Outlining and Essays

My Seniors class received an important lesson in outlining.  I am amazed at how this important organizational skill is just not taught in schools anymore.  To me, it is the foundation of strong essays and even creative stories.  If you can't effectively plan it ahead of time, how can you write it?

My Seniors were assigned to write an outline for a 5 paragraph essay.  The topic?  "My Favorite ________."  Anything was possible!

Favorite vacation spots, favorite sports, and even favorite You Tube videos were some of the topics chosen that day.  Here is Sammy's (6th grade) essay on Football.  His outline included:
An introduction
Object of the game
Equipment needed to play
Where football is played
Success of the sport nationally
A conclusion

Sammy clearly follows his thought process in a clear and concise manner, all stemming from a well-written outline.

Enjoy!

     Foorball is an amazing sport that is played on a 100 yard long field.  The object of the game is to march down the field and score.  Football is one of the most popular sports in America.  It is played at schools everywhere and even has its own pro league.

     The object of the game is to make your way down the 100 yard field.  The offense can either run the ball or pass it while the defense tries to tackle them.

     Some equipment is needed to play football.  First, you need a football.  Then, you need a helmet and shoulder pads.  Because you need to protect your ribs, you need to wear rib pads.  When you're playing football, you also need cleats.

     (Did you notice his "Because" and "When" sentence starters there??)

     Football is played in many places.  Some people play at the park and in their backyards.  Many junior highs and high schools have football teams.  College football is very popular in the U.S.  One sport that is even more popular than college football is the pro football league, the NFL.

     The NFL is so huge that their championship game, the Super Bowl, has the highest TV ratings every year.  The teams that get into the Super Bowl have to first qualify for the playoffs, then win every game in the playoffs.  The winner of the Super Bowl is the NFL Champion for that year.

      As you can see, football is a fabulous sport.  You should give it a try.  Just don't get hurt.

Backwards Animals! Turning an Outline into a Research Paper

Wonderful paragraphs connect to form informative and interesting research papers!  This next lesson took three class meetings to accomplish.

What would make for an exciting Writers' Workshop research paper topic?  Animals, of course!  But not just any animal..... animals that were created in our minds by spelling REAL animals, insects, reptiles, birds-- you name it!-- backwards!  I shared my "Ognimalf" sample with the class.  The Ognimalf is of course a bird related to the flamingo, but with some very interesting eating habits, colors and body features, and a unique living style.

We brainstormed imaginative information about our pretend animal:
~ appearance
~ diet
~ habitat
~ living style/personality
And anything else we could think of!

Then, we learned how to outline: a skill that is not taught often enough, in my opinion.  We took our notes from the previous class meeting and created an outline that included an introductory paragraph that touched on the upcoming topics, a body that explained every aspect of the animal in detail, and a great conclusion.

From there, the research papers were written in an organized fashion.  Here are just a couple of my favorites!

                    The Arbez, by Haley (3rd grade)

     The Arbez is a very small and delicate creature.  It is in the cat family, but looks very different.  The Arbez has a strange way of getting food.  It has a nice habitat and a fantastic personality.

     The Arbez has an oddly large head and a pretty small body.  It is covered with purple polka-dots, has no tail, one wing, and can fly.  It also has one ring on its left ear, a red collar, and a gold tag.

     The Arbez loves many foods, but two are his favorite.  It likes pizza and pineapple, but the pineapple must be sliced and the pizza must be pepperoni.  The Arbez orders pizza on the phone, and it also steals pizza from people!

     The Arbez likes to live in warm places.  It has traveled to every place in the world.  It lives now in Hawaii.  It usually lives with people or at a zoo.  When it is mad or excited, it barks at people.  When it is quiet, that means it is lonely or sad.  It is very playful when it is happy.

     The Arbez's personality is always fun.  It is really playful and likes to play with yarn.  It is also extremely fashionable, always wearing shirts everywhere.  It likes to wear shiny things like diamonds as buttons or sequins all over.  Girls always wear colorful tutus in all colors, especially pink and purple.

     In conclusion, the Arbez is a pretty, little, and unique creature.  From its fascinating personality to its awesome appearance, it is nothing like its cat cousin.  Too bad it lives in Hawaii.

 The Effarig, by Jeffrey (4th grade)

 One day, on the way home from school my mom exclaimed, ”Guess what kids, we got a new pet today!”

We bounced up and down in our seats asking, “What is it?”

“An effarig,” she replied calmly.

“What in the world is an effarig?” we demanded.

