Independent Writing: Conclusion and Revising Our “Most Important Thing about Schools” Book | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G2:M1:U3:L8

Independent Writing: Conclusion and Revising Our “Most Important Thing about Schools” Book

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • W.2.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
  • W.2.5: With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
  • SL.2.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
  • SL.2.1a: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
  • SL.2.1c: Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion.
  • L.2.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can write a conclusion for my "The Most Important Thing about Schools" book. (SL.2.1a, SL.2.1c, W.2.2, W.2.5, L.2.2)
  • I can revise my writing using the Revising and Editing Checklist. (W.2.5, L.2.2)

Ongoing Assessment

  • During Work Time A and Work Time B, use the Informative/Explanatory Writing Checklist to document students' progress toward W.2.2 and L.2.2 (see Assessment Overview and Resources).

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engaging the Learner: Working with Our Writing Partners (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Independent Writing: Conclusion (25 minutes)

B. Revising My Writing: Using the Revising and Editing Checklist (25 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Pinky Partners: Reflecting on Learning (5 minutes)

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • In the Opening, students use their experiences from sharing their work in Lessons 6-7 to add to the Writing Partners anchor chart. (W.2.5)
  • During Work Time A, students finish writing their "The Most Important Thing about Schools" books by drafting, revising, and editing their conclusions. (W.2.2, L.2.2).
  • During Work Time B, students work with their writing partners to revise their entire "The Most Important Thing about Schools" book using the Revising and Editing Checklist at the back of their books. Students focus more heavily on revising the content of their descriptions in this lesson. In the following lesson, they will have the opportunity to edit their writing.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • In Unit 2, students wrote conclusions for their Problem and Solution informational paragraphs. They will build on this prior knowledge by writing a conclusion for their "The Most Important Thing about Schools" book.
  • In Lesson 5, students analyzed "The Most Important Thing about Schools" Book: Teacher Model. They will revisit parts of this model again in this lesson to continue writing their own books.
  • This lesson follows a similar pattern to Lessons 6-7. Students will meet with their partners to draft and revise another part of their descriptions. In Lesson 6, students wrote their focus statements and information about differences. In Lesson 7, they wrote information about similarities. In this lesson, they finish their descriptions by writing a conclusion.
  • During Work Time A, students revisit the Module Guiding Question anchor chart from Unit 1 to help them write their conclusions.
  • Continue to use Goal 1 and 2 Conversation Cues to promote productive and equitable conversation.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • As students craft their conclusions in Work Time B, consider supporting certain students by pulling a small group and having them write one part of the conclusion at a time: the sentence that reminds readers of the topic first, and then the reflection statement on why schools are important.
  • For students who need additional support with revising their writing in Work Time B, consider having these students revise their book in just one place.

Down the road:

  • In Lesson 9, students will edit their entire book, which will be shared with an audience at the Celebration of Learning in Lesson 10.
  • During the Celebration of Learning in Lesson 10, students also will present their Readers Theater scripts from Unit 2. They will practice their plays in Lesson 9 of this unit. If you want students to have additional practice, you may want to find other parts of your day to give them time to rehearse.

In Advance

  • Preview:
    • Think-alouds in Work Times A and B to familiarize yourself with how to model writing the conclusion, as well as using the revising and editing checklist.
    • Revising for Similar Language example (for teacher reference) (see supporting materials).
  • Prepare the Revising and Editing Checklist anchor chart (see supporting materials).
  • Review the Pinky Partners protocol. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Post: Learning targets, Writing Partners anchor chart, Important Book Parts anchor chart, and Module Guiding Question anchor chart.

Tech and Multimedia

Consider using an interactive whiteboard or document camera to display lesson materials.

  • Work Time A and B: Students complete and revise their book using a word processing tool, for example a Google Doc.
  • Work Time A and B: Students use Speech to Text facilities activated on devices, or using an app or software like Dictation.io.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 2.I.A.1, 2.I.A.3, 2.I.B.5, and 2.I.C.10

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to work closely with paragraph structure, building on their understanding one sentence at a time. In this lesson, students focus on their conclusions and reflection statements. Students continue to benefit from the activities and visual resources that establish paragraph structure and sequence from prior lessons.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to keep track of all of the resources in the room required for writing and revising according to the established protocols. Spend some time individually or in small groups with students to remind them of the purpose of each resource and to briefly guide them through using charts and checklists to facilitate writing.

