Teacher: Cody Rae Kedy Level: A2A

Date/Time: 10.6.11 10.00-12.00

Goal: Objectives: Students will be able to 1. Identify thesis statements, transition words, and concluding elements in a compare/contrast essay 2. Outline points for a compare/contrast essay 3. Write a compare/contrast essay Theme: Technology Stage/Aim/Skill/Microskill Activity/Procedure T will pass out Compare/Contrast Warm-up Essay Organization Chart handout. Review basic structure of a T will ask: compare/contrast essay How is this different from other types of English essays? What kinds of topics can you or would you like to compare/contrast? Activity 1 Outline a compare/contrast essay Interaction T-Ss Time 10.0010.15

Cody Rae Gruber 12/2/11 6:40 PM Comment: This handout turned out to be really helpful. Students liked having a visual representation of what they were being asked to produce.

T will pass out How to Write a T-Ss Compare/Contrast Essay handout and Compare/Contrast Essay Worksheet T will go over How to Write a T-Ss Compare/Contrast Essay handout with Ss, having volunteers read each part. Then, individually, Ss will outline the Ss points for their essay using the handout. After some time working alone, Ss will compare in small groups what ideas other Ss have said. T will show an example of a T-Ss compare/contrast essay (Sample ESL compare/contrast essay) on overhead and ask students to identify various elements of the essay (intro, thesis, points being compared, transition

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Activity 2 Identifying key components in a compare/contrast essay

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Cody Rae Gruber 12/2/11 6:41 PM Comment: Activities 1 and 2 could have easily taken the whole class time. Next writing lesson I might give the essay as homework, instead of having students try to accomplish everything in 1 class period.

Activity 3 Writing a compare/contrast essay Wrap-up Exit Cards

words, concluding statement, etc) On the overhead, T will highlight these various components as Ss identify them. Ss will write their first Ss compare/contrast essay in class.

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T will pass out exit cardsSs will T-Ss write 1 thing they learned about writing compare/contrast essay and 1 thing they are still confused about.

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Cody Rae Gruber 12/2/11 6:43 PM Comment: Even though these students are in the A2 level, this turned out to be a good review for them. I could see that some of them had never heard of transition words before! At the end of the lesson, I decided I would make copes of the sample essays with everything highlighted Cody Rae Gruber 12/2/11 7:03 PM Comment: As I mentioned, the first 2 activities could have taken the whole class time. I think time-wise it was a bit rushed, and Ss could have also written the essay at home. On the other hand, they seemed to appreciate being able to ask questions as they were writing as well, so there are pros and cons to each. Cody Rae Gruber 12/2/11 7:12 PM Comment: Exit cards were very informative this time. Many of the Ss had the same concerns.

Materials: Handouts: Compare/Contrast Essay Organization Chart, How to Write a Compare/Contrast Essay, Compare/Contrast Essay Worksheet, and Sample ESL compare/contrast essay Other materials: lined paper, index cards, overhead, highlighter Anticipated Problems: This will be the Ss first major writing lesson. Not sure how the timing will go, or if we will need to take another class period for this.

Contingency Plans (what you will do if you finish early, etc.): If we finish early, I have an extra reading comprehension planned. If it takes longer than expected, we can continue in the next class. Post-Lesson Reflections: I am pleased with how this lesson went. Students were very receptive and seemed to be interested in writing. None of them had ever written this kind of essay, so they were on an even playing field. The handouts were very helpful and students found the compare contrast essay worksheet to be very helpful in outlining what they would write about.

