
Opening, Introduction,
Body of lesson, Student: ​Come to the carpet and sit down quietly.
Closure, Summative
Assessment Teacher: ​Discuss what an opinion essay is. Explain to the students that an
opinion essay is not something that is attempting to persuade others to believe
what you believe. It is information about what you (the author) thinks of the
situation. Additionally, there is no right or wrong answer, it is what you think.

Student: ​Discuss with the teacher what an opinion essay is and distinguish the
different between other forms of essay writing.

Teacher: ​Use the sharpie and the easel paper to write an example opinion
essay. Begin by telling the students that the first part to an opinion essay is the
introduction paragraph. This paragraph includes a hook and a topic sentence.
Ask the students, “What is a hook?” Discuss as a class and then ask, “What are
examples of a hook?”
Student: ​Listen to the teacher and share what you think a hook statement is
and an example of one.

Teacher: ​Explain to the students that for this example we are choosing an
opinion to not step on the ant and if that is so then we need a hook to readers
about our opinion. That can include a question or a “wow” statement that
attracts the reader to their essay. Have the students come up with a question to
start your example essay and write it on the easel board.

Student: ​Listen to the teacher about the examples of a hook and help think of
an example hook with the teacher.

Teacher: ​Have the students discuss what a topic sentence is and then have the
students discuss what three reasons do I have this opinion.

Student: ​Learn what a topic sentence is and discuss the example reasons for the
teachers opinion.

Teacher: ​Have the students focus on one of the reasons for your opinion and
discuss the elements of a body paragraph. Explain that each paragraph
represents one form of evidence that supports your opinion. When you finish
talking about that reason then you move onto the next body paragraph. Think
of detail statements that can act as evidence for your example essay.

Student: ​Learn about body paragraphs and help the teacher write one of the
paragraphs of the example essay on the easel.

Teacher: ​Move past the other body paragraphs and ask the students what the
conclusion paragraph needs to include. Discuss the importance of summarizing
your essay in a couple sentences and ask for examples to write in your example
essay.

Student: ​Learn what should be included in a conclusion paragraph and then

help the teacher think of ideas to add into the conclusion.

Teacher: ​Afterwards, tell the students that we need to make the essay flow
smoothly and to do this we need transitional words and words that link
opinions and reasons together. Provide the students with a sentence frame
“____________. Consequently, ______________.” Give an example and then
have the students think of their own examples. Afterwards, have the students
think of one we can add to the example essay.

Student: ​Learn about transitional words and ways to link opinions and reasons
smoothly and then discuss examples of this for the sample essay.

Teacher: ​Tell the students to go back to their seats and begin drafting their
essay. They need to include these elements in their essay. Additionally, make
 sure the students first think about what their opinion is and what reasons will
they use to support their essay. Once they figure that out then they should
begin writing.

Student: ​Head back to your seat and begin thinking and drafting your essay
using the structure the teacher discussed with the class on the carpet.

Teacher: ​Walk around the room and support students who are struggling to
think of an opinion, begin writing their essays and any other questions they may
have. Set a timer for 15 minutes on the screen to work on their drafts and
adjust that times based on what your class have available.

Student: ​Write essay and ask the teacher for help when needed. Continue until
the end of the timer.

Revising - Lesson Plan #3

(Since we are missing a member this lesson is written in briefly to show context to the lesson)

Grade: Subject:

Time allotted for the 1 hour

lesson.

Standards ELA Standard

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons
and information. (Standards A-D)

Social Justice Standard

Action 16 - AC.3-5.16
I pay attention to how people (including myself ) are treated, and I try to
treat others how I like to be treated.

Objectives LO1: ​Students will be able to revise their essay based on the new information
“Students will know” provided.
“Students will be able” LO2: ​Students will be able to critically think about the implications of their
“Students will choice to squish or not to squish the ant.
understand”
Assessments Informal and Formative Assessment​ - The teacher will have a grand
conversation about new law and information about the consequences of
stepping on the ant (or not stepping on the ant) and discuss with the class if it
would change their perspective on their opinion. Additionally, the teacher will
circulate around the room to help students as they revise their essay.
Language Supports Students will discuss the new language demands through the grand
conversation about the new information about choosing to squish the ant.
Additional sentence frames will be used to help the students have a
conversation about the different language functions for this lesson.

Language Demands and Functions: Revising, body paragraph, consequences,

supportive reasoning, opinion.

Accommodations ● Extra time for students

● Sentence frames
● Grand conversation and teacher scaffolding

Materials and
Resources ● Hey Little Ant​ Book
● Easel paper and sharpie

Lesson Plan ● The teacher will ask the students about how they are feeling about their
Formative Assessment, first draft of their essay by putting up 0 - 5 fingers. 5 fingers meaning
Opening, Introduction, great and 0 meaning terrible.
Body of lesson, ● The teacher will write on the Easel that there is new information that
Closure, Summative we did not have before. The teacher will write two different forms of
Assessment information for each of the two opinions. For those who chose not to
step on the ant the teacher says, “Your friends are not happy you chose
to save the ant and they said you cannot sit with them at lunch
anymore if you don’t step on the ant”. For the students who chose to
step on the ant the teacher writes, “There is a law that says you cannot
step on ants.”
● The teacher will discuss ideas on revising the essays they have been
working on and ask if it changes their choice? Whether or not it changes
their opinion or not, they need to revise one of their body paragraphs
to explain this new information and explain with supportive reasoning
of why they changed or kept their opinion.
● The teacher will model this using the Easel board for one body
paragraph and then send the students off to make their revisions. The
teacher will assess students as they walk around and the lesson should
take a total of 1 hour.
 Editing - Lesson Plan #4

Grade: 4th Subject: ELA

Time allotted for the 60 minutes

lesson.

