Happy Tuesday, 11th graders.
*Parent Consent Letter Due Today*
Today we will begin our unit on college admissions essay writing. What makes a college essay “work”? How can writers reveal themselves through writing? Today you will explore sample college essays and then consider advice about what separates a great essay from a mediocre/ineffective one.
1. Warm-Up
What do you think college admissions officers are looking for when they read student essays?
2. Exploring Essays
In groups of two, you will become admissions officers for a college (your choice). I am going to give you a pair of essays to read and evaluate. Imagine that each of these writers has applied for admission to your college. Using the checklist and rubric (handed out in class), evaluate each essay and decide whether to admit the student. You should assume that each student has a similarly strong profile in terms of grades, test scores, activities and recommendations.
If you were absent today, please contact me for sample essays so you can make up participation points for today.
3. Decisions
Deliver your admissions decision. Describe the essays you read and what you liked or didn’t like about them.
4. Watch: Most Common Essay Mistakes
Discuss: After reading your two example essays and watching this short clip, let's make a list of qualities that make a successful admissions essay.
5. Freewrite
Spend the last 10-15 min of class freewriting about your earliest memory or a story your mom/dad/grandparent would tell about you a lot. 15 minutes. Just write. Does this story reveal anything about you?
Homework: Due Tuesday 5/1
a) Read this.
b) Make a timeline of your life that includes at least 20 events. It should include “major” events like births, deaths, travel, coming of age rituals, or course, but also the more mundane moments you remember that have marked your life in some way — a car ride, a dinner, a chance meeting, when someone made you mad or offended you etc. Mundane events may be more key to making your admissions essay than the big stuff.
Thursday: Greg Orwig from Whitworth University in Washington will be visiting our campus. Here is a link to the website: http://www.whitworth.edu/cms/
Next week: Smarter Balanced Testing. No classes. (Virtual work for Jr Seminar)
*Parent Consent Letter Due Today*
Today we will begin our unit on college admissions essay writing. What makes a college essay “work”? How can writers reveal themselves through writing? Today you will explore sample college essays and then consider advice about what separates a great essay from a mediocre/ineffective one.
1. Warm-Up
What do you think college admissions officers are looking for when they read student essays?
2. Exploring Essays
In groups of two, you will become admissions officers for a college (your choice). I am going to give you a pair of essays to read and evaluate. Imagine that each of these writers has applied for admission to your college. Using the checklist and rubric (handed out in class), evaluate each essay and decide whether to admit the student. You should assume that each student has a similarly strong profile in terms of grades, test scores, activities and recommendations.
If you were absent today, please contact me for sample essays so you can make up participation points for today.
3. Decisions
Deliver your admissions decision. Describe the essays you read and what you liked or didn’t like about them.
4. Watch: Most Common Essay Mistakes
Discuss: After reading your two example essays and watching this short clip, let's make a list of qualities that make a successful admissions essay.
5. Freewrite
Spend the last 10-15 min of class freewriting about your earliest memory or a story your mom/dad/grandparent would tell about you a lot. 15 minutes. Just write. Does this story reveal anything about you?
Homework: Due Tuesday 5/1
a) Read this.
b) Make a timeline of your life that includes at least 20 events. It should include “major” events like births, deaths, travel, coming of age rituals, or course, but also the more mundane moments you remember that have marked your life in some way — a car ride, a dinner, a chance meeting, when someone made you mad or offended you etc. Mundane events may be more key to making your admissions essay than the big stuff.
Thursday: Greg Orwig from Whitworth University in Washington will be visiting our campus. Here is a link to the website: http://www.whitworth.edu/cms/
Next week: Smarter Balanced Testing. No classes. (Virtual work for Jr Seminar)