That was how this fascinating creature entered my life. It has a cute face, a strange diet, a unique habitat and is also extremely short. It’s an easy pet to take care of because of its ability to communicate with humans.

The effarig is a relative of the giraffe, but there are some unexpected differences. Although their body shapes are similar, the effarig is only two feet tall, not including its long neck. This extremely long neck is only seen when reaching for its favorite food: spinach. It has long, shaggy fur that’s black with brown spots.

The diet of the effarig is quite limited.  It likes to eat nuts, especially walnuts and acorns.  Spinach is its favorite food, which it only eats in spinach salad.  It cannot serve itself because it is too short to reach into the refrigerator.

The effarig will do anything to get a warm blanket. In fact, it cannot stand temperatures below 70 degrees Fahrenheit! When an effarig is happy, it will sing loudly and beautifully. These animals talk to ask if they need a drink or if they want food. The only public tamed effarigs live at the San Francisco Zoo and the San Diego Zoo. There are only 200 in the wild, which live on the coast of California, so if you want one you’d better be quick! These wild effarigs have evolved to living in the colder winter temperatures, although they do prefer to be warm.

 The friendly effarig would make an outstanding pet. It greets people and asks for all it wants. If you want an effarig, you need three supplies ready to go: blankets, spinach, and nuts. On the other hand, its singing could get loud and it could make neighbors unhappy, or it could go chase after a blanket and abandon you.

The effarig is an uncommon creature that has become our favorite animal!

The Niugnep, by Katherine (5th grade)

    The niugnep is a very unique animal. It  has four flippers and has a head and body of a cloud. This appearance helps it survive in its fur habitats. In each habitat, the niugnep has to have some food. The food in each habitat ensures a variety in its diet. It has a fascinating personality that people love. Everybody wants it as a pet!

    The niugnep has four flippers to help it. Two flippers are for swimming and the other two are wings for flying. The cloud head and body help the niugnep float in the air when it wants. In the air, the niugnep will curl up and sleep, looking just like a cloud. The last part of its body is its feet. The feet look like a bird’s because it is orange and has three claws.

    The niugnep has the strangest habitats. Because they are part penguin, niugneps sometimes live in water. Its two flippers help it survive in the water because the top two are for swimming. Another unique habitat this creature lives in is the air. Curled up in a ball, the niugnep will look just like a floating, round cloud. Along with the other clouds, niugneps float across. When a niugnep wakes from sleep in the air, it is in a completely different place. Niugneps also like the jungle. The jungle is a great place to play because there are a lot of trees. Sometimes though, people find niugneps wandering through their town.

    The many habitats niugneps live in make its diet very unusual. For instance, when the niugnep is in the air, the niugnep will eat clouds. Apparently, niugneps think that clouds taste good. Now, you are probably wondering what it eats in its other habitats. In the water, niugneps eat fish, just like their cousin the penguin. Inside the jungle, niugneps eat any type of fruit.  Fruit is very sweet and tasty to niugneps, and they like sweet things. In town, niugneps eat nutella. Niugneps just adore nutella. It is their number one favorite food. This is what makes the niugnep’s diet so strange.

      People may think that the niugnep is very rough because they always fight each other for territory. Actually, the niugnep is very sweet and helpful. The niugnep is a very good searcher and finds many lost things. The niugnep’s personality is not as strange as its diet. The niugnep is actually very timid and playful. Niugneps play with kids all the time but sometimes they are never seen because they are thinking about something. This is why they can make a great pet. Many people have niugneps as a pet.

      The niugnep is a very exclusive animal. It has a very cute appearance, unusual habitats, very strange diets, a fascinating personality, and most of all, it makes a great pet. If you ever see a niugnep, make sure you take it in as a pet!

 

The Nihplod

By Kelly (6th grade)

Don’t find yourself underestimating a nihplod, for it may be the last thing you do. It has an excellent disguise, and lives in a place that you’ve visited a hundred times. Its peculiar diet will make you try to avoid this creature at all times!
    A nihplod looks almost exactly like a banana, except for the pearly white hue. It can’t walk, fly, or move in any way. It just sits there like a banana, which is exactly what it wants. The nihplod has one, microscopic eye, however, it still has excellent vision.
    All shoppers better be cautious because the nihplod makes its home in a grocery store. Hiding deep in the banana section, this clever beast waits until bought by an unsuspecting customer to unleash its true terror.  Store stockers simply mistake nihplods for mutant bananas, and place them in the banana boxes. If a human buys one of these rare monsters, something disastrous will happen.
    Nihplods satisfy their growling belly by devouring humans who buy it from the store.  The majority of nihplod buyers are so fascinated with these “mutant bananas” that, the moment they arrive home from the store, they insist on studying the nihplod. In that moment, this white demon swallows the human whole. What is amazing, however, is that no matter how large the human, the nihplod will stay the same size. It is unclear how exactly the digestive system of a nihplod works, because no one has been close to a nihplod and lived the tell the tale.  Another strange feature about these creatures is that although humans are plentiful, nihplods are extremely rare.
    Understandably, the nihplod is a terrifying creature. Mother Nature has combined excellent camouflage, a near-by habitat, and a horrifying diet to create one of the world’s most feared creatures: the nihplod. Hope to never see one of these clever beasts!

