Paragraph Practice

Cohesion: the property of unity in a written text

Simplified: Does your paragraph flow well or is it choppy facts?

We have spent time researching, organizing research, paraphrasing information, and organizing our chapters. Now we need to develop cohesive paragraphs. It isn't good enough to just push all of your paraphrased information together. You need to be able to create a complete and cohesive paragraph in order to have a good non-fiction book. Today we will practice this skill with a paragraph about Christmas traditions in the Philippines. You will need to decide which information fits into a paragraph and what should be a text box. Then, you can take the paraphrased information and write a cohesive paragraph at the end of the document.

Christmas Paragraph Practice

Expository Elements Test

We will take this test online. Make sure you read each question and all of the answer choices carefully. See the directions below:

• Click on the link below
• Enter the room number posted on the board
• Type your name: (last name, first name)
• Take the test 
• Once you finish you can continue working on your Research Organizer. Remember your Research Organizer is due tomorrow at the beginning of class!

Socrative-Expository Elements Test

Expository Elements Test

We will have a test on expository elements on Tuesday, 12/16/14. This is information we have learned over the last several weeks in class. The study guide was provided to students in class on Thursday, 12/11/14. We will review for the test in class. If you misplace your study guide, you can print a new copy from the link below. The formatting isn't the same when downloaded from Google Drive, but the information is still there.

Expository Elements Study Guide

Research Organizer

You have completed your pre-research and chosen your topic. Now you are ready to begin research on the topic you chose for your Expository Book Project. We will spend this week in class researching, finding direct quotes, and paraphrasing. During pre-research you needed to consider the five chapters you could use for each topic. All of the information in your research organizer will be divided by chapter topic. This will allow you to stay organized and see where you may need additional information.

The Research Organizer must be completed by Monday, 12/15/14.


Research Organizer

Expository Book Pre-Research

We will do pre-research on three topics (of your choice) for your expository book. The purpose of the pre-research is to determine which topic would be best for your expository book. You may find more or less information on a topic and realize you should broaden or focus your search. This allows you the opportunity to see what is out there for your topic ideas and determine which would fit your purpose.

Before your begin any research you need to determine questions you have about your topic. If you cannot think of 10 questions you have about the topic, it may not be a good choice. You should pick something that YOU are genuinely curious about. Please let me know if you need help narrowing or broadening a topic choice.

Pre-Research Organizer

Alabama Virtual Library

Here is the link to the Alabama Virtual Library (AVL)

AVL


We will use this resource for research throughout our Expository Book Project.
Save it as a "favorite" by clicking on the star in the top right corner (after you click on the link).

Expository Book Project

We are beginning a new project on Expository Writing. An expository text is nonfiction that has facts where you can read and learn new information. It is organized and has visual information that gives the reader information.

What it is:

• True Facts
• A lot of different topics
• A way to learn something new
• Uses Text Features

What it is not:

• A story
• Made up information
• Fiction or fantasy

For this project you will choose a topic, research it thoroughly, and write a book on the topic. The purpose of the book is to inform others on the topic you chose. We will spend time pre-researching topic ideas in order to find the best one for your project. As with all of our projects, there will be time to complete every aspect of this project in class if you use your time wisely. 

I have given you a list of the expository grading requirements. This is to be used as a checklist and reference throughout the project. This is not a full grading rubric, but a guideline to ensure you know each category that will be assessed. The complete grading rubric will be posted and discussed closer to the due date. 

At the beginning of this nine weeks in reading class you learned about nonfiction text features. This will be a very important part of your expository book. We will take time today to review the text features and their role in nonfiction text. The link below is for a chart that has all of the options for expository text features. We will look through several nonfiction texts today while searching for these features. Once you find a feature, type the page number in the appropriate place on the chart. 

Text Features Chart



If you misplace your copy of the expository grading requirements, here is the link: Expository Grading Requirements