After you organize your introduction, how do you organize the rest of your

essay?

In this lesson you will learn how to organize the body of

your essay by using boxes and bullets.

Let’s ReviewPreparing to write

Research a topic

Generate a big research question

Write your thesis statement

1 2 3 4Outline your essay

How did mistakes cause some battles of the Civil War to begin?

Some battles of the Civil War were caused by mistakes.

Let’s Review

Attack on Fort Sumter Battle at

Ball’s Bluff

Riot in Baltimore

How did mistakes cause some battles of the Civil War to

begin?

Some battles of the Civil War were caused by mistakes.

The Attack on Fort Sumter was caused by a mistake.

Soldier mistakes caused the Riot in Baltimore.

Soldiers started the Battle at Ball’s Bluff by accident.

Information web Introductory outline

A Common Mistake

Leave the introductory outline behind

Core Lesson

Make each bullet of your introduction a box in the body organizer.

1

2 Add supporting details from your notes as bullets under the boxes.

3 Count the bullets to see where you need to go back and look for information.

Core LessonMake each bullet of your introduction a box in the body organizer.1

Some battles of the Civil War were caused by mistakes.

The Attack on Fort Sumter was caused by a mistake.

Soldier mistakes caused the Riot in Baltimore.

Soldiers started the Battle at Ball’s Bluff by accident.

Introductory outlineThe Attack on Fort Sumter was caused by a mistake.

Body outline

Soldier mistakes caused the Riot in Baltimore.

Soldiers started the Battle at Ball’s Bluff by accident.

Core Lesson

2 Add supporting details from your notes as bullets under the boxes.

The Attack on Fort Sumter was caused by a mistake.

Body outline

Soldier mistakes caused the Riot in Baltimore.

Soldiers started the Battle at Ball’s Bluff by accident.

1

2

3

Attack on Fort

SumterBattle at

Ball’s Bluff

Riot in Baltimore

Northern fort on Southern land.

Only 82 soldiers protected the fort.

North was attacked while passing through Baltimore.

How did mistakes

cause some battles of the Civil War to

begin?

Union ignored orders, entered S. land.

Thought trees were enemy tents.

Stayed and were discovered by S.

N. soldiers died in many different ways.

Information Web

Core Lesson

2 Add supporting details from your notes as bullets under the boxes.

Attack on Fort

SumterBattle at

Ball’s Bluff

Riot in Baltimore

Northern fort on Southern land.

Only 82 soldiers protected the fort.

North was attacked while passing through Baltimore.

How did mistakes

cause some battles of the Civil War to

begin?

Union ignored orders, entered S. land.

Thought trees were enemy tents.

Stayed and were discovered by S.

N. soldiers died in many different ways.

The Attack on Fort Sumter was caused by a mistake.

Body outline1

Information Web

Northern fort on Southern land.Only 82 soldiers protected the fort.

Core Lesson

2 Add supporting details from your notes as bullets under the boxes.

Attack on Fort

SumterBattle at

Ball’s Bluff

Riot in Baltimore

Northern fort on Southern land.

Only 82 soldiers protected the fort.

North was attacked while passing through Baltimore.

How did mistakes

cause some battles of the Civil War to

begin?

Union ignored orders, entered S. land.

Thought trees were enemy tents.

Stayed and were discovered by S.

N. soldiers died in many different ways.

Soldier mistakes caused the riot in Baltimore.

Body outline2

Information Web

North was attacked while passing through Baltimore.

Core Lesson

The Attack on Fort Sumter was caused by a mistake. Northern fort on Southern land. Only 82 soldiers protected the fort.

North was attacked while passing through Baltimore.

Union ignored orders, entered S. land. Thought trees were enemy tents. Stayed and were discovered by S. N. soldiers died in many different ways.

Body outline

Soldier mistakes caused the Riot in Baltimore.

Soldiers started the Battle at Ball’s Bluff by accident.

Core Lesson

2 Add supporting details from your notes as bullets under the boxes.

Attack on Fort

SumterBattle at

Ball’s Bluff

Riot in Baltimore

Northern fort on Southern land.

Only 82 soldiers protected the fort.

North was attacked while passing through Baltimore.

How did mistakes

cause some battles of the Civil War to

begin?

Union ignored orders, entered S. land.

Thought trees were enemy tents.

Stayed and were discovered by S.

N. soldiers died in many different ways.

Body outlineInformation Web

Soldiers started the Battle at Ball’s Bluff by accident.

3

Union ignored orders, entered S. Land.Thought trees were enemy tents. Stayed and were discovered by S.N. Soldiers died in many different ways.

Core Lesson

3 Count the bullets to see where you need to go back and look for information.

The Attack on Fort Sumter was caused by a mistake. Northern fort on Southern land. Only 82 soldiers protected the fort.

North was attacked while passing through Baltimore.

Union ignored orders, entered S. land. Thought trees were enemy tents. Stayed and were discovered by S. N. soldiers died in many different ways.

Soldier mistakes caused the Riot in Baltimore.

Soldiers started the Battle at Ball’s Bluff by accident.

Do I have enough

information?

Core Lesson

Make each bullet of your introduction a box in the body organizer.

1

2 Add supporting details from your notes as bullets under the boxes.

3 Count the bullets to see where you need to go back and look for information.

In this lesson you have learned how to organize the body of

your essay by using boxes and bullets.

Guided PracticeUse the introductory outline below to outline the body of the essay using the boxes and bullets on the next slide.

The lifecycle of mosquitos consists of four stages. Eggs are the first stage of the mosquito life cycle. Second, mosquitos go through the larva stage. The next stage of the life cycle is the pupa stage. The last stage of the cycle is the adult stage.

Guided Practice

Guided Practice

Review a body outline you have created.

