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Lesson 2

We will prewrite, establishing as our goal for this lesson the creation of an introductory paragraph. As we work through the writing process to complete the Culminating Task, our beginning steps will forge the foundation for our writing.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence from previous activities and texts in the unit to begin to clarify my thoughts about the assigned task?

  • Can I develop and clearly communicate a meaningful and defensible claim that represents valid, evidence-based analysis of the Culminating Task in response to photojournalism’s impact on defining or highlighting history and culture?

Texts

There are no texts for this Lesson.

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Write

We will review our previous notes as we gather our thoughts and move toward locating evidence to generate a potential thesis.

Organize notes and previous work and gather additional evidence. Write down evidence on the Organizing Evidence Tool.

Activity 2: Read

We will review the criteria and process for writing a thesis statement prior to writing a corresponding thesis for the Culminating Task.

Review the expectations about your central claim (or thesis statement) on the Culminating Task Checklist. Remember the following guidelines when crafting your claim as a thesis statement for your essay:

  • It should respond directly to the task question.

  • It should be specific, not too vague or broad.

  • It should cover what you plan to discuss in your paper.

  • It generally appears at the end of the first paragraph.

  • You can revise your thesis statement if your focus shifts.

Activity 3: Write

We will write a preliminary thesis statement to be used in composing the essay for the Culminating Task.

Write a thesis statement or central claim for your essay for the Culminating Task. Remember the following:

  • The thesis needs to answer the task’s prompt and question.

  • The thesis should be a guide map for what you will say overall in the essay—if you had to sum it up for someone in one sentence.

  • The thesis is only preliminary; in other words, it is a rough draft and subject to revision and change as you continue composing the essay.

You will want to revisit the thesis statement at various points throughout the composition process to ensure that it is serving your essay in the way that it should.