Organization Warm-up
STUDENT MATERIALSSTUDENT MATERIALSS-1WRITING – ORGANIZATION WARM-UPOER PROJECT / PROJECT SCOREPreparation• Carefully read the DBQ prompt you will be responding to. Be sure to have read and analyzed the documents prior to doing this warm-up activity. • Make sure you have drafted the thesis/major claim you intend to use in response to the essay prompt. PurposeThis warm-up focuses on the Organization row of the WHP Writing Rubric and allows you to refine the way you structure your writing to most effectively support your argument and ideas. You will practice skills to use organization strategies and transitions to support your analysis and establish clear, meaningful connections between ideas. These writing skills are essential not just to essay-writing in all your classes, but are applicable to academic, professional, and personal writing at all levels. ProcessIn this warm-up activity, you will learn how to organize your essays to help you create a paper that’s easy for your reader to understand. First, you’ll review the Organization row of the rubric, and then, you’ll work through a three-step process that will help you think about how you’ll organize your essay. First, take out the WHP Writing Rubric and review the Organization row with your class. Discuss what you think organization is in this context and why it’s important to consider when writing essays. Remember, all arguments should have three components that make up the basic organization: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Within those components, writers make choices about the best way to order and present their ideas. Some writers use categories to structure their paragraphs (for example, economic, social, etc.) Others lay out their points in order of importance or move from most general to most specific. When we discuss organization in the context of the rubric, we’re really talking about the existence and effectiveness of the introduction and conclusion, along with the order in which ideas are presented within the body.Additionally, a well-organized essay provides the reader with a roadmap, which should help them follow your argument more easily. So, how do you organize a paper? Well, there is a tool for that!Take out the Organization Prewriting Tool and work through it according to your teacher’s instructions. First, add the thesis/major claim to the top of the tool. Then, for Step 1, come up with three claims—or reasons—that support the thesis/major claim statement you just wrote. Then, for Step 2, use transition words to help you write your introduction and organize your body paragraphs.Now you’re ready for Step 3, your conclusion. First, choose a transition word that will help you start your concluding paragraph. Then, summarize your supporting claims and their significance, describe why your argument is important, and then restate your thesis/major claim. The work you complete in Step 3 will help you write your concluding paragraph later. Once you’ve completed the steps, it’s time to write!
Name:Date:Name:Date:STUDENT MATERIALSS-2WRITING – ORGANIZATION WARM-UPOER PROJECT / PROJECT SCOREOrganization Prewriting ToolDirections: First, write the thesis/major claim you will use in your essay. Then, follow the each of the steps below to organize your essay.My thesis/major claim:Step 1—Ordering of supporting claimsConsider three supporting claims that reinforce your thesis/major claim and write them in the first column. Then, in columns two and three, reorder your supporting claims. Read through each order and put a star next to the option you think is strongest. Remember, there are many ways to effectively organize your supporting claims: Some ways writers organize ideas are by category, specificity, or importance. Order option 1Order option 2Order option 3 Supporting claimSupporting claimSupporting claimSupporting claimSupporting claimSupporting claimSupporting claimSupporting claimSupporting claim
Name:Date:Name:Date:STUDENT MATERIALSS-3WRITING – ORGANIZATION WARM-UPOER PROJECT / PROJECT SCOREStep 2—Intro paragraph Your introductory paragraph lays out the structure of your argument. This means that the order you outlined above in Step 1 will help you write your introduction and organize your body paragraphs. Using your selected ordering of supporting claims from Step 1, add transition words and phrases to emphasize that order and show your critical thinking. Note that these transition words can be used in your introduction, but also in the body of the paper to help you transition between paragraphs. Example transitions:My supporting claims with transitions:• For instance... In addition... Furthermore...• On one hand...(reasons against); However, on the other hand... and also...(reasons for)• First... Second... Finally...• In the beginning... Later... Eventually...• (First reason), because of that..., Therefore...”• First of all... More important... Above all... • By comparison... Still... Ultimately...Supporting claim 1Supporting claim 2Supporting claim 3
Name:Date:Name:Date:STUDENT MATERIALSS-4WRITING – ORGANIZATION WARM-UPOER PROJECT / PROJECT SCOREStep 3—ConclusionFill out the table below to help you consider ways to write your conclusion and sketch out some closing thoughts. When you draft your conclusion later, you can incorporate these ideas into your essay’s concluding paragraph. Example transitions:My supporting claims with transitions:• For all these reasons...• Taken together...• All of these events show...• In conclusion...• The logical conclusion of these...• Simply put...• In other words...• In sum...• Altogether...• On the whole...List a transition statement you could use to open your concluding paragraph. Summarize the supporting claims you presented and their significance.Describe why your argument is important. Restate your thesis/major claim. You may choose to use another example transition here.