Levels of support

For lighter support:

For students who have received heavier support throughout the unit, allow them to work more independently during this lesson. Observe the areas in which they have grown and the areas with which they may continue to need support.

For heavier support:

  • If ELLs who need heavier support are placed together in the same research school team, provide them with scaffolded materials such as partially pre-filled templates of their "The Most Important Thing about Schools" books. Consider working closely with this group throughout the lesson and completing their conclusions and reflection statements with them as shared or guided writing sessions.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): During Work Time A, the teacher reviews the steps for writing sentences on page 10 of students' "The Most Important Thing about Schools" books. Students have to synthesize a lot of information from several sources for this task. To support students in becoming independent with these steps, provide alternatives to auditory information by writing the steps on the board or chart paper as a reference.
  • Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): During Work Time A, students must attend to a series of examples and instructions. Some students may get restless. Provide options for physical action by inviting students to join you in a quick movement break.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): During the Opening, optimize relevance of the Writing Partners anchor chart by inviting students to share their own ideas about how working with writing partners has helped make their writing better.

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

New:

  • reflection statement (L)

Review:

  • kind, specific, and helpful feedback, conclusion (L)

Materials

  • "The Most Important Thing about Schools" book (from Lesson 6; one per student)
  • Writing Partners anchor chart (begun in Unit 2, Lesson 2; added to during the Opening; see supporting materials)
  • The Important Book (from Lesson 5; one to display)
  • Important Book Parts anchor chart (begun in Lesson 5)
  • Language for Comparing and Contrasting anchor chart (begun in Lesson 1)
  • "The Most Important Thing about Schools" Book: Teacher Model (from Lesson 5; one to display; see Performance Task)
  • Module Guiding Question anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 1; one to display)
  • Informative/Explanatory Writing Checklist (for teacher reference; see Assessment Overview and Resources)
  • Revising and Editing Checklist anchor chart (new; teacher-created; see supporting materials)
  • Ways to Show Things Are Similar anchor chart (new; co-created with students during Work Time B)
  • Revising for Similar Language example (one to display)
  • Revising for Similar Language example (example, for teacher reference)
  • Revising and Editing Checklist (one per student)
  • Pinky Partners anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 6)

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Assessment

Each unit in the K-2 Language Arts Curriculum has one standards-based assessment built in. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Engaging the Learner: Working with Our Writing Partners (5 minutes)

  •  Invite students to bring their pencils and "The Most Important Thing about Schools" book and sit next to their writing partner in the whole group area. Once students are seated, ask them to place their pencil and note-catcher next to them.
  • Tell students that their hard work as writers is paying off: They are one step closer to finishing their performance tasks. Today, they will work on one more part of their books before revising their entire books. Then, tomorrow, they will edit and publish their books!
  • Display the Writing Partners anchor chart. Explain to students that working with their writing partners has helped them make their writing better. List a few examples using the anchor chart:
    • "You have planned with your writing partner and made sure you both had important differences and similarities."
    • "You have looked at your partner's work closely as you helped him or her revise and edit certain parts of the book."
  • Invite students to give their writing partners a thumbs-up.
  • Tell students that they have been practicing doing something that is going to be very important for writing partners today: giving and receiving kind, specific, and helpful feedback.
  • In front of students, add to the left side of the column under "Work with Our Writing Partners":
    • "4. Give kind, specific, and helpful feedback."
  • Remind students that over the past couple of days they have practiced using particular language to give kind, specific, and helpful feedback. In front of students, on the right-hand side of the column under "Looks like and sounds like," add the sentence starters "You did a good job of ..." and "Would you consider ...?"
  • Invite students to point to one of the sentence starters they used yesterday when they were giving feedback to a classmate. Tell students that we will be giving kind, specific, and helpful feedback to our writing partners later today.
  • For ELLs: Point out that when using sentence frames like "You did a good job of ..." and "Would you consider ...?" the next action word usually ends in -ing. Invite students to offer some examples of how they might use -ing with their feedback. (writing your sentences; using your notes; adding a period) (MMAE)
  • Optimize relevance of the Writing Partners anchor chart by inviting students to share their own ideas about how working with writing partners has helped make their writing better. (MME)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Independent Writing: Conclusion (25 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the first one aloud:

"I can write a conclusion for my 'The Most Important Thing about Schools' book."

