Summary
Most college-bound seniors know that they must submit their college applications in the fall of their senior year of high school, but many do not know that one component of the application is a personal essay. In this lesson students look at blunders people make in their college entrance essay, using an example video clip from the show FRIENDS. Students also look at an excerpt from To Kill a Mockingbird and both good and poor college entrance essays. Students use a number of video resources to help teach their classmates tips and tricks for writing a successful essay in a gallery walk. Once students understand the characteristics and components of the college application essay, they will create a rubric to evaluate a successful personal essay. Finally, they will write a rough draft and do a peer review of their rough drafts using the rubric.
Essential Question(s)
How can we use narrative nonfiction to obtain a college acceptance letter?
Snapshot
Engage
Students will identify “$10” words they might use in their essay.
Explore
Students will annotate and summarize 2 chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird using the C.R.U.S.H and Smush strategy to explore the ways in which vocabulary affects the way we perceive characters in narrative.
Explain 1
Students will work in groups to create anchor charts for videos about writing personal narratives for the college application process and do a gallery walk.
Extend 1
Students will work in groups to create rubrics for evaluating personal narratives for the college application essay.
Explain 2
Students will use a rubric to score sample personal narratives for the college application essay.
Extend 2
Students will hand write the first draft of their personal narratives for the college application essay.
Evaluate
Students will do a self review and peer review of their personal narratives for their college application essay.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Devices that can access the internet
To Kill a Mockingbird (book by Harper Lee; one per student)
To Kill a Mockingbird audiobook (Chs. 2 and 3; available through Hoopla with a library card)
Transparent sticky notes
Pad of sticky easel paper
Pencils/pens
Rubric Template (attached; one per group)
Teacher Rubric (attached; one per student)
Essay Examples (attached; three per group)
Peer Review Questions (attached; one per pair)
Engage
10 Minute(s)
Introduce the lesson using the attached Lesson Slides. Share the lesson’s essential question and learning objectives on slides 3–4.
Move to slide 5 and play the Friends video clip for students to watch. After the students have watched the clip, ask them to share their thoughts. Do they know anyone like that? Are they like that?
Display slide 6 with the Mentimeter code/QR code. Students will use their devices to answer the question, “What $10 words would you use in your essay that your classmates might not know, or could help everyone out?”
Explore
65 Minute(s)
Show slide 7 and let students know they will begin the lesson by listening to an audio recording of Chapters 2–3 of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird as they follow along in their books. Introduce students to the C.R.U.S.H. and Smush strategy. Pass out pads of transparent sticky notes for students to use in annotating their books, rather than marking the books themselves. While they listen to an audio recording of the selection, they will circle any new vocabulary (or words that are used in a way that make them new for the given context) as they read the passage. Once they have finished reading the passage, in the margins of the text, students should write the definitions of the words they have circled, paying particular attention to usage when choosing the definition if multiple definitions exist for the word. For example, If the word is used as a noun in the passage, the definition the student uses for the word should be the one for the word when it is used as a noun.
Display slide 8. Students will re-read the passage and underline the names of the characters Scout encounters or interacts with, star the points in the passage where each “encounter” begins, and highlight words/phrases that reveal the lesson(s) Scout has learned from each “encounter.”
Transition to slide 9 and have students open a Google Doc. Let them know they will have 5 minutes to write a 100-word summary of the passage, focusing on what is revealed about Scout’s character traits in the passage.
Move to slide 10. In the same Google Doc, students will spend 3 minutes writing a new 50-word summary of the same passage, still focusing on what is revealed about Scout’s character traits. Finally, display slide 11, and still in the same Google Doc, students will spend 2 minutes writing a 6-word summary of the same passage, still focusing on what is revealed about Scout’s character traits.
On slide 12, students will share their 6-word summaries with their Elbow Partners, and as a pair, students will agree on 2 adjectives that best describe Scout as a character.
