Sam's Informational Essay

Sam is a second-grade Heartland student who is learning how to write informational essays. He started the process by making a Circle Map listing all the things he knows about. After choosing Lego, he created a Tree Map and broke down Lego into three categories of information. He then transferred that information into a Flee Map where he also added an introduction and a conclusion. After handwriting his essay from the map, he typed it out and color-coded the paragraphs to reflect the type of paragraphs he was writing. He used Go BOP Stop (green for the introduction, blue, orange, and purple for the body paragraphs, and red for the conclusion). See his brilliant essay below.

Penny's Opinion Essay

Penny is a fourth-grade Heartland student who is learning how to write opinion essays. She started by comparing and contrasting two types of islands in a Double Bubble Map as she read about them from a few different sources. She then chose the type of island she thought would be the best to visit (forming her opinion). She thought of three reasons someone should visit a tropical island and organized her ideas in a Tree Map. After learning what goes into an opinion essay, Penny prepared to write by creating a Flee Map (a cross between a Flow Map and a Tree Map). From that she was able to write her essay and type it out. See her amazing essay below.

Carolyne's Expository Essay

Carolyne is a sixth-grade Heartland student who wrote an expository essay. Her first paragraph is an introduction to the topic of different ways to surf. The last sentence of her introduction has her thesis, the most important sentence in her essay, that guides her writing. She has three body paragraphs, each focusing on a different type of surfboard. Her final paragraph is a conclusion where she restates her thesis, summarizes her main points, and wraps it up for the reader. Notice the words she used to transition to various points in her essay like "Another kind," "The last board," and "So in conclusion." These help her essay flow. Excellent writing Carolyne!