1. Count the bullets to see where you need to add more information.

2. Go back to your texts and find additional information.

3. Add the information to your outline.

Extension Activities

Extension Activities

If you were to review a partner’s body outline, how could you tell if your partner was ready to begin drafting?• What details would you look for that would show

that your partner was ready?

• What warning signs would tell you that your partner wasn’t ready?

Extension Activities

Extension Activities

Work Backwards!• Look at a completed student essay. • Try to create the boxes and bullets outline that

the writer used by searching for the main ideas and details in each paragraph.

Let’s ReviewQuick Quiz

Use one of your introductory outlines and your research notes to outline the body of the essay using boxes and bullets.

Lesson Slides RubricUse this rubric to ensure your

lesson plan is great!

Writing Lesson Rubric  Criteria for Success Things to avoid

Storyline or Arc of the Lesson

There is a clear arc to the lesson.  One slide leads naturally to the next so that there is a flow and a building of meaning

All the components of the lesson are there but they seem disconnected, as if the author wrote each without thinking about how they fit into the whole. 

Hook Slide

The teacher poses a simple question that illicits the response, “yeah, I do wonder how that works…”  

The question is short A relevant example is included when it is short and 

further pulls the learner in  The question mirrors what the student will do in 

the guided practice

The question seems formulaic, inauthentic, or overly “school-ish” (message: you have to learn this because you’re in school rather than, this is genuinely interesting)

The hook is overly-complicated and potentially confusing The question does not parallel the guided practice 

questions

Objective Slide

The objective follows the form (you will learn X by doing Y)

Is concise and follows the form provided in the examples

Does not follow the form Is overly vague in describing either the X or the Y Is too long Is written for teachers but not students

Let’s Review

Reminds the student of how this lesson fits within the writing process

Is as concise as possible

Is either too detailed or not detailed enough in connecting the lesson to other lessons

Leaves out important touch points Makes the lesson overly dependent on the other lessons 

(student will be confused or feel like they’ve made a mistake, if they watch this lesson alone)

Is too elaborate

Common Mistake Points out a “common mistakes” that students 

make and quickly explains why that is a mistake The mistake is overly simplistic or complicated.  Does 

not feel authentic

Steps

Clearly connects with the objective Includes 2-3 steps that a writer can take to achieve 

the objective Is student focused (the steps accurately imagine 

what a student who has never done this before will need to do)

Is logical and specific (you can visualize the act of doing the step.  There is no magic leap that happens between steps)

The connection with the objective is unclear Includes 4+ steps (and therefore should be split into two 

or more lessons) Involves a  magic leap that assumes a student can make 

a leap between steps that is natural to an adult

Modeling

Is in “think aloud” format.  The teacher is opening up his/her thought process to the student and modeling the struggle; showing how he/she drafts and revises ideas in his/her mind

Engages the learner by asking questions along the way to build suspense

Examples are authentic  - they show empathy for the learner and his/her interests, concerns, problems without speaking down the learner

Fails to explain his/her thinking along the way.  The teacher effortlessly runs through the steps as if it’s all obvious and easy

Does not ask any questions along the way to pull the learner in

Uses examples which are unlikely to connect with the learner’s life

 

Steps and Objective Review

Reviews the steps and objective in a “see what I just did” way

Serves as a “let’s pull this all together” moment that helps organize the lesson in the learner’s mind

Creates abrupt feeling between the modeling and the reviewing (subtext: “we’re done modeling, let’s quickly bring this lesson to a close.”)

Guided Practice Challenges the learner to carry out the same steps Is at the same difficulty level modeled in the lesson 

Seem unrelated to the hook question Is at a different difficulty level than that modeled in the 

lesson

Extension Activity Suggestions

Includes suggestions for at least 2 extensions Includes a suggestion for a struggling student who 

needs more opportunities for practice as well as a student ready to be challenged more

Suggestions should clearly build from the approach in the core lesson

Does not include differentiation Does not thoughtfully connect or flow from the lesson Does not clearly build from the approach in the core 

lesson

Aesthetics

The slides use the correct colors (blue, green, red) in the correct sequence 

The slides use the correct fonts The slides use handwriting and the handwriting 

appears as written in the right places The slides only use the headers/titles provided  The slides use the provided visuals or include 

visuals created by the author or LearnZillion The slides use animation, highlighting, and circling 

to scaffold the learning, keeping the eye focused on what the teacher is introducing/explaining

The slides clean and uncluttered.  The visuals and text do not exceed the maximum amount (see tutorial for example of maximum)

The slides use other colors or vary the order of the colors

The slides add new headers/titles that aren’t part of the template

The slides use clip art The slides are cluttered Animation is distracting and feels more like sizzle than 

part of the steak

Graphic and Image TemplatesCopy and Paste items from these slides to

make your presentation look great!

You can copy and paste these items into any slide

Green text box that appears letter by letterGreen text box that fades inBlue text box that appears letter by letter

Blue text box that fades inRed text box that appears letter by letterRed text box that fades in

You can copy and paste these items into any slide—make sure you copy both the bubble and

the text!Do I feel strongly about it?Do I have a

lot to say?

Do I feel strongly about

it?

Do I have a lot to say? Do I have a lot to

say?

You can copy and paste these items into any slide. You can resize them as

needed! Use black text when you write in me please! Also, keep my text left-justified rather than centered!

Use black text when you write in me please! Also, keep the text left-justified rather than centered!

All arrows can be recolored by changing the “shape fill.” You can also resize them or rotate

them!

[Write first step here…]1

2 [Write second step here…]

3 [Write third step here…]

You can use these when discussing main ideas or steps in a process…

You can resize any of these boxes and use them to highlight text or ideas.

Let’s Review

A Common Mistake

Guided Practice

Quick Quiz

Extension Activities

Core Lesson