1. Warm up: Just Joe
We will start by watching a video of a man that is introducing himself to the world in order to meet a girlfriend. While watching this, ask yourselves if you or anyone you know would be interested in dating him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Scks954Hcs
2. Critiquing Just Joe's Intro
Now it’s time to critique his introduction. Get into groups of 4 that I will assign and write down reasons why this was a poor introduction and provide suggestions for improvement. Be sure to have one group member write down your ideas because you will be asked to share with the class.
3. Improving Just Joe's Intro
You’ve got a good idea on how to strengthen Just Joe’s introduction, so get back into your groups and organize an attention grabber and a clear thesis statement for him. Only you can help him meet the girl of his dreams!
4. Writing Conclusions
It’s time to focus on the conclusion now. You’re going to need to have a general idea of what a conclusion is, which I assume you all do. Therefore, you’re going to get into groups of 4 and brainstorm ideas of what makes a successful conclusion. Be sure to have one member of the group write down the group’s responses because you will be asked to share your ideas.
5. Clincher
Many people know what a conclusion is and can provide some general ideas about what to put into a conclusion, but few will tell you an exact formula for writing a conclusion. This is because there are many different ways to write one. However, teachers can separate a high scoring conclusion from generic conclusions based on something called a clincher.
6. Activity
Effective clinchers have some sort of connection with a statement in the introduction (usually the hook) and often come after a brief summary that is typical of conclusions.
I’m going to assign each group a conclusion to develop a clincher for. Follow the directions on the clincher activity sheet and have one member of your group write down your clincher because you will be asked to share with the class.
