| Objectives | Students will be able to: (1) identify the author’s claim; (2) evaluate the evidence provided; (3) determine if the argument is valid and reliable. |
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| Materials | Two short persuasive articles on the same topic (one strong, one weak). |
| Key vocabulary | claim, evidence, evaluate, valid, reliable, bias |
| Engage (starter) | (10 min) "If I claim to be the fastest runner in the school, but my evidence is that my mom says so, is that a strong argument?" |
| Develop (main) | (35 min) 1. Define Claim (thesis) and Evidence (facts, statistics, quotes). 2. Read Article A (strong evidence) and Article B (weak, opinion-based evidence). 3. Use an evaluation chart to track the claim and the supporting points for each. 4. Discuss which is more reliable and why. Look for bias. |
| Plenary (close) | (10 min) Write a 2-sentence summary of why Article A is stronger than Article B. |
| Assessment | Accurate evaluation of evidence quality in the chart. |
| Teacher notes | This ties reading comprehension directly into their own persuasive writing. |
| Objectives | Students will be able to: (1) identify independent and dependent clauses; (2) use relative pronouns to create complex sentences; (3) punctuate adjective clauses. |
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| Materials | Sentence strips, list of relative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which, that). |
| Key vocabulary | complex sentence, relative pronoun, independent clause, dependent clause |
| Engage (starter) | (10 min) "The boy won the race. The boy is my brother." How can we make this sound like a Grade 6 sentence? (The boy who won the race is my brother). |
| Develop (main) | (35 min) 1. Review clauses. 2. Introduce relative pronouns. Explain they introduce a dependent clause that describes a noun (adjective clause). 3. Practice combining sentences on the board using who, which, and that. 4. Discuss the comma rule (essential vs non-essential clauses). 5. Worksheet practice. |
| Plenary (close) | (10 min) Sentence combining share-out. Check for flow and punctuation. |
| Assessment | Correct use of relative pronouns to form complex sentences. |
| Teacher notes | The essential vs non-essential comma rule (restrictive vs non-restrictive) may take extra time. |
| Objectives | Students will be able to: (1) identify advanced roots (chron, dict, spect, auto); (2) break down complex words; (3) spell multisyllabic words. |
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| Materials | Root word trees (graphic organizers), dictionaries. |
| Key vocabulary | root, chron, dict, spect, auto, prefix, suffix |
| Engage (starter) | (10 min) Write "chronology", "chronic", "synchronize". What root do they share? ("Chron" = time). |
| Develop (main) | (35 min) 1. Introduce the new roots (dict=say, spect=look, auto=self, chron=time). 2. Hand out blank "Root Trees". Put the root in the trunk. 3. Students use dictionaries to find branches (words) and leaves (definitions) for their tree. 4. Spelling practice: segmenting the words into syllables/roots. |
| Plenary (close) | (10 min) Gallery walk of the root trees. |
| Assessment | Correct spelling and definition of complex words derived from the roots. |
| Teacher notes | Emphasize how knowing the root helps with both meaning and spelling. |
| Objectives | Students will be able to: (1) draft body paragraphs using the PEEL structure; (2) write a concluding paragraph summarizing the argument. |
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| Materials | Drafting paper, PEEL anchor chart (Point, Evidence, Explanation, Link). |
| Key vocabulary | PEEL, body paragraph, conclusion, restate, summarize |
| Engage (starter) | (10 min) Review the essay structure. "Today we finish drafting! We need strong evidence and a powerful ending." |
| Develop (main) | (35 min) 1. Introduce PEEL for body paragraphs. Model one paragraph. 2. Explain the Conclusion structure: Restate thesis (in different words) + Summarize main points + Call to action/Final thought. 3. Students use their outlines from week 2 and introductions from week 3 to draft the rest of the essay. |
| Plenary (close) | (10 min) Read a partner's conclusion. Does it leave a strong final impression? |
| Assessment | Body paragraphs contain evidence; conclusion summarizes the argument without introducing new points. |
| Teacher notes | Allow ample time for writing. Teacher circulates to assist with flow and transitions. |
| Objectives | Students will be able to: (1) evaluate an argument; (2) form complex sentences; (3) self-edit an essay draft. |
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| Materials | Editing checklists, review worksheets. |
| Key vocabulary | review, evaluate, edit |
| Engage (starter) | (10 min) Relative pronoun game. Match the sentence halves. |
| Develop (main) | (35 min) 1. First 15 mins: Independent review worksheet on relative pronouns and evaluating a short argument. 2. Last 20 mins: Self-editing the persuasive essay draft using a rubric. Checking for passive voice, strong connotations, and PEEL structure. |
| Plenary (close) | (10 min) Discuss the editing process. What was the most common mistake found? |
| Assessment | Completion of the review sheet and visible edits on the essay draft. |
| Teacher notes | Editing is a distinct skill from writing; encourage them to read their work aloud. |