Research Papers

I was surprised to hear from my summer students that they had never been taught how to outline. I am wondering if it's a lost art, no longer being taught in Language Arts classrooms. It is such a wonderful organizational tool in my opinion. I was happy to pass this lesson on to my students, and they did a wonderful job with it. Their assignment was to bring notes in on any subject they found interesting. At first we organized their notes into categories (animal behaviors, diets, life span, etc) and then formed an outline with points and sub points. We made sure to include topic sentences with many well-written supporting points. This led to some very organized and informative reports, and I am proud to share these here!

Here is Rebecca's (entering 5th grade in the fall). She came to class with an incredible amount of information, and she did a great job organizing it into an outline, and then spicing up her sentences when it came to writing her report.

Dolphins, by Rebecca (entering 5th grade)

Many people think dolphins are fish, but they're not. Dolphins are actually mammals; they breathe air just like humans. Dolphins are very unique animals.

When baby dolphins are born, they are born tail first, unlike every other mammal. After the baby is born, their mother will stay with it for about two to three years. Then, the calf is on its own.

There are many types of dolphins, and therefore many sizes. The killer whale is actually the largest member of the dolphin family. The boto is the largest fresh water dolphin. It is found in the Amazon River. The bottlenose dolphin is the most commonly seen. They live in the ocean. The pink dolphin is found in the Amazon River and is endangered.

Dolphins can consume thirty pounds of fish a day. What's interesting is that dolphins swallow fish whole, even though they have 100 teeth in their mouth. Dolphins use those 100 teeth to catch their prey: fish! They have two stomachs: one for digesting food, and one for storing food. Dolphins have very interesting ways of eating!

A dolphin's body is very amazing. They have very little sense of smell. However, they make up for it with excellent eye sight both above and below water. Their skin is very delicate, just like humans'. They are highly intelligent. Their brain is larger in relation to apes.

Dolphins have amazing water behavior. They can dive as deep as 1,000 feet. They can also swim up to 25 miles per hour, faster than the best human swimmers! Dolphins can hold their breath for thirty minutes, whereas all other mammals have to breathe approximately every twenty seconds. They can jump twenty feet high out of the water. What a sight to see!

Dolphins are awesome animals. If I could have any wild pet, it would be a dolphin. Then, I could teach it tricks and maybe make some money by putting on shows for people!

Nathan (entering 6th grade) researched rabbits, specifically house rabbits. We decided to take his report in a slightly different direction: his job was to sell us all on why we should have a rabbit as a pet. I love how he added in some fun adjectives and almost personified his subject. It is informative and entertaining!

House Rabbits, by Nathan (entering 6th grade)

If you are looking for a compassionate, furry companion, house rabbits are the perfect match for you. Rabbits are perfect pets because they live a long time and will be at your side for years. They are very calm and soothing, but they can be scared by loud noises and mishandling. That's why unsupervised children under age seven should not have rabbits as pets. Rabbits are very social. They are willing to be a pillow for anyone and anything. Bunnies will also groom other pets. These reasons are why rabbits are good pets.

Rabbits live a very luxurious lifestyle. Rabbits need large enclosures and don't have to pay for rent or their house. Letting rabbits roam the house is a very good idea because rabbits need a lot of hopping space. The rabbits' diet is timothy hay, pellets, and alfalfa hay. Rabbits shed fur like snakes shed their skin. When the rabbits shed their fur, your house will have clumps of fur everywhere. So watch where you step, because eventually one of those clumps of fur might be a home to some baby rabbits.

Do you know what also makes bunnies awesome pets? They live eight to twelve years, so they can grow up with you.

In conclusion, rabbits are really nice pets. Even if you don't want them, just give them to your friends. Don't release them because they won't live very long. They are domestic, and aren't trained to live in the wild.