A. Engage the Learner - W.7.2f (5 minutes)

• Repeated routine: students respond to questions on Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 11. Students will review their responses to the entrance ticket in Work Time C.

• Repeated routine: follow the same routine as with the previous lessons to review the learning target and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students if the learning target is similar or the same as in previous lessons.

• With students, use the vocabulary strategies on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart to deconstruct the words conclusion (the ending or closing to an essay or book) and reflection (a thought that results from deep or serious thinking) in the learning target. Record on the academic word wall with translations in home languages, where appropriate, and invite students to record words in their vocabulary logs.

A. The Painted Essay®: Sort and Color-Code the Parts of the Conclusion – W.7.2f (10 minutes)

• Move students into the same predetermined pairs from the previous lesson.

• Distribute the Organize the Model: Conclusion strips (giving half the pairs the first strip and half the pairs the second strip). Tell students that each pair has been given only one part of the conclusion, and later on they will find another pair with the other parts to create a complete conclusion paragraph. ▲

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

In Work Time A, before releasing pairs of students to find other pairs with connecting parts of the conclusion, model doing this with volunteers, in order to provide a visual demonstration which further clarifies the verbal directions. Modeling tasks before releasing students to do them independently supports ELLs by providing opportunities to understand the language of directions visually, as well as verbally.

• Invite students to refer to their Painted Essay® template to remember the parts of a conclusion paragraph:

  • Restated focus statement

  • Reflection

• Explain that pairs need to find other pairs with the other parts of the conclusion and put them together in the right order.

• Tell students that when they have finished, they will check their work against the Compare and Contrast Model Essay.

• Invite students to begin, and circulate to support students in reading and sorting the strips of the conclusion.

• Refocus the whole group.

• Ask students to chorally read the conclusion, pausing after each sentence for volunteers to explain the function of the sentences in the paragraphs. Invite students to help record the criteria of a conclusion paragraph on the Criteria of an Effective Informative Essay anchor chart. Refer to the Criteria of an Effective Informative Essay anchor chart (example for teacher reference) as necessary.

B. Language Dive: Conclusion - W.7.2f (10 minutes)

• Repeated routine: follow the same routine as with the previous lessons to facilitate a Language Dive with the following conclusion sentence from the model essay:

"Although the article and the novel focus on different parts of the journey, they discuss similar events."

• Use the accompanying materials to facilitate the Language Dive:

  • Language Dive Guide: Compare and Contrast Model Essay, Conclusion (for teacher reference)

  • Language Dive: Compare and Contrast Model Essay, Conclusion sentence chunk strips

  • Language Dive: Compare and Contrast Model Essay, Conclusion note-catcher

  • Language Dive: Compare and Contrast Model Essay, Conclusion note-catcher (for teacher reference)

C. Plan a Conclusion - W.7.2f (15 minutes)

• Review the learning target:

"I can plan a conclusion that includes a strong reflection."

• Tell students they are now ready to plan their conclusions. Explain that in this lesson, they are only organizing the conclusion paragraph in their graphic organizer and will draft the essay for Part I of their End of Unit 2 Assessment in the next lesson.

• Remind students that as they organize their conclusion paragraphs, they should restate their focus statement and offer a reflection. Ask students to refer to their notes from the entrance ticket activity and to Turn and Talk:

"How does thinking about the gist of your essay help you think about the reflection part of the essay? What more do you want to tell the reader about your thinking once you've concluded the essay?" (Responses will vary. Possible response: Knowing the gist of my essay helps me decide what should go in to the conclusion and gives me an option for restating my focus statement. I want to tell the reader that I think the lost girls deserve more recognition and help.)

• Invite students to retrieve the following materials:

  • Similarities and Differences: A Long Walk to Water and "The 'Lost Girls' of Sudan" note-catcher

  • Texts: A Long Walk to Water and "The 'Lost Girls' of Sudan"

  • Informative Writing checklist

  • Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer

• Guide students through organizing their conclusions:

1. 1. Discuss the following characteristic on the Informative Writing checklist, adding to the "Characteristics of My Informative Essay" column as needed.
      
      W.7.2f: "My conclusion restates my focus and shows how the information I've provided supports it as well as providing a reflection."

   2. Invite students to read their Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer parts for their introductory and proof paragraphs started in a previous lesson to remind them of their focus statement and their evidence.

   3. Invite students to refer to the criteria on the Criteria of an Informative Essay anchor chart or the Informative Writing checklist to organize their conclusions. As necessary, model completing the Informative Writing Plan graphic organizer with information from the conclusion paragraph of the model essay.

• Repeated routine: invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning target.

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

During Work Time C, let students with no experience writing in English write their plans for their concluding paragraphs in their home language, and then have them Pair Share their work in English as best they can, facilitating their capacity to begin translating concepts between languages. Alternatively, students with little or no experience writing in English may benefit from using speech-to-text software, through which they can dictate their concluding paragraph plans in their home language or in English, and then read the digital transcription from which they can draft their plan.

A. Pair Share – W.7.5 (5 minutes)

• Invite student pairs to pair up with another pair to share their plans for their conclusion paragraphs and provide feedback against relevant criteria on the Informative Writing checklist. Ask for a volunteer pair with to help model this exchange, using prompts such as the following:

“How do you plan on restating the focus statement?” or “What is your reflection about this topic?” ▲

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

Before asking students to discuss how they plan to restate their focus statement, model what a partner discussion about this question would sound like, with a student volunteer, or by doing both "voices." Include concrete examples of restating a focus statement in the discussion demonstration. Modeling and concrete examples supports ELLs by providing them more concrete, less language-embedded directions for completing tasks.

• Focus students on the Work to Become Ethical People anchor chart, and remind them of the habit of character recorded—respect—as students are sharing out their planning work and developing their understanding of the task.

• Invite pairs to begin discussion with each other. Circle and monitor the discussions to ensure students each share their restated focus statement and reflection.

• Incorporate reflection on and awareness of the following academic mindset: “I belong in this community.”

• Ask students to Think-Pair-Share:

“How does respect help you feel a sense of belonging in this classroom community?” (Responses will vary. Possible response: When my classmates listen to and support me, I feel like this classroom is a safe place for me.)

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

Provide sentence frames for the partner discussion of concluding paragraph plans. As always when using sentence frames, model how to use them with specific examples before expecting students to use them themselves independently.

How will you restate the focus statement?

I will restate the focus statement by . . .

What is your reflection on the topic?

My reflection on the topic is . . .

Sentence frames help ELLs better participate in conversations by providing them with the language they need to initiate a comment or respond to a question, freeing them up to focus their attention on generating the language they need for articulating the comment itself, or answering the question in depth.