It’s week 10 of the English writing class. Time to learn another sentence pattern to help you write about complex ideas.
Week Plan
- review last week’s lesson
- describe book report project
Hours 1-2
- attendance (5)
- review last week (5)
What did we do last week? (5)
- reviewed the schedule until the end of the semester
- made a plan to learn three sentence patterns to write about complex ideas.
- arguments
- hypothesis
- correlation and causation
Last week’s writing
- summarize argument in electric car advertisement (short)
- summarize argument ketchup advertisement (short)
- less is more – summarize and evaluate argument (long)
Book Report Project (10)
- due date: week 14, December 4/5
- grade value: 10%
- length 2-3 pages
- give me book title this week
- start ASAP
What is a hypothesis?
Part 1 Review Basic Information. (15)
What is a hypothesis pdf file.
Part 2 Writing Practice 1 (10)
Quickly, write four hypothesis sentences using the basic sentence patterns.
- the more this, the more that
- the more this, the less that
- the less this, the more that
- the less this, the less that
What are the variables?
How can we measure them?
Part 3 Writing and Thinking Practice (10)
Look at the chart on this pdf file.
Work with a partner and
- name the variables
- construct a hypothesis using a basic sentence pattern
- write an argument which could explain why the hypothesis might be true.
Part 4 Data Analysis Practice – Blooms Taxonomy (10)
Here is a chart made by a professor many years ago. It is a famous chart.
- Spend a couple of minutes looking at the words and ideas on the chart.
- Summarize the chart’s ideas in one hypothesis.
- Can you guess why I want you to learn and understand this chart?
Part 5 Long Writing Assignment (40)
Now you know how to write a hypothesis sentence. Let’s put that knowledge into practice.
Your task is to watch a video and then summarize and analyze.
Summarize (1-3 paragraphs)
- write the main hypothesis
- describe the variables
- provide a few examples and details
- how did the speaker measure those variables
Analyze (1-3 paragraphs)
The speaker never really explained the hypothesis. He just showed use soem data to show the connection.
I want you you to use your creative thinking to explain this connection. Write 1-2 paragraph to explain how this hypothesis might be true.
Hour 3
attend and review (5)
finish tasks (40)
- Finish #1 first writing assignment – arguments (electric car, ketchup)
- Finish #2 hypothesis (video analysis)
- Complete paraphrasing exercise.
Comments on Writing
Here are a few sentences from student writing.
You should buy an electronic car right now, because it will make your life more better.
There are a few mistakes in this sentence. Let’s fix it.
You should buy an electric car because you will save time, money and the environment. Some functions in the car, like the heater and air conditioner, can be controlled by your smart phone. That means you can turn these on inside the house before going out to the car. That saves time. You can also save money because you don’t need to buy gas each week. Finally, you can help the environment because the car does not have emissions. That means the air will be a little cleaner, which is good for everybody.
Here’s a good sentence about the less is more video.
Less stuff makes more happiness because it gives you more freedom, saves money and makes your space relaxed.
Good job. I would suggest a couple of small changes:
Less stuff makes more happiness because it gives you more freedom, money and comfort.
Here’s a sentence about the ketchup ad:
You should buy sauce because it tastes better and it looks good.
Not bad … a few changes to make it the ideas clear.
You should buy this ketchup because it makes food taste better and look good.
Paraphrasing Exercise (20)
Paraphrase means you say the same idea with different words. Paraphrasing is a good writing skill because you learn new words and new ideas.
Complete this paraphrasing worksheet. Here is an example question.
Find a synonym for the underlined words/phrases. Re-write each sentence using these new words or phrases. For example:
- More than half of the women who attended the one-day meeting were in business with their spouses.
Possible answer:
- The majority of the women attending the day-long meeting were in business with their husbands.
Now do the same thing with 10 questions on this paraphrasing worksheet.
If you don’t finish the worksheet in class, this is your homework. Please finish it for the next class.
Image Credit
Bloom’s taxonomy image from Vanderbilt University. No changes were made. Image use complies with Creative Commons license.