NARROWING A

TOPIC
Skills for Success:
Course Grade Level 8
Humanities
Subject ESSAY WRITING Time Frame 10-20mins
NARROWING A TOPIC:
Title Developed by Mackenzie Brush
MINI LESSON

Stage 1 Desired Results

Content Standard(s):
General Outcome 3: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to
manage ideas and information.
Specific Outcome: Focus attention:
- Experiment with several ways to focus a topic, and select a form appropriate to
audience/purpose
- Choose a plan to access, gather, and record information, according to self-
selected parameters.

Enduring Understandings/Big Ideas: Essential Questions: (Lesson specific)

(from Harden: Lesson specific)
Students will understand that - What makes a specific idea?
- Given topics are generally broad - How do I find that specific idea?
and need to be specified to write - How do I use that specific idea to create a
an effective essay focused essay?
- Having a focused idea will help to
create a much better focused
writing
- Having a focused topic is the first
step in constructing an essay
Knowledge objectives (specific Skill objectives (specific outcomes):
outcomes): Students will be able to . . .
Students will know - Specify their own topics.
- How to specify their topics - Use their specified topics, to organize their
- How to use that specified topic to essay better.
write a stronger, more organized -
essay

Stage 2 Assessment Evidence (Lesson specific)

Performance Task(s):
- Narrowing a topic.

Student Self-Assessments Other Evidence (assessments)

-
 Stage 3 Learning Plan
Learning Activity:
Learnin What the Student does . . . Materi
g Cycle What the Teacher does . . . Time
(Include differentiation instruction) als
- Teacher introduces a
topic on the board:
Marvel Comics,
Science Fiction,
Canadas 150th year.
- Ask each student what
they know/ are
interested in the topic.
- Continues to branch
Student contribute to class off of branches until 5-
Explor
e
discussion as they collaborate and multiple focuses are 10min
narrow down a topic on the board. s
- Try and show the
MANY routes that can
come from a specific
general topic.
Emphasize there is no
onw way, BUT its
important to specify
where you want to
go.
- Teacher assigns a
topic for students to
5-
Students use skills introduced by brainstorm
10min
teacher to narrow down the topic. themselves and s
narrow down to
manageable idea

Students work on humanities work

in their other classes. Asking for
Teacher monitors room, giving
assistance where possible. (If
assistance asking questions
possible, should maybe look at
etc.etc.
focusing their ideas for current
essays they are writing)