  • Invite students to whisper a response into their hand and ask:

"What part of 'The Most Important Thing about Schools' book will you be working on today?" (conclusion)

  • Tell students that to help them write their conclusions, you want to take a look at a book again that helped give us the idea for "The Most Important Thing about Schools" book: The Important Book.
  • Display page 2 of The Important Book about the spoon and read it aloud.
  • Invite students to whisper their response to their writing partner:

"What does the author think is the most important thing about a spoon?" (The most important thing about a spoon is that you eat with it.)

  • Say:

"What the author, Margaret Wise Brown, did in her writing is include a reflection statement." Invite students to say reflection statement with you again. "A reflection statement is a sentence that tells the reader what the writer thinks about a topic. In this case, Margaret Wise Brown told the reader what she thought was most important to her about spoons."

"Because we have been learning so much about schools, it made me think that we should include a reflection statement about why we think schools are important in our conclusions."

  • Direct students' attention to the Important Book Parts anchor chart.
  • Tell students that the conclusion in their "The Most Important Thing about Schools" book doesn't just have one job--it has two jobs!
  • Invite students to chorally read the right side of the Important Book Parts anchor chart next to "conclusion:
    • "Reminds readers of the topic and includes a reflection statement on why schools are important."
  • Tell students that they are going to see what this looks like in the teacher model.
    • Display page 10 of the "The Most Important Thing about Schools" Book: Teacher Model and read aloud the conclusion:
    • "Schools around the world may be similar, or they may be different. But the most important thing about schools is that they are places where you can learn new things."
    • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What does the first sentence do? What job does it have?" (It reminds the reader what your book was about.)

"What does the second sentence do? What job does it have?" (It tells the reader what you think the most important thing about schools is.)

    • Tell students you are going to show them what you did to write your conclusion.
    • Think aloud:
    • "How will I know what to write for my conclusion? Well, for the sentence that reminds the reader what I wrote about, I know that I can either reread my focus statement or think about what the book was mostly about."
    • Display page 1 of "The Most Important Thing about Schools" Book: Teacher Model and reread your focus statement aloud:
    • "Schools around the world may be different, or they may be similar."
    • Use cold call and ask:

"What was this book about?" (about how schools around the world can be similar in some ways and different in other ways)

    • Continue your think-aloud:
    • "So, I think my first sentence could say, 'Schools around the world may be different, or they be similar.' Okay, I thought about what the first sentence could be. Now I need to think about what I will write for the second sentence: the reflection statement. How will I think about what I think is most important about schools? Hmm ... I know! I can use our Module Guiding Question anchor chart: What is school, and why are schools important?"
  • Direct students' attention to the Module Guiding Question anchor chart. Read through some of the bullets on the right-hand column, such as "learn new and important things," "do work that is challenging," and "do work that matters."
  • Continue your think-aloud:
    • "I think something important about school is that you learn new things. So, my second sentence will be, 'But the most important thing about schools is that you learn new things.'"
  • Display page 10 of "The Most Important Thing about Schools" Book: Teacher Model and read the conclusion aloud:
    • "Schools around the world may be similar, or they may be different. But the important thing about schools is that they are places where you can learn new things."
  • Invite students to Think-Pair-Share with their writing partner:

"What is one thing you noticed about the conclusion of the teacher model?" (It says what is the most important thing about schools.)

  • Invite students to Think-Pair-Share about how you wrote the conclusion.
  • Refocus whole group. Post and review the following with students:
  1. To write your first sentence, reread your focus statement, and think about what you want to remind the reader of what your book was about.
  2. To write your second sentence, use the Module Guiding Question anchor chart to help you decide what you think is most important about schools.
  3. Write these two sentences on page 10 of your "The Most Important Thing about Schools" book.
  • Invite students to take out their "The Most Important Thing about Schools" book and turn to page 10. Remind them that this is where they will write their conclusion.
  • Tell students that after some think time, they will have a chance to share their ideas for a conclusion with their writing partners. Encourage them to use the Module Guiding Question anchor chart for ideas.
  • Tell students that they should share exactly what they plan to write on their paper with a partner.
  • Invite students to Think-Pair-Share with their writing partner:

