​Katherine Chandler Callicutt

Transition Words in Position Papers Mini Lesson

 

Chandler Callicutt                                                                                         

6th Grade

 

FOCUS:

This lesson focuses on the use of transition words within argumentative writing.  Specifically, students will explore the use of transition words within a position paper.  Students will understand why transition words are important and how they change the meaning and impact of a piece of writing.  Primarily, students will learn what transitions are and explore a variety of transition words to discover what their uses are.  After developing an understanding of these words, students will implement them into their own writing.  This mini-lesson is part of a bigger unit dealing with argumentative writing.

 

OBJECTIVES:

The student will be able to:

Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.1.C)

 

MATERIALS:

1. "Scaffolding for Learning." SpringerReference (2011): n. pag. Northern Illinois University. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

2. Adams, Shannon. "Chapter IV. INTROSPECTION." C. D. Broad's Ontology of Mind (2006): n. pag. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

 

CONTENT OUTLINE:

I.Introduction

1. Pre-Write

i.Each student will have five minutes to write about the topic that they choose (out of the four provided).

ii.Students should take a stance on the topic that they choose and form a position paragraph arguing for their stance on the topic.

1. Handout

i.Students will be provided a handout detailing what a transition is, examples of transition words and their uses, example sentences using those words, an links to websites with extra information about the topics that they wrote about.

ii.We will discuss the main parts of this handout as a class, and students will be expected to read over the parts of the handout that we do not verbally go over. 

II.Activities

1. Transition Activity

i.Students will use the list of transitions they have been given, their paragraph rough draft, and the links provided to add in extra information to strengthen their arguments.  Students are expected to add in three extra transitions into their writing.

1. Sharing

i.Students will either volunteer or be chosen to share their paragraph and talk about how the transitions helped shape their argument and form it into a stronger piece.

III.Closure

1. Rough Draft

i.Students will be expected to add these transition words into their rough drafts in order to make them stronger and clearer.

 

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:

• INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITIES:

  • Students will start off the lesson by choosing a topic to write a short position paragraph about.  There will be four possible topics that students can choose from, and they will have about five minutes to take a stance and write a paragraph that expresses that stance.  After each student has finished their paragraph, we will go over the handout that they have received.  We will discuss most of the handout verbally, but students will be expected to read certain parts of the handout by themselves as they begin the developmental activities.

• DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES:

  • Students are now expected to take the information that they have learned thus far in the lesson and apply it to their original position paragraph.  Students should add in at least three of the transitions that we discussed.  After each student is done, we will have a class discussion regarding how the transitions changed their paragraphs.  Students will either volunteer or be called on to share and tell the class how their paragraphs changed after adding in the transitions.

• CONCLUDING ACTIVITIES:

  • By this point, students will have already written a rough draft of their position paper.   Now, students should take that rough draft and add in transition words in order to strengthen and clarify their positions. 

 

EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT:

Through students sharing their new paragraphs, I will gain understanding of just how much the students have learned and processed from the lesson.  If students struggle to express knowledge of how to add in these transitions, then it is clear that the lesson was not effective.  In addition, the “long-term” assignment of this lesson is for students to add in these transitions into their rough drafts of their position papers.  If the final copies of these position papers do not effectively use transition words, then it is clear that the lesson did not communicate its point very clearly.