Student Models, Day 2

Books out!

Let's read!

Yesterday you read from a selection of student models that all took different approaches to writing the personal statement.

Today, you will meet in groups to share what you have read, and provide your group members with what those approaches look like.

These are not the only ways to approach your personal statements. They are simply some examples.

With your group, ask each other the following questions (though you can ask more than just these). You do not have to write anything down, simply discuss:

• Can you give us a brief summary of your personal statement?
• What was the writer's purpose in writing the essay they did?
• What are some of it's strengths? Weaknesses? Can you give evidence?
• What are some powerful sentences in the essay that we should hear?
• How can we apply techniques from this personal statement to our own?

With the remaining time, reflect on the following in your Writer's Notebook, at the top, under today's date, as a freewrite.

How can I tell my story?

"____________ is a keen interest of mine......"
"My story begins with......"
Try a technique: Dialogue, flashback, reflection, a description

Looking at Student Models

Guess what day it is!

Let's read.

You'll need to get yourself to this blog, and open your Writer's Notebook.

Yesterday you did a little bit of research and individual work based on your needs.

Let's get ourselves focused on the upcoming task. We're going to spend the next couple days looking at some student models. These are real personal statements that high school students wrote. 

Right now you only need to focus your attention on one of the following. I will tell you which link to click on.

Example ONE

Example TWO

Example THREE

Example FOUR

Copy and Paste the following questions into your Writer's Notebook:

1. Which model are you reading?
2. What does the writer want you to learn about her/him? What was his or her goal in telling you this particular story?
3. How does the writer introduce their essay? How is it effective or not effective?
4. What are 1 or 2 powerful sentences that show who this person is and what they are trying to convey?
5. What part of their writing was most successful? (Voice, word choice, story arc, clear ideas, etc)
6. Do you see any instances of ethos (credibility), logos (logic), or pathos (emotion)? How do the affect the writing?
7. How might you apply these techniques to your own writing?
8. What could make their essays better or stronger?