Writing a PSA: Revising and Editing | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G5:M4:U1:L11

Writing a PSA: Revising and Editing

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • W.5.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
  • W.5.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
  • W.5.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
  • L.5.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
  • L.5.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. 
  • L.5.2c: Use a comma to set off the words yes and no (e.g., Yes, thank you), to set off a tag question from the rest of the sentence (e.g., It's true, isn't it?), and to indicate direct address (e.g., Is that you, Steve?)
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can use a comma to set off words and phrases. (L.5.2c)
  • I can revise my PSA for appropriateness of task, purpose, and audience. (W.4.1, W.4.4, W.4.5)
  • I can edit my PSA for correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. (L.5.1, L.5.2)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Revised and edited PSA (W.4.1, W.4.4, W.4.5, L.5.1, L.5.2)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Mini-Lesson: Using Commas (15 minutes)

B. Revising PSA: Task, Purpose, and Audience (25 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Editing PSA (15 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Complete Using Commas in your Unit 1 Homework.

B. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your Independent Reading journal.

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards: 

  • In this lesson, students consider how to ensure their writing is appropriate for the task, purpose, and audience. First, they learn how to use commas to set off words and phrases in their writing, discussing why writers include interjections, tag questions, and direct addresses as a technique to engage the audience. They then revise their PSAs focusing on task, purpose, and audience. (W.4.1, W.4.4, W.4.5, L.5.2)
  • When students have finished revising, they work with a partner to proofread for conventions, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation errors. They then use their partner?s feedback to edit their PSAs (L.5.1, L.5.2).
  • In this lesson, students focus on working to become effective learners, focusing on a characteristic of their choice as they finish drafting their PSAs.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • In Lessons 8-10, students planed and drafted their PSAs. In this lesson, they polish it before recording it for the end of unit assessment.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • Students may require additional support to revise their drafts. Consider allowing students to work with a partner or grouping students who may need additional writing support together while you guide them through revising their PSA drafts.

Assessment Guidance:

  • Review students' drafts to ensure that they have included all the necessary information. Use common issues as teaching points for the whole group.
  • Refer to the characteristics related to W.5.4 and L.5.2 on the Informative Writing Checklist when assessing students' work in this lesson (see Assessment Overview and Resources).
  • Consider using the Writing Process Checklist for Writing and Language Skills during the independent revising in Work Time B and editing in the Closing (see the Tools page).

Down the road:

  • In the next two lessons, students will practice and record their PSAs as part of the end of unit assessment.
  • Provide feedback on students' Mid-Unit 1 Assessments in preparation for returning them in the next lesson.

In Advance

  • Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-3 to create anchor charts to share with families, to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families, and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 5.I.A.4, 5.I.C.10, 5.I.C.11, 5.I.C.12, 5.II.A.1, 5.II.A2, 5.II.B.3, B.II.B.4, B.II.B.5, 5.II.C.6, B.II.C.7

Important points in the lesson itself 

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs by explicitly focusing on using commas to set off words and phrases; displaying and inviting students to refer to the Characteristics of PSAs anchor chart as they revise their PSA drafts; and providing students with the opportunity to provide and receive peer feedback before editing their PSAs.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to distinguish between the varying ways commas are used to set off words and phrases. Additionally, they may struggle to determine the most appropriate revisions to make on their PSA drafts. Consider inviting students to work in pairs during Work Times A and B to support one another with these potential challenges (see Levels of Support and the Meeting Students? Needs column).

Levels of Support

For lighter support:

  • During the Mini Language Dive in Work Time A, challenge students to generate questions about the sentence before asking the prepared questions.

For heavier support:

  • Consider creating index cards with additional examples of sentences that use commas to set off words and phrases. Review these examples with students in a small group as needed before they begin revising their PSAs during Work Time B.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): Some students may have difficulty with using the far-point displayed anchor charts in this lesson. Consider providing individual copies of anchor charts for near-point display of information for reference.
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE): Continue to guide appropriate goal-setting for student success. Provide prompts and scaffolds as students estimate the effort and level of difficulty to be expected for their presentations.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): As students practice their presentations, some students may need additional support with expectations and motivation in preparing and delivering their own presentation to an audience. Provide reassurance that they will be sufficiently prepared for this exciting learning activity.