"What will you write for your conclusion?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Invite a few volunteers to share their thinking.
  • If productive, cue students to listen carefully and seek to understand:

"Who can tell us what your classmate said in your own words?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Transition students to their workspaces to write their conclusions. Use the Informative/Explanatory Writing Checklist to gather data on students' progress toward W.2.2 and L.2.2.
  • After about 10 minutes, refocus whole group.
  • Tell students they are now going to help each other revise and edit just their conclusions.
  • Remind students of the conclusion's job (to remind the reader what the book is about and to give a reflection statement on what the most important thing about school is). Tell students that once they have finished revising each other's conclusions, they can edit their conclusions for correct punctuation.
  • For ELLs: Language Dive. Ask students about the meaning of the sentence from the lesson/text: But the most important thing about schools is that they are places where you can learn new things. Examples:
    • "What is important in our home languages?" (wazny in Polish) Invite all students to repeat the translation in a home language other than their own.
    • "What are some other words that mean the same thing as but?" (however, still, on the other hand)
    • "What if we replaced but with also? How would that change the meaning of the sentence?" (Responses will vary.)
    • "What does thing mean in this sentence? Can you say the sentence but replace the word thing?" (fact, idea, similarity)
    • "What does they refer to?" (schools)
    • "What do you think the most important thing about schools is?" (Responses will vary.)
    • "Notice that we can flip the sentence so that we could read it like this: But learning new things is the most important thing about schools. Let's practice making sentences that way so you talk about what you think about the topic: 'But ________ is the most important thing about schools.'"
    • "How does this reflection statement say what the author thinks about the topic?" (Responses will vary.)
  • For ELLs: Display an enlarged or projected copy of "The Most Important Thing about Schools" Book: Teacher Model. While thinking aloud writing the conclusion and reflection statements, annotate the model with the relevant questions or prompts. (Example: Write "What was this book about?" next to the conclusion after explaining how you wrote it.) (MMR)
  • When reviewing the steps for writing two sentences on page 10 of students' "The Most Important Thing about Schools" books, provide alternatives to auditory information by writing the steps on the board or chart paper for students to refer to. (MMR)
  • After students Think-Pair-Share about the conclusion in the teacher model, provide options for physical action by inviting students to join you in a quick movement break. (MMAE)

B. Revising My Writing: Using the Revising and Editing Checklist (25 minutes)

  • Ask students to keep their books at their tables and gather in the whole group meeting area.
  • Tell students they have worked hard to write their "The Most Important Thing about Schools" books, and they are almost ready to publish them! Invite students to do an imaginary high-five in the air with you.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the second one aloud:

"I can revise my writing using the Revising and Editing Checklist."

  • Explain to students that they have been revising different parts of their writing to make sure each part does its job and makes sense, but today they are going to use a special tool to help them revise their books in a different way.
  • Display the Revising and Editing Checklist anchor chart.
  • Remind students that writers use writing tools and resources to help them do their best job as writers. Tell students that they have this checklist on the last page of their "The Most Important Thing about Schools" books.
  • Tell students that they will focus on two things today to revise their writing that are on this checklist. Read the first two sentences aloud:
    • "I used words that show how the two schools are similar."
    • "I reread my sentences, and they make sense."
  • Say: "As I was looking through your books, I noticed that many of you did a good job of writing about two similarities between the school you researched and our school. But there is a way that writers can use language or certain words to help the reader know when the writer is talking about similarities, or to point out the similarities even more.
  • Display "The Most Important Thing about Schools" Book: Teacher Model. Tell students that you are going to read pages 6-9 aloud. As you read, they should listen for words that help the reader know the author is talking about similarities.
  • Display the Ways to Show Things Are Similar anchor chart. Tell students that when they hear words that show something is similar, they should give you two thumbs-up.
  • Display pages 6-7 and read them aloud:
    • "Students at the rainforest school in Brazil use the internet to learn. So do we!"
  • Look for students to give you a thumbs-up. Use a modified cold call and ask:

"What words show the reader that something is similar?" ("So do we!")

