Final Project Script
Ashley Corl
EDU 214
Miss Corl: 6th grade, do I have your attention?
Class: Yes!
Miss Corl: Alright! Good morning, everyone! How are we doing today?
Class: We’re good!
Miss Corl: Awesome! Okay, we’re going to jump right into our lesson today,
it’s a big one! Who here has written an essay before?
Student: No, but I’ve heard of them.
Miss Corl: That’s a start! Today we’re going to learn what an essay is and how
to write one!
Miss Corl: First things first, we should probably know what exactly an essay
is, right?
Class: Right!
Miss Corl: Alright, let’s start there! An essay is simply defined as a short piece
of writing on a particular subject. So we start with a specific topic or
question. The essay I want you all to write will be your answer to this
question: What are some of your goals in life? Keep this question in mind as
we go forward, okay? Is everyone with me so far?
Class: Yes!
Miss Corl: Perfect! Remember to stop me if I’m going too fast!
Class: Okay!
Miss Corl: Okay! So for your final essay, it should be typed out on a computer,
you can use Microsoft Word or Google Docs, whichever one works best for
you, both will be accepted on Google Classroom. The essay should typed in
Times New Roman, 12 point font, and double spaced.
Miss Corl: All of that can be found at the top of your document. I’ve circled the
ones you should be looking for when you get started. This is on Google Docs,
but Word should look similar. Any questions so far?
Student: Why do we have to use that font?
Miss Corl: Well, it’s important when writing an essay that you use a font that is
easy to read and isn’t very distracting. Using a font like Times New Roman
makes it easier for the reader to concentrate on what the writer is saying.
Does that make sense?
Student: Yes, thank you!
Miss Corl: Of course! Any other questions?
Students: No.
Miss Corl: Okay, let’s move on to the essay format. Every essay should have an
introduction paragraph, at least one body paragraph, and a paragraph for your
conclusion. Starting with the introductory paragraph. I have a video for you all
to watch.
Miss Corl: As we saw, your introduction paragraph should summarize the points
you are going to cover in the paper. Let’s write an intro paragraph together.
Going back to the question I presented to you earlier. What are some of your
goals in life? This can be anything that you want to do, places you want to go,
people you want to meet. Let’s make a list. For example, one of my goals is to
travel to the Philippines and see where my mom grew up. Do any of you want to
share a goal?
Student 1: I want to see the pyramids!
Miss Corl: Awesome! What else?
Student 2: I want to be a doctor!
Miss Corl: Great! We’ll add that to the list. Alright, let’s add one more goal.
Student 3: I want to have a million dollars!
Miss Corl: Haha don’t we all? Okay, here’s what we have:
● See the pyramids
● Become a doctor
● Have a million dollars
Let’s turn this list into an intro paragraph. Thinking back to the video, does
anyone remember where we should start?
Student: A hook!
Miss Corl: Perfect! She said that a good hook should include quotes, questions,
or facts. One of my favorite quotes comes from Walt Disney. He said, “If you
can dream it, you can do it.” Would that be a good quote to use?
Class: Yes!
Miss Corl: Alright, let’s write a hook!
“Walt Disney once said, ‘If you can dream it, you can do it.’ It is important for
people to have dreams and goals. Everyone’s goals in life are unique.”
Does that sound good to everyone?
Class: Yes!
Miss Corl: Awesome. What comes next?
Student 1: Background information and thesis!
Miss Corl: Exactly, we want to provide the main points of the essay, without
giving too much away.
Student 2: Why can’t we give too much away?
Miss Corl: If we give too much away in the beginning, the reader may not feel
that they have to read the whole essay. It’s like if your friends tell you how a
movie ends before you’ve seen it. Would you still want to watch the movie?
Class: No!
Student: Why should you see a movie if you already know how it ends?
Miss Corl: Exactly! No one likes spoilers, right? So we have to keep our
introduction short and sweet so that the reader wants to keep reading! So
using our list, the next sentence in our intro should sound a little something like
this:
“A few of my goals in life are to travel to the Pyramids and to become a doctor
and a millionaire.”
This can also serve as our thesis because it already states the position we are
taking in the essay. Does that make sense to everyone?
Class: Yes!
Miss Corl: Perfect! And that completes our introduction! How are we feeling?
Class: Good!
Miss Corl: Beautiful, let’s move onto the body. Here’s another video:
Miss Corl: So your body paragraphs should have a topic sentence and 3 or
more supporting details. For our purposes, your supporting details can be why
you want to achieve this goal and/or how you plan on achieving this goal. For
example, if you want to become a doctor, you can talk about going to medical
school or where you want to go to school. Does anyone have any questions?
Student: For our body paragraphs, can we include stories that go along with
why we have that goal?
Miss Corl: Yes, of course! If you have a background story for your goal, that
would make a great supporting detail, or even a whole paragraph! How’s
everyone feeling?
Class: Good!
Miss Corl: Last but not least, we have the conclusion. I’ve got one more video.
Miss Corl: So as we saw, our conclusion is essentially a restating of our
introduction and bringing it all to a close. Do we have any questions?
Class: No, we’re good!
Miss Corl: Perfect! Are you all ready to start this essay?
Class: Yes.
Miss Corl: Amazing. I’m going to pass out our activity for the day. Today, I want
you guys to plan out your essay on this graphic organizer and write out your
first body paragraph. You don’t have to use the graphic organizer if you don’t
want to. You can write out your points on a piece of scrap paper if it works
better for you, but the graphic organizer can be a helpful tool to keep your ideas
organized! I’m also giving you a list of vocabulary you can use for your essays.
Miss Corl: Remember, if you have any questions, you can ask me or your
tablemates. Let’s have some fun with this!
Class Activity