Vocabulary

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

  • appropriateness, task, purpose, audience, interjections, tag question, direct, address, direct address (L)

Materials

  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Academic Word Wall (begun in Module 1)
  • Domain-Specific Word Wall (begun in Lesson 1)
  • Vocabulary logs (from Module 1; one per student)
  • Natural Disasters PSA prompt (from Lesson 8; one per student)
  • Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Using Commas to Set Off Words and Phrases (one per student and one to display)
  • PSA drafts (begun Lesson 9; revised in Work Time B and edited in the Closing; one per student)
  • Characteristics of PSAs anchor chart (begun in Lesson 8)
  • Sticky notes (three per student)

Each unit in the 3-5 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 their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes) 

  • Direct students' attention to the learning targets and read them aloud:
    • "I can use a comma to set off words and phrases."
    • "I can revise my PSA for appropriateness of task, purpose, and audience."
    • "I can edit my PSA for correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling."
  • Underline and use the vocabulary strategies on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart to review and/or determine the meaning of the following words. Add them to the Academic and Domain-Specific Word Walls and invite students to add them to their vocabulary logs:
    • appropriateness (fitting or right for the piece)
    • task (an assignment)
    • purpose (the reason for something)
    • audience (the people reading, seeing, or hearing something)
  • Turn and Talk:

"What do you think you will be doing in this lesson? What makes you think that?"(revising our PSAs to make sure it fits the assignment, the reason for the assignment, and the people listening to it, and editing our PSAs)

  • Invite students to retrieve their Natural Disasters PSA prompt and read it aloud.
  • Focus students on the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart and invite them to read the habits of character on the chart to themselves. Tell students to choose a habit to focus on as they work with today
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional processing time: (Stopping Between Learning Targets) Consider reading one learning target at a time, stopping after each one has been read to ask students what they think they will be doing in this lesson. (MMR)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Practicing with Something Familiar) Check comprehension of the word appropriateness by inviting students to discuss the appropriateness of something they are familiar with, such as the clothing that is fitting to wear during a specific season. Consider inviting students to practice with the adjectival form of appropriateness (appropriate), as appropriate functions as an adjective in the criteria on the Characteristics of PSAs anchor chart. Provide a sentence frame for support. (Example: "The appropriate clothing to wear in the winter is _______, while the appropriate clothing to wear in the summer is ________.") (MMR)
  • For students who may need additional support with self-reflection: (Recalling Prior Work: Learning Targets) Invite students to discuss how they previously worked toward each learning target. (MMAE, MME)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Mini-Lesson: Using Commas (15 minutes) 

  • Distribute and display the Using Commas to Set Off Words and Phrases handout. Tell students that before they begin revising, they will learn more about how to use commas in their writing.
  • Read the explanation at the top of the handout, clarifying as needed.
  • Focus students on the Rule 1 on the handout:
    • "Use a comma to set off the words yes or no."
  • Tell students that yes and no can be used as interjections. Remind students that they learned about interjections in Module 2, and that they are words that express a sudden emotional reaction such as surprise, disgust, joy, or excitement and are often found at the beginning of a sentence.
  • Focus students on the example on their handout, pointing out that this sentence comes from the Model PSA:
    • "Yes, even kids can prepare for blizzards."
  • Think-aloud:
    • Circle the comma after "yes".
    • Notice that yes is helping to show surprise that kids can help prepare for the natural disaster.
    • Notice that the comma comes after the word "yes."
  • Remind students that in Module 2, they learned that they could use an exclamation point following an interjection, since exclamation marks also indicate a sudden expression of emotion. Point out that an exclamation point would work with this example in place of the comma, grammatically, but the author chose to use a comma instead. Emphasize that writers think about the amount of emotion they are trying to convey when choosing the appropriate punctuation.
  • Focus students on the practice sentence for this rule. Guide students in editing by adding a comma. Be sure to help students:
    • Notice the word "no" being used as an interjection.
    • Add a comma after the word "no."
  • Focus students on the Rule 2 on the handout:
    • "Use a comma to set off a tag question from the rest of the sentence."
  • Tell students that a tag question is when a statement is turned into a question. Writers use it when they want to pose a question to the reader.
  • Focus students on the example on their handout, pointing out that this sentence comes from the Model PSA:
    • "Blizzards sound scary, don't they?"
  • Think-aloud:
    • Circle the comma before "don't they?"
    • Notice that what comes before the comma is a statement, and is a complete sentence on its own. 
    • Notice that "don't they" is the tag question because it turns the statement into a question by asking the reader if blizzards sound scary and is followed by a question mark.
    • Notice that the comma is before the tag question, "don't they".
  • Focus students on the practice sentence for this rule. Guide students in editing by adding a comma. Be sure to help students:
    • Notice the question mark, signaling that there may be a tag question in the sentence.
    • Identify "You're prepared for a natural disaster" as a statement.
    • Identify "aren't you" as a tag question.
    • Add a comma before the tag question, "aren't you".
  • Focus students on the Rule 3 on the handout:
    • "Use a comma to indicate direct address."
  • Tell students that direct means to send or aim towards a person or place, and address means to speak or write to a particular person or group. So, a direct address is the name of the specific person or group who is being directly addressed, or spoken to. Point out that it is always a proper noun and if necessary, remind students that a proper noun is a name used for an individual person, place, or organization.
  • Focus students on the example on their handout:
    • "New Yorkers, be sure to think about how to stay safe during a blizzard!"

