Lesson Plan 8: Writing about Task II Essay

Author: B. Wu, Murry Bergtraum HS, New York, N.Y.

Subject: English

Grade Level: 9-12

Overview: This lesson is designed to assist students in doing New Regents Task II. Through the study of the sample Task II question, students will be able to grasp the skills in reading and writing for information. They will also demonstrate their understanding by composing an essay about 250 words according to the guidelines. (see Task III sample question)

Objectives:

1. To learn the skills in writing Task II essay.
2. To learn to use the relevant information to support the thesis.

Materials: Task II handout: Reading and Writing for Information and Understanding

Procedures and Activities:

• Begin the class with discussion of the Task requirements stated in "Direction to students" and "Guidelines".

1. What information should be included in the essay?
2. Who are you writing this essay for or who is your audience?
3. What is the purpose of your report?
4. What should be the thesis of the essay?

• Read the chart:

1. What does the chart tell you?
2. What is the suicide rate for each different age group?
3. Which group has the highest suicide rate? The lowest? Who is in between?
4. According to the chart, how would you categorize the ten different groups into three major groups?

• Read the article about suicide:

1. From the direction and guideline of the Task, you already know what you are asked to do. Now read the article with the purpose in your mind: What information am I looking for?
2. Scan the subtitles in the article to get a general idea about the source. If necessary, go into details in the next step where you look for "specific references and examples to support your thesis statement.

• Develop a thesis statement: combine the information from the chart, the article, and the requirements in the Task, generate a thesis statement. (The biological, psychological, and sociological causes may be contributed to the varied suicide rate among different age groups.)
• Writing paragraph by paragraph:

1. In the introductory paragraph, you might like to interpret the chart briefly, and mention the general cause of suicide for all age groups. Write your thesis statement.
2. Development : you may organize the information to support your thesis in two different ways:

1. The elderly people have the highest suicide rate. According to the biological, psychological, and sociological theories, which is the major cause which contributes to the tragic result….
2. The 24-64 group has the second highest suicide rate. Among the biological, psychological, and sociological reasons, which contributes to it the most?Why?
3. The teenager group has the lowest rate of suicide, the possible reason, according to the biological, psychological, and sociological theories, could be…

1. Biologically speaking, which group is more susceptible to this reason? Why? Or which group is more under the influence of this cause? How does this cause relate to the suicide?
2. Psychologically speaking, which group is more susceptible to this reason? Why? Or which group is more under the influence of this cause? How does this cause relate to the suicide?
3. Sociologically speaking, which group is more susceptible to this reason? Why? Or which group is more under the influence of this cause? How does this cause relate to the suicide?

1. In the concluding paragraph, restate your thesis statement with different wording. You may also add your personal comment about this topic in this part.

• How many quotations do you need to include in the essay?

1. You may use as many quotations as you need, but be sure to use " ".
2. My suggestion is to use at least one quotation in each paragraph, and quote certain key words from time to time in your essay.
3. Never copy the entire paragraph in your essay as your interpretation.

Assessment measures: the finished composition

Follow-up activities/extensions: The same method of reading an interpreting the information will be applied in doing the research for writing for the research paper.

Click here to read students' work on this sample Task II