Compare and Contrast Essay: Analyze a Model | EL Education Curriculum

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Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.

  • RL.6.7, W.6.2, W.6.4, W.6.9a

Supporting Standards: These are the standards that are incidental—no direct instruction in this lesson, but practice of these standards occurs as a result of addressing the focus standards.

  • RL.6.1, RL.6.10, RI.6.1, RI.6.2, L.6.6

Daily Learning Targets

  1. I can determine the purpose of a model essay. (W.6.2)
  2. I can compare and contrast the experience of reading a scene in a novel to viewing a film version of the same scene. (RL.6.7)
  3. I can use the Painted Essay(r) structure to analyze a model. (W.6.2)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Opening A: Entrance Ticket (W.6.10)
  • Work Time B: Compare and contrast text and film scene (RL.6.1, RL.6.7)
  • Work Time C: The Painted Essay® template (W.6.2, W.6.4, W.6.5, W.6.9a)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engage the Learner – W.6.10 (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Read a Model Painted Essay® – W.6.2 (5 minutes)

B. View Clip from Film Version of The Lightning ThiefRL.6.7 (10 minutes)

C. Analyze a Model Painted Essay® – W.6.2 (20 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Debrief: Painted Essay® – W.6.2 (5 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Preread Anchor Text: Students should preread chapter 16 in The Lightning Thief in preparation for studying an excerpt from the chapter in the next lesson.

Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

  • W.6.2 – Work Time A: Students read a model Painted Essay®, preparing them to write their own explanatory essays on a similar topic. The Painted Essay® (Diana Leddy, Vermont Writing Collaborative) guides students in coding each section of an essay a different color in order to understand the function and content of each part of the essay, and how the different parts relate to one another. By generating criteria from a model and coding its structure, students begin to internalize the ideal characteristics for their own essay as they work toward the end of unit assessment.
  • RL.6.7 – Work Time B: Students watch a clip from the film version of The Lightning Thief and compare it to the corresponding chapter from the novel.
  • W.6.9 – Work Time B: Students draw evidence from a scene depicted in The Lightning Thief novel and film in order to support their analysis of the scenes’ similarities and differences.
  • W.6.2 – Work Time C: Students practice “painting” the model essay according to its structural components, with attention to the introduction, clarity of focus statement, development of ideas, and conclusion.
  • W.6.4 – Work Time C: Students analyze an example of clear and coherent writing, whose organization and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
  • W.6.2 – Closing and Assessment A: Students reflect on the Painted Essay® structure as a guide for their own writing.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

  • Several reviews can be found online critiquing the film version of The Lightning Thief. Provide some critiques for students to explore; challenge them to identify the strongest criticisms and/or defend the movie director’s choices.

How It Builds on Previous Work

  • In the previous lesson, students completed the Mid-Unit 2 Assessment, in which they compared and contrasted themes in literature. Over the next several lessons, students will use the knowledge they have acquired about the novel to begin writing their own informational essay.

Support All Students

  • For students who may be overwhelmed by too much print on a page: Reduce anxiety and support sustained effort by offering a copy of the model essay with one paragraph per page with double-wide spacing and large font.
  • Students may require additional support when reading for gist. Pair students heterogeneously for this activity, or group students who may need additional reading support together while the text is read aloud. ▲
  • Watching and comprehending the movie clip in real time could be difficult for some students. Think about scaffolding their experience with the movie clip by turning on the closed captioning feature or encouraging active note-taking. Make the film available ahead of time to allow students to preview it a few times before discussing it in class. ▲
  • The Painted Essay® requires high levels of comprehension and attention. This lesson could include simple examples, some inductive learning, or practice opportunities with partners to reduce cognitive load. ▲

Assessment Guidance

  • Throughout Work Time C, frequently review student work to ensure they are color-coding accurately. Use common issues as whole group teaching points.

Down the Road

  • In the next lessons, students will plan their essays comparing a scene from the book to the movie. They will use their plan to draft and revise their essays in end of unit assessment.

In Advance

  • Read the Paint an Essay Lesson Plan to review the color-coding system and the purpose of each color choice.
  • Set up the technology needed to show the film clip Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Scenes 13-14 [46:45-56:48] during Work Time B.
  • Review the student tasks and example answers to get familiar with what students will be required to do in the lesson (see Materials list).
  • Prepare copies of handouts for students, including entrance ticket (see Materials list).
  • Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Work Time C: Students annotate the model essay using the comments feature in an online word processing tool such as http://eled.org/0158.
  • Work Time C: Rather than using colored pencils on the displayed model essay, highlight or use colored text on a word-processing document.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 6.I.B.6, 6.I.B.7, 6.I.B.8, 6.II.A.1, 6.II.A.2, and 6.II.C.6.

Important Points in the Lesson Itself

  • To support ELLs, this lesson introduces students to the Painted Essay®, which helps writers understand the purpose of what they write and internalize the ideal structural characteristics for their own essay.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to analyze the Compare and Contrast Model Essay, as the essay synthesizes content and information across multiple sources and follows the Painted Essay® format that is new to them. Three Language Dives that use sentences directly from the Model Essay are featured in this unit. These Language Dives help students better understand the function of different sentences in the essay and be better able to produce similar sentences in their own writing.

