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Title: Body Paragraphs on Listening to Music in School Goal: This week, students will begin their study of the expository essay. Purdue University’s Online Writing Library describes the expository essay thusly:The expository essay is a genre of essay that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner. This can be accomplished through comparison and contrast, definition, example, the analysis of cause and effect, etc.The expository essay is the form that will most-often be required of students in high school, college, and graduate school. Therefore, it will make their post-MMS lives much easier if they have a facility with the form.Furthermore, the expository essay makes students think logically about the world around them, making them less susceptible to propaganda and fuzzy thinking. The first expository form they will learn is the thesis paper, and their practice of the form will begin by writing body paragraphs. Description: Students will write three body paragraphs with argument, evidence, and reasoning that exactly follows the thesis paper format. Example: Here is a body paragraph:Students should not be allowed to listen to music in school because music effects different people differently. For example, a study in Psychology Today found that music’s effects on memory test scores depended on what music was listened to, and the musical ability of the subject. Seventy-three people were asked to listen to songs that they found either pleasurable or neutral while studying and then take a test. Researchers found that musicians studied well while listening to neutral music, and tested best while listening to pleasurable music, but that the exact opposite was true for non-musicians. The effects of music on students is not predictable, and depending on the student, does not help at all. Therefore, students should not be allowed to listen to music in school. From: , read the followingThis week, you will begin your study of the expository essay as a form. An expository essay is a form where you take a position and explain it to your reader. The position you take is called a “thesis.” Listen to the following paragraph from the New York Times and tell me what you think the thesis is. My children need to read this summer. They’re in the middle of a long vacation from school, and I want them to enjoy it — but I also want them to be able to pick up their education where they left off when school starts again in the fall. Kids who read over the summer lose fewer skills than kids who don’t. This is especially important for children from low-income families and those with language problems, like my younger daughter. When reading is difficult, so is almost everything else. As new readers move from decoding text to fluency, every subject from math to history becomes more accessible, but practice is the only way to get there. [Listen to student responses, which should be “Summer reading is important.”]This week, you will be writing an expository essay with one of two possible theses (which is the plural of thesis). Listening to music should be allowed in school.Listening to music should not be allowed in school.When you are writing thesis papers in high school, they will usually be five paragraphs long: introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. A body paragraph contains an argument supporting your thesis, evidence proving your argument, and reasoning explain your evidence, and how it supports your argument. We will now read aloud a sample body paragraph: [Read aloud sample paper. Ask students the following questions:What was the argument of the paragraph?What evidence supported the argument?What reasoning explained how the evidence supported the argument?]Lastly, there is an order to sentences in thesis papers which may not be altered. Think of these like floors of a building. If you leave out a floor, the whole building collapses! Furthermore, high school teachers tend to mercilessly seek obedience in sentence order. Don’t give them a reason to give you a bad grade!Body paragraphs should always go in the following order:Body Paragraph.Restate thesisArgumentEvidenceReasoningRestate thesisThis week, you will write three body paragraphs. First, you will use a graphic organizer to outline your body paragraphs. Using online resources, you will find arguments, evidence, and reasoning to support your thesis. You will then write a rough draft of your body paragraphs, revise it, give it to a peer reviewer, and revise it again before turning it in by 7:45 on Wednesday.Pull up the assigned graphic organizer. You have five minutes to create a first argument for your thesis paper. You may use the attached resources for a first place to look. [Students work for five minutes. Teacher observes, then asks for responses, correcting arguments as needed.]You now have five minutes to find one piece of evidence to support your argument. [Students work for five minutes. Teacher observes, then asks for responses, correcting evidence as needed.]You now have five minutes to write reasoning explaining your evidence, and how it proves your argument. [Students work for five minutes. Teacher observes, then asks for responses, correcting reasoning as needed.]Complete your graphic organizer on your own, then write a rough draft of your three paragraphs. Revise it, then share it with a peer reviewer, completing the attached checklists. Your final draft is due Wednesday at 7:45 AM. Have a nice day!Thesis Paper Body Paragraphs Graphic OrganizerYou will use this graphic organizer to outline body paragraphs for your thesis paper. Remember, you are writing on one of two topics:Listening to music should be allowed in school.Listening to music should not be allowed in school.Arguments: First, you will create three arguments to support your thesis. Remember, an argument is like a “little thesis.” It supports your thesis like a leg supports a table. An example argument would be: “Music effects different people differently.”Create three arguments to support your thesis.1. Evidence: Evidence proves your argument is correct. Evidence is best when it is from research, or is something a person witnessed directly. Using the resources provided, find evidence to support your arguments. If you can’t find a strong piece of evidence, perhaps you should change your argument. Search the text to find three pieces of evidence to support your arguments.1. 2. Reasoning: Remember, reasoning is your chance to explain things to your reader. You should explain your evidence, and then how your evidence links to your thesis. Your reasoning may be the longest section of the paragraph. Remember, don’t leave your reader confused!1. 2. Resources: Self-Evaluation ChecklistsTo make your writing the best it can possibly be, you must complete the following checklists after writing your rough draft, but before giving your work to a peer reader and writing your final draft. THESE CHECKLISTS ARE PASS/FAIL. ONE MISSING ELEMENT WILL RESULT IN A ZERO.Format ChecklistDouble-spacedIn 12-point, Times New Roman font I restated my thesisI followed my thesis with an argumentMy argument is supported by evidenceMy reasoning explains my evidence and links it to my argumentI restated my thesis at the end of the paragraph I wrote in the third personMy ProofreadingThere are no spelling errors. I used capital letters at the beginning of sentences, for proper nouns, for names, cities, countriesI used end punctuation.I checked tenses, and do not use future and past tense in the same sentence. My Signature: ____________________________________________________________Peer Listener and Reader Evaluation ChecklistAfter revising your own work with the above checklist, you will print out a copy and read it to a peer. Your peer will then evaluate your work with the following checklist. There are no spelling errorsThe writer uses capital letters at the beginning of sentences, for proper nouns, for names, cities, countriesAll punctuation is used correctlyThe writer wrote in the third personI checked tenses so that the writer does not use future and past tense in the same sentenceThe thesis is restated at the start and end of the paragraphArgument, evidence, and reasoning are all present in that orderOverall, this paragraph makes sense, and I understand what the writer’s logic This narrative follows a logical, coherent orderPeer Reader Signature: ______________________________________________________ ................
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