| Essay
Questions & Rubrics |
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Writing Skill
- Analyzing and writing about specific passages of
literature
Overview of the "Essay
Questions and Rubrics" Strategy
Each activity listed below asks students
to read specific passages from Wish You Well,
analyze the text for elements of literature in response
to a particular questions, and then write about those
elements in a clear, well-developed essay. These activities
could be used during the reading of the novel or after
the reading is completed. Students are asked to focus
on specific techniques that are developed within the
short passages. Teachers should provide photocopies
of the passages and encourage students to make annotations
directly on them before they begin writing their essays.
Activities for the "Essay
Questions and Rubrics" Strategy
- Have the students read carefully the first section
of chapter 1, ending with "Go away, storm, please
go away now." Tell the students to write an essay
in which they answer the following question: How does
Baldacci use organization, details, and imagery to
define the narrator's attitude toward the characters?
- Have the students read the third section of chapter
15, beginning with "The school day ended at three..."Ask
the students to write a well-developed essay in which
they answer the following question: How does Baldacci
use language, details, and point of view to enrich
the reader's sense of Lou's childhood?
- Have the students read the first section of chapter
29, ending with "...her walls covering them all."
Direct the students to write a well-organized essay
in which they answer the following question: What
effect does the passage have on the reader, and what
techniques does Baldacci use to achieve that effect?
Remind the students to consider such aspects as organization,
point of view, language, and use of detail.
Assessment
Use standard rubrics for assessment,
such as the trait-based assessment rubrics found in:
Richard J. Stiggins and Vicki Spandel,
Creating Writers: Linking Writing Assessment and
Instruction, 2nd ed. (Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.,
1996).
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