Standards ELA: RL.4.6. Compare and contrast the point of view from which
different stories are narrated, including the difference between
first- and third-person narrations.

Social Justice: AC.3-5.16. I pay attention to how people

(including myself ) are treated, and I try to treat others how I like
to be treated.

Objectives Students will be able to edit their opinion writing piece (based on
“Students will know” the reading “Hey, Little Ant!”) after conferencing with the teacher
“Students will be able” to ensure correct structure and receiving feedback.
“Students will understand”

Assessments Teacher will formatively assess how each student is doing with
their opinion piece by meeting with individual students and going
over a checklist of must-have items.

Language Supports Students’ understanding of how to write an opinion piece based

on the reading “Hey, Little Ant!” will be enhanced by meeting with
the teacher and discussing what an opinion piece should include,
what they have written, and what edits can be made.

Students with different levels of language learning will benefit

from one-on-one instruction, vocabulary clarification, and
structure and syntax analysis.

Accommodations Strategically pair ELLs and struggling readers/writers with high

achieving writers during the peer editing process. Teacher will
spend extra time with ELLs and struggling readers/writers during
one-on-one process.
Materials and Resources Rough drafts of opinion pieces, pencils

Lesson Plan
Opening Introduce the objective of the lesson.
Tell students that they will be working on editing their opinion
pieces. Explain that the 60 minute lesson will be broken up into
four 15 minute segments. While students are working through
each segment of the lesson, the teacher will pull individual
students aside for a brief one-on-one conference to give
feedback on their opinion piece. The teacher will meet with all
students before the final segment of the lesson to ensure each
student has received 3 edits (2 peer, one teacher) before
incorporating feedback into a second draft.

Describe segments (each segment = 15 minutes):

Introduction
1. Re-reading their own rough draft to check for errors and
add new thoughts.
2. Peer editing #1- students read each other's work and give
feedback (one compliment, one critique, another
compliment).
3. Peer editing #2 - students read each other’s work and
give feedback (one compliment, one critique, another
compliment).
4. Incorporating feedback into the editing process to
formulate a second draft.
Body of lesson
Set the timer and proceed through each segment of the lesson.
Students should be silent during the first segment, engaging in
conversation during segments 3 and 4, and silent during the last
segment.

Conference with Teacher Teacher: “Hi ______. How do you feel about what you have
written so far for your opinion piece? I’d like to read what
 you’ve written to check for structure and give you
feedback.”

Student: “I feel ______.”

Teacher: “I love how you included ______ in your opinion

piece. After checking for structure, I noticed ______. What
ideas do you have about how you can include ______? What
changes can you make to ensure you include ________?”

Student: “I think I can include _______. I would like to

change _______.”

“It is time to wrap up our editing. By a show of hands, how many

Closure
of you were able to finish writing your second draft after
incorporating the feedback you received?”

Summative Assessment

There is no summative assessment for this lesson - the

summative assessment will be the final written submission of the
opinion piece.

Publishing - Lesson Plan #5

Grade: 4th Subject: ELA

Time allotted for the lesson. 40 minutes

Standards ELA: RL.4.6. Compare and contrast the point of view from
which different stories are narrated, including the difference
between first- and third-person narrations.

Social Justice: AC.3-5.16. I pay attention to how people

(including myself ) are treated, and I try to treat others how I
like to be treated.
Objectives Students will publish the final draft of their opinion pieces by
“Students will know” displaying their finished work on the prepared bulletin board.
“Students will be able”
“Students will understand”

Assessments Summative assessment: students’ published opinion pieces

will be graded according to a rubric made by the teacher.

Language Supports Students will discuss the new language demands through the
grand conversation about the new information about publishing
their essays.

Language Demands and Functions: Publishing, final draft, finalizing,

displaying.

Accommodations Students who are struggling with their final drafts can meet
for a small-group conference with the teacher in the back of
the classroom before transferring their final draft to fresh
paper.

Allow extra time to complete this assignment for ELLs,

students with IEPs, and struggling readers/writers.

Materials and Resources Fresh pieces of lined paper

Construction paper (final drafts to be glued to the construction

paper for added design)

markers/crayons/colored pencils (optional - if students want

to decorate their final publication)
Lesson Plan
Formative Assessment,
Opening, Introduction, Body of
lesson, Closure, Summative
Assessment
Teacher: ​Today you will be publishing your edited opinion
pieces by writing the final draft onto fresh lined paper (make
sure to use your best handwriting), gluing that paper onto
construction paper (you can choose the color), decorating
with markers/crayons/colored pencils if you wish to, and
displaying your work on the bulletin board I have prepared at
the back of the class. Before you put it on the board, please
show me your finished work so I can see that you are done
and tell you where on the board it should go. Anyone who
needs a few extra minutes of help before writing the final draft
can meet with me at the back table.
Students: ​Students should silently take out their edited
versions and begin to write their final drafts onto fresh lined
paper (previously provided).
Teacher: ​On the back table you will find an assortment of
construction paper which you can used to glue your final
drafts onto.
Students: ​Once finished writing the final draft on fresh lined
paper, students will choose construction paper to glue onto
and decorate if they wish.
Teacher:​ While students are working on their final drafts, the
teacher will conference with any students who still need help
editing.
Students:​ Students will present their completed final drafts to
the teacher for a quick check that everything is done before
displaying on the bulletin board.
Teacher: ​the teacher will be directing students where to hang
their final work on the bulletin board.
Closure Students who finish early can read silently at their desks or
spend a few minutes reading their peers’ displayed work on
the bulletin board (if many students would like to do this, call
by tables).