Wednesday, December 5, 2012


December 5, 2012
Writers’ Workshop
Written interview Presentation: Embedded Assessment
Essential Question: What goes into a written interview presentation?

All students are to bring a hardcopy of their written presentation in hand to class on Thursday/Friday.

      In creating your introductory paragraph, the task required that you devote that first paragraph to “a description of the interviewee.” To further assist us in gathering the right kind of information to include in the introductory paragraph, and perhaps to also include in our body paragraphs, we might look at the “attribute web” strategy that we used for our first interview presentation weeks ago. 

In pairs, share the answers to these questions with your partner. Record the information of your partner.
These are further elaborations of the questions from that  ATTRIBUTE WEB graphic organizer (provided) to help you:

Ignore "His Statements" on the graphic organizer, as we will only focus on the introductory paragraph initially in this exercise. Direct and indirect quote will be found in our body paragraphs.
  • His/Her Thoughts ( How does this person feel about the particulars of their life experience?) Do they have positive thoughts about their lives and about others or are they negative?
  • His/Her Behavior: Are they confident, nervous, fidgety, distracted, focused...? Think of three or four adjectives that describe their behavior.
  • His/Her Fears: Does this person have fears other than of the normal snakes and spiders variety? How about large crowds, open spaces, great responsibilities, further education, failure...?
  • How She/He Looks: Are they up-to-date in your estimation or do they maintain some look that seems old to you but is comfortable for them? Do they have brown hair, brown eyes....are they tall or short?
  • Who? How does this person identify themselves? Are they “a mom first to three children and then a salesperson at a local retail store” or something else? 
  • Others’ Actions Toward Him/Her: How do you think others would react to your interviewee or how do they act? Is this person easy going or are they intense? Do they have a few close friends or many?

Peer Review ( The 7 Big Questions): All of us should have completed an introductory paragraph. We might choose to revise it. We might choose to rough in the entirety of our body paragraphs. Can you use some of the information that came up in this exercise you did with a partner? 
Number from 1-7 on a paper and simply write your responses to the following (everyone has the questions for reference on this hand-out, which you will keep).
  • Trade introductory paragraphs and what you have completed on your body paragraphs.
  • Answer the following for your partner’s paper on a piece of loose leaf to be given to them as an aide in their process of creating this interview presentation.
  1. How is the opening of this piece of writing interesting or attention getting? If it isn’t, suggest something.
  2. Are there details included that get to the unique character of this person (we are all unique)?
  3. Are there interesting words used? How about adjectives describing the interviewee (suggest some, if there aren’t)?
  4. Is there enough information? What would you add based on your Q and A with your partner?
  5. Are there words missing? Does this read well? make suggestions ( maybe right on the paper itself, if there is a hardcopy?). 
  6. Are there a variety of sentence types? Do you see a compound sentence? Is the punctuation and grammar correct?
  7. Are paragraphs indented, double-spaced, and written, in your estimation, correctly? 

Introductory Paragraphs
  • Introduce the subject by arousing the reader’s interest
  • State the controlling idea
  • State the plan of development; that is, tell how you will go about supporting your controlling idea

Model Introductory paragraph ( 4 sentences):

       Joe Smith is one of the most incredible people that I have met recently; he is a champion sportsman who has an eight point buck to his recent credit that weighed 200 pounds! Joe Smith is a graduate of John Bapst Memorial High School in nearby Bangor; it was there that he formed a lot of the habits that still identify him as both a hard-working and reliable guy. By examining some of Mr. Smith’s experiences as a high school student, including several experiences which could be considered coming of age chapters in his life, we can understand who this man is. Mr. Smith’s choice of words that are all too familiar to fellow Mainers, as well as the  detailed images of the woods and the animals that inhabit them he readily shares, we can understand that this is not only someone particular to this region but someone who may be the last of his breed. 

Body Paragraphs ( Begin with a topic sentence):
  • The topic sentence should be limited
  • It should be carefully worded to express a limited main idea
  • Try putting your topic sentence in the form of a question, and then answer it for your supporting details

Model Topic Sentences:
  1. What was Joe Smith’s high school experience?
  2. How does he think his high school experience affected his later life?
  3. What are the identifying characteristics of this man’s voice, and what can we further understand or infer from it?

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