Conversation Cue: "Can you figure out why the comma is included in this sentence?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Think-aloud:
    • Circle the comma after "New Yorkers."
    • Notice that "New Yorkers" is a proper noun--it's a name used for people living in New York.
    • Notice that "be sure to think about how to stay safe during a blizzard" is a complete sentence on its own.
    • Identify "New Yorkers" as a direct address to the audience: people living in New York.
    • Notice that the comma is after the direct address.
  • Focus students on the practice sentence for this rule. Guide students in editing by adding a comma. Be sure to help students:
    • Identify "Are you prepared for an earthquake" as a complete sentence on its own.
    • Identify "Californians" as a proper noun, and a direct address.
    • Add a comma before the direct address.
  • Point out that the direct address came at the beginning of the example sentence, and at the end of the practice sentence. Tell students that either way is grammatically correct, and it is up to the writer to decide which way sounds best.
  • Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the first learning target.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with vocabulary: (Noticing Homographs) Invite students to notice the word address, and explain that address is a homograph, which means it is spelled the same as another word, but has a different meaning, and can sound different when it is spoken. Invite students to share another meaning of address with which they are familiar (the place where one lives) and explain that the emphasis for that meaning is on the first syllable (ADdress). For the meaning of address as used in this lesson, the stress is on the second syllable (adDRESS). Reassure students that they will learn more about homographs in Unit 2 of this module. (MMR, MME)
  • For ELLs: Mini Language Dive. "Blizzards sound scary,/don't they?"
    • Deconstruct: Discuss the sentence and each chunk. Language goals for focus structure:
      • they: "What is this chunk about? What does they refer to?"
      • blizzards, mentioned in the previous chunk.
      • "What does this chunk tell us? don't they is a short question inviting the audience to respond to and confirm the information in the previous chunk. It's called a 'tag question,' and there are many types. Note that Don't blizzards sound scary? is another way to say the sentencewithout changing the meaning.
      • In these examples, if a statement is positive, the tag question that follows it is generally negative; and if a statement is negative, the tag question that follows it is generally positive. For example, if the statement was "Blizzards don't sound scary," the tag question would be "do they?" Tag questions generally use contractions (e.g. don't instead of do not).
      • "What if we say this sentence with rising intonation? What if we say it with falling intonation? How does that change the meaning of the sentenc?"
      • Demonstrate both to students and invite them to call and response. Rising intonation suggests that you're not sure what the listener?s response will be. Falling intonation is a request for confirmation.
      • Students can chorally read this chunk, making a quizzical facial expression while holding both palms up in the air to emphasize that this is a question. Then, they can take 30 seconds in pairs to respond to this question, confirming the information in the previous chunk. (Examples: "Yes, they do sound scary." "I agree; blizzards do sound scary.")
    • Practice: Students can practice using this structure to speak or write about something in their own lives. _______ sound ________, don't they? (Field trips sound fun, don't they?)
    • Reconstruct:

"What is another way to say this sentence?" (Responses will vary.)
"How does your understanding of this sentence add to your understanding of how you can use a comma to set off words and phrases?" (Responses will vary.)