  • Add the words "So do we!" to the Ways to Show Things Are Similar anchor chart.
  • Display pages 8-9 and read them aloud:
    • "At the rainforest school, students learn math and science. This is a lot like what we do at our school! We learn math and science, too."
  • Invite students to turn and talk with an elbow partner:

"What words did you hear that show something is similar?" ("This is a lot like what we do at our school!" and "We ..., too!")

  • Add:
    • "That's a lot like what we do at our school!" and "We ..., too!" to the Ways to Show Things Are Similar anchor chart.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"Are there any other words we can use to show things are similar?"

  • As students share out, capture their responses on the Ways to Show Things Are Similar anchor chart.
  • If necessary, introduce the language "also" and "we do, too" and add it to the anchor chart.
  • Tell students that before they revise their own books, you want them to help you revise an example. Display the Revising for Similar Language example and read it aloud:
    • "At the tent school in Haiti, students play games and sing songs. At our school, we sing songs and play games."
  • Invite students to turn and talk to an elbow partner:
  • "How could this writer include language to show how these two ideas are similar?" (Responses will vary, but may include: At the tent school in Haiti, students play games and sing songs. We also sing songs and play games! Or at the tent school in Haiti, students play games and sing songs. That is a lot like what we do our school. We love to play games and sing songs, too!)
  • Tell students that the best way to do this is to try different options and see which one sounds best.
  • Using the Revising for Similar Language example, show students how to revise their work by either inserting a caret if they need to add a word or by crossing out their writing and adjusting it altogether. Refer to the Revising for Similar Language example (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Tell students that they will now work with their writing partner to revise their books by taking turns rereading pages 6-9 (information about similarities) from their "The Most Important Thing about Schools" books with their partner, and adding language to show that things are similar.
  • Direct students' attention to the Writing Partners anchor chart. Remind students that as they are working with their partners, they should give kind, specific, and helpful feedback. Point out the sentence starters ("You did a good job of ..." and "Would you consider ...?") and encourage students to use these sentence starters to point out when their partners have used language to show something was similar and when they have not used this language but could revise their writing to include it.
  • Transition students to their workspaces to revise their writing with their partners. Circulate and support students as necessary. Consider stopping them after 7 minutes and telling them that the next partner should be reading and revising pages 6-9 of their books.
  • After 15 minutes, refocus whole group.
  • Explain to students that they now have a chance to work on the second sentence of the checklist: "I reread my sentences, and they make sense." Tell students that they will independently (not with their writing partners) read their entire "The Most Important Thing about Schools" books and make sure ALL the sentences make sense. Use the Informative/Explanatory Writing Checklist to gather data on students' progress L.2.2.
  • After 7-8 minutes, distribute the Revising and Editing Checklist and invite students to put a check mark next to the first two boxes:
    • "I used words that show how the two schools are similar."
    • "I reread my sentences, and they make sense."
  • For ELLs: Investigate celebratory gestures of various home cultures and use them in the classroom. Alternately, ask students if there is a gesture they use with their families that can be introduced to the class. (Example: "We do air high-fives a lot! It would be nice to do something different to celebrate. Is there a quiet motion that you do with your families when you want to celebrate?") (MME)
  • For ELLs: Model using the Revising and Editing Checklist to revise a volunteer student's work. Display the revised version next to the original version and ask students to notice and share what is different about each one. (MMR)
  • For ELLs: Write key words from the Ways to Show Things Are Similar anchor chart, such as also and too, on sticky notes or on sentence strips. Invite students to try placing them in different parts of a sentence. Guide students through the process of trial and error. (Example: "'We like also to play games.' Does that make sense? Try putting it at the end of the sentence and see if that sounds better.") (MMR)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Pinky Partners: Reflecting on Learning (5 minutes)

  • Invite students to bring their "The Most Important Thing about Schools" books and gather in the whole group area.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and reread the second one aloud:

"I can revise my writing using the Revising and Editing Checklist."

  • Invite students to find one thing that they revised in their writing, and point to it in their book.
  • Tell students that they will be sharing this revision using the Pinky Partners protocol. Remind them that they used this protocol in the past few lessons, and review as necessary using the Pinky Partners anchor chart. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Guide students through the protocol.
  • Ask students to return to their seats in the whole group area.
  • Tell students that they will be finishing their books tomorrow!
  • For ELLs: Invite students to repeat and rephrase the learning target. Write down the version that a student has rephrased and post it next to the original learning target. (MMR)

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