Vocabulary

  • structure (A)
  • Painted Essay® (DS)

Key

(A): Academic Vocabulary

(DS): Domain-Specific Vocabulary

Materials from Previous Lessons

Teacher

Student

  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (one to display; from Unit 1, Lesson 4, Opening A)
  • Academic word wall (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 1, Opening A)
  • Domain-specific word wall (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 1, Opening A)
  • Vocabulary logs (one per student; from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Work Time B)
  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (one per student; text; from Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time C)

New Materials

Teacher

Student

  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 6 (for teacher reference)
  • Annotated Compare and Contrast Model Essay (for teacher reference)
  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Scenes 13-14 [46:45-56:48] (film)
  • Paint an Essay Lesson Plan (for teacher reference)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 6 (one per student)
  • Compare and Contrast Model Essay (one per student and one for display)
  • Watercolor paint set or colored pencils (red, yellow, blue, green; one of each per student)
  • Painted Essay® Template (one per student and one for display)

Assessment

Each unit in the 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize students' understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

Opening

A. Engage the Learner – W.6.10 (5 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as previous lessons to distribute and review Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 6.
  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as the previous lessons to review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students of any learning targets that are similar or the same as previous lessons.
  • With students, use the vocabulary strategies on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart to deconstruct the word structure (in this particular context, structure refers to the organization of the component parts of a text/piece of writing). Record on the academic word wall with translations in home languages, where appropriate, and invite students to record words in their vocabulary logs. ▲
  • Focus students on the phrase Painted Essay®. Explain that they’ll be learning what this is and how it will support them to write their essays in this lesson and throughout the remaining lessons in this unit.
  • Turn and Talk:

“What do you think you will be doing in this lesson based on this learning target?” (We will be using a model essay to guide our writing as we prepare to write a compare and contrast essay of our own.)

Work Time

Work TimeLevels of Support

A. Read a Model Painted Essay® – W.6.2 (5 minutes)

  • Distribute and display the Compare and Contrast Model Essay.
  • Read the model aloud as students follow along, reading silently. Note that the structure and organization of a traditional four- or five-paragraph essay may be new for some students, including ELLs. Provide opportunities for students to reflect on any essay conventions or expectations that differ from what they have seen before. ▲
  • Turn and Talk:

“What is this text about?” (This paper compares and contrasts the Medusa scene from the book with the same scene from the film version.)

  • Focus students on the first paragraph.
  • Turn and Talk:

“What is the gist of this paragraph?” (It provides brief background information on The Lightning Thief and clearly states a focus for the rest of the essay.)

  • Cold call students to share out. As students share, capture their response next to the first paragraph on the displayed model. Refer to the Annotated Compare and Contrast Model Essay (for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Continue this process for each of the remaining paragraphs.

For Lighter Support

  • Invite students to share preliminary ideas about the essay's structure. How many paragraphs are there? Which paragraphs are most similar to one another? How are the other paragraphs different? Encourage students to compare these early ideas to their later understanding of the essay's structure after Work Time C.

For Heavier Support

  • During Work Time A, provide a version of the Model Essay that includes larger text and wider spacing. These visual adjustments support readers with less developed decoding abilities.
  • After students read the Model Essay, invite students to notice any essay conventions or structural elements that stood out to them. Provide sentence frames that help students express these ideas. Example:
    • I notice that the first paragraph has _____. I notice that the second and third paragraphs _____.

B. View Clip from Film Version of The Lightning Thief - RL.6.7 (10 minutes)

  • Tell students they will view the scene from chapter 11, when Percy, Grover, and Annabeth visit Auntie Em's (pages 172-187).
  • Show the clip of the film Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Scenes 13-14, 46:45-56:48).
  • As they watch, ask them to make note of what they see and what they hear, as well as any differences or similarities between the book and the film.

C. Analyze a Model Painted Essay® – W.6.2 (20 minutes)

  • Refocus students on the Compare and Contrast Model Essay.
  • Distribute colored pencils, and guide students through using these and their Painted Essay® Template to color-code their Compare and Contrast Model Essay. Refer to Paint an Essay Lesson Plan (for teacher reference) for further detail.
  • Repeated routine: After guiding students through analyzing the model, invite them to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.

Closing & Assessments

Closing

A. Debrief: Painted Essay® – W.6.2 (5 minutes)

  • Think-Pair-Share:

“How can the Painted Essay® structure benefit us as writers?”

  • Students should pair up with the nearest classmate and take turns answering the question.
  • Circulate and monitor to ensure that students understand how the Painted Essay® highlights important structural pieces in an essay, illustrates the connection between ideas, and aids in effective organization.

Homework

Homework

A. Preread Anchor Text

  • Students should preread chapter 16 in The Lightning Thief in preparation for studying an excerpt from the chapter in the next lesson.

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