    • Practice: ______________________[statement], ______________ [tag question].

"How can we use this sentence structure when revising our PSA drafts?

B. Revising PSA: Task, Purpose, and Audience (25 minutes) 

  • Invite students to retrieve their PSA drafts. Tell students they will reread their drafts and revise them for appropriateness for task, purpose, and audience.
  • Think-Pair-Share:

"What is the task?" (write a PSA about preparing for natural disasters)
"What is the purpose?" (to explain to the reader how to prepare for a natural disaster) "Who is the audience?" (people in a community that could experience the natural disaster, including kids)

  • Review the Characteristics of PSAs anchor chart, highlighting the characteristics related to task, purpose, and audience:
    • "Are high-quality. They use domain-specific vocabulary and sound professional so people take it seriously."
    • Are engaging. The audience wants to listen to the end and will remember it."
    • "Have short, simple sentences with precise vocabulary that get straight to the point."
    • "Urge the audience to take action by giving commands rather than suggestions: 'Do this', rather than, 'You could do this' "
    • "Are appropriate for the target audience: PSAs for children will relate the issue to things children are interested in, will feature children, will be fun, and will state the issues in simple language for children to understand."
  • Remind students that they can engage the audience and emphasize points by using commas to set off words and phrases, like they learned about earlier in the lesson.
  • Invite students to begin revising, referring to the Characteristics of PSAs anchor chart as needed. Circulate to support students as they revise and to identify common issues to use as whole group teaching points.
  • After 10 minutes, refocus whole group.
  • Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the second learning target.

Conversation Cue: "What strategies/habits helped you succeed? I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner." (Responses will vary.)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Paraphrasing: Characteristics of PSAs) Invite students to paraphrase each characteristic on the Characteristics of PSAs anchor chart, and to provide a concrete example of each, ensuring comprehension. Consider modeling and thinking aloud the first one. (Example: "The characteristic, 'Are high-quality. They use domain-specific vocabulary and sound professional so people take it seriously' means that people will respect what you are saying because your PSA sounds professional. One way to make your PSA high-quality is to make sure that you grouped your information logically: first introducing your natural disaster and explaining the destruction it can cause, then describing things that you can do to stay safe before and during the natural disaster, and finally restating your focus and calling your audience to action.") (MMR)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with strategy development: (Fishbowl: Revising) Invite one or two confident students to fishbowl the process of revising their PSA draft using the Characteristics of PSAs anchor chart to guide them. Encourage them to model making one or two revisions to their draft, thinking aloud their reason for doing so. This will help clarify the process for revising, and provide concrete examples for revisions students can make based on the Characteristics of PSAs anchor chart.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Editing PSA (15 minutes) 

  • Tell students that they will now edit their drafts for correct grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. Review each as needed.
  • Distribute sticky notes and invite students to find a partner.
  • Post and review the following directions:

1.Trade papers with your partner.

2.Read your partner's PSA for grammar, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation errors only.

3.When you find an error, write the correction or a piece of guidance on a sticky note and place it next to the error.

4.Request additional sticky notes as necessary.

  • Answer clarifying questions.
  • Tell students that they should pay close attention to how their partner used punctuation to separate items in a series.
  • Invite students to begin working. Circulate to support them as they work, and to identify common issues to use as whole group teaching points as needed.
  • After 7 minutes, invite students to return the PSA to its owner.
  • Invite students to edit their PSAs using the corrections or feedback from their partner.
  • Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the third learning target and how well they demonstrated the habit from the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart they decided to focus on today.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with strategy development: (Modeling and Thinking Aloud Steps) Consider modeling and thinking aloud each step as it is recorded on the board. Allow time for students to ask questions, and clarify the process as needed. (MMAE)
  • For students who may need additional support with planning: Provide a checklist of conventions for students to reference during the revision process. Invite students to check off each convention as it has been revised. (Example: 1) Spelling checked, 2) Capitalization checked, 3) Punctuation checked). (MMAE)

Homework

HomeworkMeeting Students' Needs

A. Complete Using Commas in your Unit 1 Homework.

B. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your Independent Reading journal.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with written expression: (Oral Response) Read aloud, discuss, and respond to your prompt orally, either with a partner, family member, or student from Grades 4 or 6, or record an audio response. (MMAE)

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