Writing Exercise - Presentation Skills

This week we will prepare to give our WBL presentation by analyzing some academic text about presentation essentials.  While my Computer Apps classes will be writing about the same piece of text, the level of analysis and quality of writing you will do is held to a much higher standard. 

The purpose of this exercise is to get you in the right mindset to make your presentations AND to force you practice organizing your thoughts prior to writing.  After this week’s writing assessment is finished, you will have a solid arsenal of techniques for presenting.  By next week, we can put these skills into practice.

Monday:

Clear Target: We can analyze essential presentation skills

Objectives:Close read presentation skills article, annotate information about central idea and new information, formulate opinion about central idea of article.

We’ll begin class by copying an article to Word for a close read.  After students copy article to Word, I will explain that this week, we will focus our efforts on learning to prepare for a presentation.  I will explain the purpose of our close read is to determine central idea of the article, but we will also focus on learning new words that we may not know.  I will demo first pass of identifying words I don't know and key terms/phrases/names  Students will do the same for their own understanding.  We will then read through article a second time, highlighting the central idea of the author.  After sharing out some of our ideas, we will discuss how some opinions differ.  For closure, students will answer questions in Edmodo about words they learned and their understanding of the central idea of the article.

Tuesday:

Clear Target: We can apply organization concepts to analytical writing.

Objectives: Learn organizational strategy for essay writing, analyze components of new strategy, Apply new strategy to essay question

We’ll open class by sharing out how each of us organizes an essay.  After reviewing answers, I will explain the lasagna analogy to essay-writing - the more substantial the lasagna, the better the lasagna.  I will then explain essay outline as students take guided notes.  I will demo how to analyze a prompt and break down what is asked.  I will intro the new prompt students will work on structuring their essays.  Independently, students will gather effective quotes to work on creating a substantial essay.  For closure, students answer questions about the lasagna method in Edmodo for a grade.

Thursday:

Clear Target: We can formulate an opinion about an academic text

Today’s class is designated for creating your outline and beginning your essay. With the outline you’ve created, it’s fair to say your informative essays will be 400+ words.  I’ll be able to circulate the room and make sure you are on the right path to success for your assignment.

Friday:

Clear Target: We can formulate an opinion about an academic text

Today you will complete your essays and submit them to Edmodo.  I will give you about 10-15 minutes to complete this.  When that time is up, each of you will be given 2 minutes to use the skills you learned about to give a presentation about a topic I assign.

By utilizing the presentation skills you read about, the improvisational exercise will be less stressful and serve as a preparation for next week’s activities.

As was the case last week, you can take the initiative and work on the Student Self-Assessment of Skills and the Student Skills Assessment Rubric.  The answers you submit in these forms are constantly changing since you should be obtaining additional skills as we work through the school year.

That’s it for this week.  I’ll see you all tomorrow!