WRITING STATIONS
Use this folder and your notes as guides to SUCCESS!
Task #1: Rate Your Essay
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Take a moment and silently rate your essay.
This document can be found on my Website.
Task #2: Writing Process
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Take your paper through the writing process!
Take your time, but stay productive!
Remember to finish at least 3 stations a day!
Task #3: Turnitin.com
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Follow instructions in this guide in order to turn your
paper in properly.
Station 1: Contractions and Pronouns
How formal is your writing?
Check through your paper for the following contractions and pronouns. If
you see ANY, you need to change them!
Contractions
Pronouns
aren’t
I, me, my, mine
can’t
you, your, yours
couldn’t
we, us, our, ours
doesn’t
it’s
isn’t
shouldn’t
they’re
won’t
wouldn’t
Station 2: Sentence Structure
Please check ALL of your sentences for proper structure.
Simple Sentence
Harper Lee demonstrates social justice throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
Subject
Predicate
Complex Sentence
If Scout doesn’t listen to Jem, he becomes angry with her.
Subordinate Clause
Independent Clause
Compound Sentence
conjunction
Scout realizes Jem is growing up, and she consults Calpurnia and Miss Maudie about this.
Subject
Predicate
Subject
Predicate
conjunction
Jem realizes Boo Radley is a nice guy; he decides to try and communicate with him.
Subject
Predicate
Subject
Predicate
Compound-Complex Sentence
conjunction
When Scout realizes Tom is guilty, she looks at Jem, and he is gripping the railing.
Subordinate Clause
Subject
Predicate
Subject
Predicate
Station 3: Punctuation
Titles:
When you type the title of a novel, you must italicize it:
Title of short stories have quotation marks around them:
Titles of articles have quotation marks around them:
To Kill a Mockingbird
“Harrison Bergeron”
“Denying Girls Entrenches Poverty”
Commas:
• Use a comma to separate subordinate clauses and independent clauses.
If Scout doesn’t listen to Jem, he becomes angry with her.
• Use a comma to separate sentences in a compound sentence.
Scout realizes Jem is growing up, and she consults Calpurnia.
• Use a comma to separate an appositive that is less detailed than the noun it is modifying.
Jem, the oldest of the Finch children, is expected to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Direct Quotes Punctuation
Quotation marks:
These are placed only around the AUTHOR’S exact words.
An extra SINGLE quotation mark is placed on the inside of the quote when a character is
saying the direct quote.
When typed, make sure the quotation marks face the direction of the dialogue or quote.
YES
NO
“ ‘Today is a beautiful day.’ ”
’ “Today is a beautiful day.’ “
End Punctuation:
-Periods are only placed after the internal citation.
-If the direct quote includes a question mark or an exclamation mark, leave it, but you
still place a period after the internal citation.
Ellipses:
Only three periods. Used in place of removed parts of quote. They are placed inside of
the quotation marks.
Brackets:
Look like this [ ]. Used when part of the quote has been changed. Only place around the
changed part.
Station 4: Direct Quotes and Paraphrasing
Direct Quote from the narration with an introduction to the quote:
In “The Most Dangerous Game”, Richard Connell describes the character General Zaroff as proper man with “a
cultivated voice marked by a slight accent that gave it added precision and deliberateness” (Connell 4).
Direct Quote from a character’s dialogue with an introduction to the quote:
In “The Most Dangerous Game”, the character Whitney demonstrates his compassion for the jaguar when he
states that “‘[...] they understand one thing--fear. The fear of pain and the fear of death’”(Connell 1).
Direct Quote in which part of the quote was changed and removed:
Original quote:
“ ‘Even so, I rather think they understand one thing--fear. The fear of pain and the fear of
death’ ” (Connell 1).
Changed text:
In “The Most Dangerous Game”, the character Whitney demonstrates his compassion for
the jaguar when he states that “ ‘[...] they understand one thing--fear. The fear of pain
and the fear of death’ ”(Connell 1).
Paraphrasing:
Original Quote:
“I could feel Jacob’s note in my pocket, like it suddenly weighed ten
pounds” (Meyer 34).
Paraphrase:
Bella’s note from Jacob was a constant reminder of what she had lost (Meyer 34).
Internal Citations for each source:
Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Citation: (Lee 2).
