Formal Rules

Anticipatory Set

Practice using transitions to help your writing "flow." Open "The Blind Date" Practice and use the transitions below to improve the writing sample.

• Watch spelling, capitalization, tense and punctuation.

• Remember to use transitions to create flow to your writing

• Preface any quoted material.

• Do not use first (I, me, my, we, ours) or second (you, yours) person.

• Avoid absolutes (always, never, every, everything etc.).

• Do not use slang and clichés, and colloquial language (overused words).

• Do not use contractions (don’t, can’t, they’ve etc.).

• Do not use abbreviations.

• Do not start analysis statements with “This shows.”

Use Well-developed Paragraph Requirements

Over time you will develop a style of your own, but this template will serve you well at first. Ultimately, all well developed paragraphs have a topic sentence, a body of evidence (examples/ research), your analysis, and a conclusion. We follow an 8 sentence paragraph structure in Instructional Technology. This will serve you well for the time being to develop your research style writing for all classes.

Sentence #1:

Topic Sentence: Introduce the main idea of the paragraph.

Sentence #2:

Write a sentence with a specific example that supports the main idea.*

Sentence #3:

Write a sentence that further explains and analyzes the example. Analyze means make a statement that relates how the fact helps prove your main idea.

Sentence #4:

Write a sentence second example that supports the main idea.*

Sentence #5:

Write a sentence that further explains and analyzes the 2nd example.

Sentence #6:

Write a sentence about the third example that supports the main idea.*

Sentence #7:

Write a sentence that further explains and analyzes the 3rd example.

Sentence #8:

Write a concluding sentence that restates the main idea in new words and what the reader should have learned from your paragraph or a "call to action".

Formal Rules Prompt:

How can students have a positive impact on the school environment?

MLA Rewriting Assignment

• Follow Formal rules for writing and MLA format and rewrite your response to the prompt below the video.

• Remember to use transitions and vary sentence beginnings within the paragraph.

• Open a New Google doc. in your shared IT/ MP# folder.

• Rename it "Your name Formal Rules" (for example, Bill Smith Formal Rules)

• • Do you know your Google Doc shortcuts? Use Control + / to find a list a valuable shortcuts to improve your productivity.

  • Use your Add Ons on the Google docs toolbar and add a thesaurus to help you enhance your writing.

  • Do you need to use special characters? Download a reference list and create a favorites section for classes where they may be useful.

Set up the required format by following the video tutorial below the following list of MLA rules:

• Font: Black, Times New Roman, 12 Pt.

• Line spacing: Double in & between paragraphs.

• Sentence Spacing: 1 Space after each period.

• Margins: 1" Top, Bottom, Right, Left.

• Header: Last Name and Page # Right justified, separated by a space.

• Headings: Left Justified, one under another:

  • Your Name

  • Teacher(s) Name(s)

  • Class Name and Period (in college give the course # instead of pd)

  • MLA Date: Day Month Year

• Title: Centered (no underline, italics, or bold).

• Paragraphs: set indent for 1/2".

Submission

Add and Turn in on the Google Classroom assignment post.

Closure

You just practiced MLA format for a research style document. Are you aware of the variety of research style formats that you might run into in HS or college? Besides MLA, you might run in to APA, CBA, Chicago, or Turabian . . . each one has a different set of format rules. MLA and APA are the 2 most common formats used in college. Check out our MLA and APA guides on the sidebar menu. These will be useful resources throughout you OTHS career.

The University of Purdue's OWL (Online Writing Lab) is a comprehensive resource for formal facets of research writing. Check out their guides and practice exercises.

NJ Standards

• • TECH.8.1.12.A.CS1 - [Content Statement] - Understand and use technology systems.

  • TECH.8.1.12.A.CS2 - [Content Statement] - Select and use applications effectively and productively.

  • TECH.8.1.12.A.3 - [Cumulative Progress Indicator] - Collaborate in online courses, learning communities, social networks or virtual worlds to discuss a resolution to a problem or issue.

  • LA.9-10.RL.9-10.4 - [Progress Indicator] - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

  • LA.9-10.W.9-10.1.B - Use transitions (e.g. words, phrases, clauses) to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.

  • LA.9-10.W.9-10.1.C - Establish and maintain a style and tone appropriate to the audience and purpose (e.g. formal and objective for academic writing) while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

  • LA.9-10.W.9-10.2.B - Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.

  • LA.9-10.W.9-10.3.E - Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.

  • LA.9-10.W.9-10.4 - [Progress Indicator] - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

  • LA.9-10.W.9-10.5 - [Progress Indicator] - Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, trying a new approach, or consulting a style manual (such as MLA or APA Style), focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.