Teaching Definition Essay
A full unit plan to help students expand their understanding of a single word
The following unit plan is appropriate for grades 7-12 and can be adjusted to fit the ages and abilities of students in the classroom. The goal is to help students see the importance of a word outside of just the dictionary definition. This is a good writing assignment to have students complete before they start descriptive writing or as a way to introduce research skills.
Much of this plan is designed to be a writing workshop, with students completing specific tasks each day as they progress towards a final product. Note: Most of the work completed in the early stages should be graded for completion. Encourage the students to take risks and get things “wrong” as they go. The ultimate goal is a quality product at the end.
While there are links to individual activities below, the entire unit can be purchased here.
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Day one
Hand out the Definition Word Web. Put a list of words on the board as suggestions, but tell them they can pick any word they want as long as it is abstract: Trust, Heroism, Sexism, Humility, Maturity, Human Rights, Pride, Patriotism, Peer Pressure, Happiness, Faith, Racism, Beauty, Prejudice, Justice. When students complete the assignment, discuss what words they selected and what they discovered as they branched out on the web.
Hand out the Definition Essay assignment. They should have a word selected by the next day.
Day two
Have students complete the Picturing a Word activity. They should be able to turn this in at the end of the period.
Day three
Have students complete the Definition Paper Prewriting Guide related to their paper. Again, the assignment should be turned in by the end of the period in preparation for Day 5.
Day four
Now it is time for students to do some research. Some may want to use quotes in their paper. Others may not. However, all should look up quotes to see what other people have said about their related topic. Assign the following Quote and Word Definition Prewrite.
Day five
Mini-lesson on writing a thesis statement - Feel free to add your own examples after making a copy of the Google Slides.
Students work on writing outline (template found here). Outline to be completed before students return to class on Day 6.
Day six
Workshop day – Students should have completed outlines. As students work on their rough drafts in class, teacher should go through each outline to verify completed work and make notes on what students need to work on as they complete their rough draft. If there are potential problems, the outline is the first stopping point where the teacher can redirect students toward either a new, more appropriate topic, or help them focus on the description of the subject they have selected.
Day seven
Workshop day #2 – As teacher completes grading of outlines, students should spend the time finishing the rough drafts of their papers. They need to be ready for peer editing on Day 8.
Day eight
Peer editing – Put students into groups of three to four and give them the peer editing guide, which needs to be completed for each classmate. (The attached peer editing guide is for another assignment but can be adapted for the definition essay.) Students should complete the self-reflection at the bottom of the peer editing guide after all papers in the group have been read.
Note: This nine-day plan includes all workshop activities in the unit during 45-minute periods. Some groups of students may need more time and some may need less. If this is being taught during a block period, this unit could also be taught in conjunction with another related literature unit, half of the period designated for literature discussion and the second half of the period designated for writing workshop.
Now your turn
What have you done with your classes? Share with fellow teachers below.