Saturday, May 24, 2014

The "Painted" Essay!

"Life is difficult for Solomon Story, his mother Ann, and their 
family in pre-Revolutionary Vermont as they face the threat of 
Indians and aid the Green Mountain Boys."
http://www.amazon.com/Green-Mountain-Edgar-Newman-Jackson/dp/0933050615

Third and fourth graders have just finished reading 
"Green Mountain Hero" and are now responding to 
the question, "Who is the real Green Mountain hero?"
They are working on a "response to literature" writing
piece.  They prepared for the task by "painting an essay." 

First they learned about the components of 
a "painted essay." 
 The first (red) paragraph is the introduction.  This 
includes the book title, name of author, and some
background information.  It also includes a thesis
statement with points 1 (yellow) and 2 (blue).  
The points tell what the focus of the next two 
paragraphs will be. 
The final paragraph (green) is the conclusion.  
The thesis is restated in this section, and a 
connection or opinion also helps wrap up the paper!

Students later read sample essays written by fourth grade 
students and used crayons to color (instead of paint) 
the sample responses.  Students looked for all elements that 
should be present in a "proficient" or "proficient with distinction" 
response to literature.



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