Senior Class Expository Essay Unit Plan

Mary Fugate
EED 433
Dr. Babcox
Description of students and school:

This expository essay ten day lesson plan is designed for senior high school students (English

IV) with the course being general literary studies in a public school located in a small mid-

western, rural community similar to that of Hollister. The classroom has a smart board, is set up

with large tables, and chairs instead of desks, with a row of ten computers on a long table lined

around the classroom wall. My class consists of twenty students, in which there are twelve girls

and eight boys. The ethnic background is two Hispanic males, one black male, five white males,

three Hispanic females, two half African-American and half white females, and seven white

females. One student has a reading deficiency equivalent to junior high level.

Objectives and rationales:

My goal as a teacher is to instruct the students effectively to write a successful expository essay

and aid them in preparing for college and the outside world for which they will be attaining

employment. The in-class writing will be an advantage for the students allowing them to discuss

their papers with each other. My rationale is to encourage the students to talk about writing. My

expectation is that the peer reviews will alleviate some fear the students might have, and they can

be excited about what they can achieve. The purpose of the systematic course is to breakdown

the process so the students can achieve their essays one-step at a time so that they are not

overwhelmed always looking at the final product.

The practitioners and theorists that apply to my lesson plans are:

Day 1

Daily objective: TSWBT

• read and apply multi-step directions for an expository essay ( Reading 3.D. English IV)
• give a clear and concise multi-step oral directions for writing an expository essay
(Listening and Speaking 2. B. English 9-12)
use active listening for information on expository essays and group discussions using
provided criteria on essays and topics evaluating the validity of the teaching (Listening
and Speaking 1.A. 9-12)
• showing awareness of audience and choosing a point of view appropriate to purpose and
audience when choosing the topic for the essay (Writing 2.A. English IV)

Preview: Review with the students what they believe an expository essay means, defining an
expository essay, and presenting the outline and main idea organizer handouts. Discuss
appropriate topics that interest the students. Remind the students to think about the audience
they want to target in choosing their topics.

Instruction: Ask the students to discuss what an expository essay is and topics they would like
to write about and why. What audience and point of view they would target with their choices.
Give instruction that research for their topic is optional; however, there will be a class period
centered on research and citation.

Independent Practice: Give the students time with a partner to brainstorm main ideas and
research ideas for their essays. They are to write down their main ideas to prepare for the next
class.

Activity: Use the computer to introduce topics about teenagers today. For example, I will show
you tube videos on school bullying, texting while driving, and teen body image. Next, I will
show different types of articles on teen depression to help initiate topic ideas. The students will
write down one favorite topic. I would like to go around the room and ask each student what
topic they chose. If the topics are appropriate, let them choose the topics that interest them.

Review:

Assessment:

Material: Computer, 20 expository outline handouts, main idea organizer handouts, paper,
pencils.
http://www.sdst.org/shs/library/thesis.html
http://essaydocs.patwill.com/search/essay+outline+template+generator/