Sample ESL compare/contrast essay

(from http://www.eslbee.com/compcont.htm) Eating is an activity that we as humans do at least two times a day. We live in a world where the variety of food is immense, and we are responsible for what we eat. We decide what we are about to eat and how it will affect our bodies. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the differences between eating fresh foods instead of canned foods. The three main differences are flavor, health benefits, and cost. The most notable difference between these two kinds of foods is their flavor. Fresh foods have great flavor and taste because they keep all their natural conditions. Canned foods however, lack a lot of its flavor characteristics because there are some other chemical products added to the natural foods. It is logical that the fresh foods will have a greater taste and flavor when consumed just because of the time in which they have been prepared. Comparing both types of foods we notice another difference. There is a health factor that affects both of them. Canned foods lose some of the original fresh food nutrients when stored, and also it has to be tinned with many conservatives and chemical factors that prolong the shelf life and apparent freshness of the food but could also become toxic if consumed too often. Yet another difference between these two types of foods is the cost. Canned foods are much more expensive than fresh foods. Here the benefit of buying tinned foods is that they are easier to find, for example, in a supermarket instead of the market like the fresh foods, and they require less work to prepare than fresh foods, just open and serve. Here are the main three differences between buying fresh foods and buying canned foods. As we can see it comes down to a personal choice, based on the time each person has, the money and the importance he/she gives to his/her nutrition and health. Therefore it is important that you consider your possibilities and choose the best type of foods for your convenience and lifestyle

Compare/Contrast Essay Organization Chart

Topic: Laptop computers vs. desktop computers

Introduction
Topic/Thesis

Point 1: Cost (a) of laptops (b) of desktops

Point 2: Appearance (a) of laptops (b) of desktops

Point 3: Portability (a) of laptops (b) of desktops

Conclusion

How to Write a Compare/Contrast Essay

Compare and contrast essays are the other big essay types in academic writing. These essays will follow a specific question and are fairly easy to complete. There are several ways to write this type of essay. The most important thing to remember is structure. Many wonderful essays fall victim to the woes of bad structure, making any ingenuity to fall by the wayside. Go over the rules on how to write a general essay, and then structure your compare/contrast essay in one of the following two formats: 1. Introduction Your introduction like the five-paragraph-essay, should open generally (with a quotation, anecdote, generalization), and lead into the thesis statement. 2. Topic 1 This next portion of your essay (which may consist of one paragraph or several) should cover only the first topic of the comparison and contrast. Compare/Contrast essays take two topics and illustrate how they are similar and dissimilar. Do not mention topic 2 in this first portion. 3. Topic 2 This next portion of your essay (which may also consist of one or more paragraphs) should cover the second of the two topics. Do not discuss Topic 1 in this section. Since you have already gone into great detail about it, you may allude to Topic 1 briefly; however, do not analyze Topic 1 in this section. This portion of the paper is to discuss Topic 2 in great detail. 4. Topics 1 and 2 Together Now that you have analyzed both Topic 1 and Topic 2 independently, now it is time to analyze them together. This section may also be one or several paragraphs. 5. Conclusion The conclusion like the introduction should be a generalization of the thesis. This paragraph should express your certainty and absolute knowledge on the subject matter. You should reaffirm your thesis (essentially restate it in new words) and show how you've proven it. OR

1. Introduction

Your introduction like the five-paragraph-essay, should open generally (with a quotation, anecdote, generalization), and lead into the thesis statement. 2. All Comparisons (Topics 1 and 2) This section which should consists of several paragraphs should go through all similarities you find in the two topics on which you are writing. There should be at least three comparisons (essentially three short body paragraphs) in which you give an example from both topics of comparisons in each. 3. All Contrasts (Topics 1 and 2) This section which should consist of several paragraphs should go through all differences you find in the two topics on which you are writing. There should be at least three contrasts (essentially three short body paragraphs) in which you give an example from both topics of comparisons in each. 4. Conclusion This conclusion is wrapping up everything you have just proven in your paper. It should restate the thesis in a new, more official way, and you should feel quite confident in your writing. Source: http://www.bookrags.com/articles/5.html

Compare/Contrast Essay Worksheet Topic:

Books vs. the Internet (Work alone on these questions first, and then well get in small groups.) 1. List the pros and cons Pros of the Internet: - - - - - Cons of the Internet: - - - - -

Pros of Books: - - - - -

Cons of Books: - - - - -

2. A specific example for each of the box above. 3. What is your personal opinion? Why? Dont forget to use examples!