Party Down: Celebrating Writing

Just like we celebrate when we win a game or accomplish a goal, in this lesson students will celebrate the accomplishment of completing an essay. It is also a time for reflection and indentifying all of the ways that they have developed as writers. They will also get the chance to appreciate the ideas that their peers have provided in their essays. 

In this lesson they will be do three things:

1. Prepare to share and write about their favorite part of their essay. They should think about why they like that part.
2. Reflect on tings they did well in their report that made their essay writing stronger.
3. Be prepared to listen to other writers essays.

To begin, I reiterate the reasons for the celebration. They should feel a sense of accomplishment and also reflect on how they can approve next time. I give them an example a time in my life that I worked hard on a writing piece and felt accomplished when I was done. I used my senior thesis as an example because it is impressive to the students that I actually wrote a typed 35 page report. 

I talk about how it was hard at times but I felt proud about finishing it. I also shared that I read it to other people and got a lot of great feedback from them in order to make my writing better for the next time I write an essay.

I first ask students to share, with a partner, what they have learned as a writer. I listen in and collect a quick list of authentic things that students learned. I create the visual list so that students who don't have the language for it or forgot the name of something specific can still access the language. 

Then students pick their favorite parts and share with their partners. If there is time and interest, students can share their entire story.