Short Story: “Harrison Bergeron”
Author: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Citation: (Vonnegut 2).
Articles:
“Denying Girls School Entrenches Poverty”
Author: Agence France-Presse
Citation: (Agence 1).
“Understanding the roots of the Syrian conflict”
Author: Max Fisher
Citation: (Fisher 1).
“The Meanings of a Word”
Author: Gloria Naylor
Citation: (Naylor 1).
Station 5: Thesis, Topic, Background & Transitions
Thesis Statement (Claim)• The most important statement in your essay
• Last sentence in the introduction paragraph
• States the purpose of your essay and introduces the subheadings.
EXAMPLE:
In a country where equality in education has been legally achieved, taking a closer look at the equality within
current school systems’ urban youth population and within students needing assistance might reveal that
more work needs to be done.
Topic Sentence•
•
•
•
The most important sentence in your paragraph
The first sentence in each body paragraph
States the purpose of the paragraph and the subheading
Should not be a question!
EXAMPLE:
The current educational system in the United States presents an inequality in the education of urban youth in
schools.
Background Sentence• Combines the subheading and the commonality of the evidence in the entire paragraph
EXAMPLE: Effective teaching which offers differentiated instruction often fails to reach these students
needing the most interventions.
Transition Sentence•
•
•
•
There are two types: between evidence and the final sentence of the paragraph
Allows the writer to connect the evidence or sum up the evidence
Should not be a question
Is the commonality between the evidence
Connecting Evidence = Commonality
With specific knowledge of the subgroups of populations in schools, efficient supports can be put into action:
professional developments to maintain highly effective teachers and administrators, parent programs to build
relationships as partners, and individualized response to intervention programs for students who encounter any
barriers.
Summing up Evidence = Subheading + Commonality
The inequality lies within the words ALL and SUPPORT, for all urban youth deserve to have an equal
chance at success.
Station 6: Introduction and Conclusion
Introduction:
1.
Hook - Draw your reader into the topic of social justice. Try NOT to use a question!
2.
Background- What will the reader need to know in order to understand the purpose of your paper?
3. Claim- Your Thesis or Purpose Statement
Humans are all capable of growth; in fact, human existence is the product of resiliency. Growth is
relative and depends much on the way it is measured and assessed. What if the way educators assess growth in
education divides students into two camps: students who achieve and students who do not. In a country where
equality in education has been legally achieved, taking a closer look at the equality within current school
systems’ urban youth population and within students needing assistance might reveal that more work needs to
be done.
Conclusion:
3. Claim- Restate your claim or purpose statement.
4. Background- Remind your reader of the social justice issue you covered.
3. Hook - Leave one lasting impression, statistic, fact about your issue. DO NOT USE A QUESTION!
The social justice issue of equality in education is spotlighted in the urban youth population and in
students needing assistance within schools. School systems must meet the needs of its current population and
stop working off of the blueprints of fifty years ago. The demographics of students have changed, and in
order to educate the youth of today, educators must first address the existing issues of inequality.
Station 7: Proofreading
1.
Read through your own essay and fix mistakes in your paper. Read
your paper quietly to yourself, but read it out loud!
2.
Read through each one of your group member’s essays. If you need to,
SAY the paper aloud to catch the mistakes.
Station 8: MLA Formatting
1.
PAGE NUMBERS
a. Place this in the heading with your last name and number. The first page should be your last
name with a 1. In your Google Doc, you will find this under INSERT, PAGE NUMBER.
2.
HEADING
a. Please look to my example essay for this information.
3.
TITLE
a. Center this title and bold it. This should be labeled:
Social Justice - (your topic here)
4.
SUBHEADINGS
a.
Subheadings should be left margin justified and bolded.
Example:
Urban Youth Population
5.
Works Cited Page
a. Works Cited pages are a SEPARATE PAGE in your essay
b. The title of this page is Works Cited in the center like:
Works Cited
c. Your source information should be organized in alphabetical order
d. If you have questions, look first to my example included in this folder!
Station 9: TURN IT IN
How to Upload Your Paper to Turnitin.com
1. Under the Class Portfolio Tab, find the assignment
titled Research Paper
2. Press Submit
3. Type Research Paper in Submission Title
4. Click Google Drive to find your Research Paper
5. Press Upload