Fall Launch — Becoming an Essayist and Building an Essay-Question Inventory

Welcome-back share: each child holds their G4-spring published research report and names one TIES move they used. Teacher bridges: 'You were a RESEARCHER who investigated. Now you become an ESSAYIST who takes a position or develops an idea.'

• Affirm specific G4 research moves by name
• Bridge explicitly: 'Research investigated. Essay takes a POSITION or develops an IDEA.'
• Read aloud the first two pages of Brown Girl Dreaming and ask 'what is the writer's claim about her childhood?'

M-5-F-WR-01-C Chart

Photo-quality reproduction of MG-10 wall chart at 18x24: 7-column grid QUESTION | THESIS | PLAN | DRAFT | REVISE | PEER-EDIT | PUBLISH, each column with definition and icon. Print-ready. Note: this REPLACES the G4-spring researcher's-workshop chart.

MG-10 Chart

Essayist's-workshop status-of-class wall chart: 7-column grid QUESTION | THESIS | PLAN | DRAFT | REVISE | PEER-EDIT | PUBLISH. Each child has a magnetic name-tile moved into the column matching their current stage. Each column has a 1-sentence definition and an icon. Print-ready 18x24.

This fall you become an ESSAYIST — a writer who takes a position or develops an idea across multiple paragraphs. The standard form is the 5-PARAGRAPH ESSAY (point at MG-2). PART 1 INTRODUCTION (blue): hook + topic-orienting context + thesis-with-three-reasons. PARTS 2-4 BODY PARAGRAPHS (yellow/orange/red): each develops ONE reason using TEEL (lesson 3). PART 5 CONCLUSION (green): SYNTHESIZES the three reasons into a bigger insight. The 5-paragraph form is your STARTING POINT, not your prison — you may extend to 6-8 paragraphs or compress to 3-4 for a literary essay. To find essay questions we use the ESSAY-QUESTION INVENTORY — a 2-page notebook spread listing 5-10 questions. Each entry: QUESTION + POSITION-YOU-WOULD-DEFEND + 2-3 candidate REASONS. Examples: 'Should our school start later? Yes, because teen sleep, academic performance, logistics.' 'Why does verse form work for memoir? Pace, pause, rhythm.' 'Is Esperanza shaped more by hardship or her grandmother? Grandmother wisdom most.'

• Each question is OPEN to a defendable position. Each has 2-3 distinct reasons. If you cannot name 3 distinct reasons, the question may not yet be essay-ready.

  model Q1 Should school start later. Position: Yes 8:30am. Reasons: sleep biology, performance, logistics. Q2 Why verse form works. Position: pace + pause + rhythm. Q3 Esperanza growth question. Position: grandmother wisdom.

  prompt Teacher models an essay-question inventory.

• What is the difference between a research question (G4) and an essay question (G5)?
• Point to one of the 5 boxes on MG-2 and say what goes there.

M-5-F-WR-01-A Chart

Reproduction of MG-2 at 11x17: horizontal row of 5 color-coded boxes — INTRODUCTION (blue, hook+context+thesis icon), BODY 1-3 (yellow/orange/red), CONCLUSION (green, synthesize icon). Below each box: matching sentence-frame in dyslexic-friendly font. Flexibility note at bottom about extending or compressing. Print-ready, primary colors only.

MG-2 Chart Physical / non-image

5-paragraph essay anchor poster: five labeled boxes in a horizontal row — INTRODUCTION (blue, with hook+context+thesis-with-three-reasons icon), BODY 1 (yellow, reason 1 icon), BODY 2 (orange, reason 2 icon), BODY 3 (red, reason 3 icon), CONCLUSION (green, synthesize+so-what icon). Below each box: a sentence-frame ('Have you ever wondered ___? In this essay I argue that ___ for three reasons: ___, ___, and ___.' / 'First, ___.' / 'Second, ___.' / 'Finally, ___.' / 'Taken together, these three reasons show that ___.'). Note at bottom: 'FLEXIBILITY — you may extend to 6-8 paragraphs when content demands, or compress to 3-4 for a literary essay. The 5-paragraph form is your STARTING POINT, not your prison.' Print-ready 11x17, dyslexic-friendly font.

• Build your essay-question inventory. Start with 3 entries; add more if time. Each entry: QUESTION + POSITION + 2-3 candidate REASONS.

  scaffold 2-page spread at 1.5x; essay-question prompt cards (school issue / community issue / curriculum-connected / literary text / scientific question / personal stance)
• Share one entry with a partner. Partner asks: 'Could you defend this position? Are the three reasons distinct?'

  scaffold Sentence frame: 'My question is ___. My position is ___. My three reasons are ___, ___, ___.'

M-5-F-WR-01-B Illustration

Reference image of a completed Grade-5 essay-question inventory: a 2-page notebook spread with 5 entries handwritten in pencil, each with QUESTION / POSITION / 3 REASONS lines filled. Print-ready 8.5x11 spread, classroom annotation style, dyslexic-friendly font.

• Pick ONE question. Write POSITION as one sentence and THREE REASONS as three more sentences.
• Place name-tile on MG-10 QUESTION column.

• Star your strongest essay question.
• Predict: tomorrow we build the thesis-with-three-reasons sentence.

• At dinner tonight, share ONE essay question with a family member. Ask: 'What would you say is the strongest reason to defend that position? Have you felt that way?' Bring back response on a sticky note.