Name:Date:Name:Date:STUDENT MATERIALSS-5WRITING – ORGANIZATION WARM-UPOER PROJECT / PROJECT SCOREWHP Writing RubricAdvancedProficientDevelopingEmergingClaim and Focus*Make a clear claim about the topic early in the essay and focus on proving it.The essay makes a precise and significant claim based on the topic and/or source(s). The essay maintains a strong focus on defending a directly stated position, using the whole essay to support and develop the claim and counterclaims while thoroughly addressing the demands of the prompt.The essay makes a clear claim based on the topic and/or source(s). The essay maintains focus on defending an identifiable position, using most of the essay to support and develop the claim and counterclaims while addressing the demands of the prompt.The essay makes a claim based on the topic and/or source(s), but it may not fully address the demands of the prompt. Counterclaims may not be acknowledged, and the essay may not stay focused on the purpose and task.The essay makes an overly simplistic or vague claim, or a position on the topic and/or source(s) may not be stated. Counterclaims are not acknowledged, and the essay does not address the purpose, task, or demands of the prompt.Analysis and EvidenceChoose the right evidence and explain how it supports the claim and analysis.The essay cites the most appropriate and valid evidence to support its claim, drawing information substantively from multiple sources to defend its position and effectively refute counterclaims. The essay demonstrates insightful reasoning and careful understanding of the sources, acknowledging inconsistencies or weaknesses in evidence, and fully explains the relationship between claims and support.The essay cites sufficient and appropriate evidence to support its claim, drawing information from multiple sources to defend its position and refute counter- claims. The essay demonstrates reasoning and understanding of the sources, potentially acknowledging inconsistencies or weaknesses in evidence, and adequately explains the relationship between claims and support.The essay cites evidence to support its claim, but it may be insufficient or draw unevenly from available sources. Support may be inadequate in defense of the position and refutation of the counterclaim or rely too heavily on summary. The essay demonstrates some reasoning and/or understanding of the sources, though explanations of the relationship between claims and support are not always clear.The essay cites minimal or irrelevant evidence to support its claim. Support may rely primarily on opinion, reasoning, or summary of the source(s) without clear cited evidence. The essay demonstrates little to no reasoning and/or understanding of the sources. An explanation of the relationship between claims and support is not present.OrganizationPresent ideas in a structure that enhances the analysis. Use transitions throughout the essay to make connections clear.The essay incorporates precise transitions within a sophisticated organizational structure that enhances the relationships between and among ideas and promotes cohesion and clarity. A well-executed, logical progression of ideas is clearly constructed, including an effective introduction and a conclusion which follows from and supports the claim and analysis.The essay employs an organizational structure that shows the relationships between and among ideas, yielding a cohesive analysis. Clear transitions support a logical progression of ideas, including an effective introduction and a conclusion which follows from and supports the claim and analysis.The essay uses a simplistic organizational structure, though relationships between ideas may not be consistently clear. Use of transitions is sparse, repetitive, and/or does not show the connections among sections of the text. A progression of ideas is evident, however, the introduction and/or conclusion may not be fully developed or follow from and support the claim and/or analysis.An organizational structure is not evident, and relationships between ideas are not consistently clear. The essay may read as a series of unrelated ideas, as the absence of transitions makes it difficult to see connections among sections of the text. An introduction and/ or conclusion is missing from the essay.
Name:Date:Name:Date:STUDENT MATERIALSS-6WRITING – ORGANIZATION WARM-UPOER PROJECT / PROJECT SCOREAdvancedProficientDevelopingEmergingLanguage and StyleUse specific, interesting language and clear sentence structure to communicate ideas.The essay has an established, formal style and objective tone that is maintained throughout. The essay uses varied sentence structure, precise language, and domain-specific vocabulary in a way that addresses the complexity of the topic. Few errors are present, and they do not interfere with meaning.The essay has an established, formal style that is maintained throughout. The essay uses mostly correct, varied sentence structure and generally uses precise language and domain-specific vocabulary in a way that generally addresses the complexity of the topic. The essay may have some errors, but they do not interfere with meaning.The essay attempts to establish a formal style that may not be maintained throughout. The essay attempts to vary sentence structure and uses some precise language that may be domain-specific at times but may address the complexity of the topic inconsistently. The essay contains some errors that may interfere with meaning.The essay does not establish and/or maintain a formal style. The essay uses little variety in sentence structure, and the language is general and not domain-specific.The essay contains errors that interfere with meaning.Applying WHP Concepts†Choose and accurately apply the relevant WHP concepts in a way that shows understanding, and further supports the argument and evidence presented in the essay.The essay applies at least two WHP course-level concepts and/or unit-level concepts or content. The concepts or content are connected to the argument or evidence in the essay, and misconceptions are avoided. There are no errors in applying WHP concepts or content, and the essay demonstrates a clear understanding of the topic and the concepts. The essay might include information about the overall time period discussed in the essay and might make use of broader historical content than is located in the course.The essay applies one WHP course- level concept and/or unit-level concept or content. The concept or content is connected to the argument or evidence in the essay, and misconceptions are avoided. There are no errors in applying WHP concepts or content to illustrate or support concepts and claims, or to inform the essay.The essay tries to apply at least one WHP course-level and/or unit- level concept or content, but does not fully articulate the concept's meaning or connection to the argument and/or evidence. It does avoid explicit misconceptions of the concept but may make an occasional minor error in applying WHP facts or concepts to illustrate or support concepts and claims, or to inform the essay.The essay incorrectly or inappropriately mentions at least one WHP course-level concept and/or unit-level concept or content, and it may include misconceptions of that concept. The essay may make many minor errors or a major error in applying WHP facts or concepts.*Turnitin, LLC, created the first four rows of this rubric for use with their Revision Assistant and Turnitin tools.†The “Applying WHP Concepts” row of the rubric should be used by teachers and students to assess student learning and understanding in this area. Teachers should not assess student writing using Turnitin reports exclusively.