Explain 1
50 Minute(s)
Display slide 13. Explain to students they will be working in groups to create an Anchor Chart based on the video they will watch. Each group will have a sheet from the sticky easel pad and a pack of colored markers. Let students know their Anchor Charts will need to include the most important details from the video, keeping in mind that their Anchor Chart will be a teaching tool for the other groups.
On slide 14 share the video links with the class or embed them in your school’s LMS. Once all groups have completed their Anchor Charts, display the charts around the room. Move to slide 15. Divide students into groups. Each student will leave at least 2 sticky notes with comments or questions at each chart as they do their Gallery Walk, gathering information about writing personal narratives for their college applications.
Extend 1
75 Minute(s)
Display slide 16. Assign the students to small groups; these can be the same groups they were in for the Gallery Walk, or they can be different. Distribute the attached blank template rubric. The group will work together to create a rubric for scoring personal narratives.
Using the attached Rubric Template, each group will work together to create a rubric for scoring personal narratives (i.e., college application essays). The rubric each group creates will be informed by the information regarding successful college application essays that they have collected from the Gallery Walk, as well as from the videos they have watched.
Show slide 17 and introduce the strategy, Affinity Process. Once the rubrics have been completed, re-form the groups so that a representative of each rubric group is in the new groups. Each new group will have at least one member from each of the groups who collaborated on the rubric creation. In these new groups, students will use the Affinity Process to compile “One Rubric to Rule Them All.”
Display slide 18 and distribute the attached Teacher Rubric. Ask the class to compare and contrast it with the rubrics they created. Encourage students to notice similarities and differences as well as the level of rigor for each. Have a discussion as a class that compares the rubrics they made to the teacher-made rubric, noting similarities and differences. Often the rubrics students make are more rigorous than those made by teachers.
Explain 2
50 Minute(s)
Move to slide 19. Assign students to their small groups from earlier, or to new groups. Distribute to each group a copy of the attached Essay Examples from each category—progressing, exemplary, and masterful—and let them know they will need the Teacher Rubric distributed earlier. Let students know they should read the entire essay and then, for each row in the rubric, decide if the essay meets the criteria for either progressing, masterful, or exemplary.
Once groups have had time to read and score all three essays, lead a discussion about the ratings they gave the essays and why. Did different groups score the essays differently? Have students explain and support their reasoning using the rubric.
Extend 2
50 Minute(s)
Show slide 20. Read the quote to the students related to writing drafts and remind them that it’s important to use this time to get a draft down; they can always revise it. Display slide 21. Students will use pencil and paper to write the first draft of their college application essay. They will be hand-writing a full first draft to make it extremely difficult (or impossible) to use AI or some other “inspiration” instead of composing original writing.
Evaluate
50 Minute(s)
Display slide 22. Students will need their own essays, a copy of the handout Peer Review Questions, and a copy of the Teacher Rubric. On the first page of the Peer Review Questions handout, the students will answer questions about their own drafts before passing the draft and the handout to their partner, and receiving theirs in return.
Before they answer any questions about their partner’s draft on the handout, they will first read their partner’s draft and read their partner’s comments on the first page of the handout. Then, the reviewer will read the draft a second time, this time answering the questions on the handout. No talking is allowed at this stage; they should be able to communicate effectively through writing, and if they haven't done so, it will become apparent in the process.
Transition to slide 23. At the conclusion of the peer review, the reviewer should create a Six-Word Memoir summarizing the author’s (their partner’s) personal narrative so that the author will be able to determine if their essay communicated their message about themselves effectively.
Resources
College Essay Guy. (2021, August 18). 3 awesome personal statements that AREN’T on challenges [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ab2G7wFd50
Garden of English. (2020, May 28). How NOT to SCREW UP your college essay (5 don’ts) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjIpRV1FbGU
Garden of English. (2020, June 4). How NOT to SCREW UP your college essay (5 do’s)[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQGR_WdMaf0
Heinrichs, J. (2020, July 16). The ideal college essay [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gakjxAq6KuQ
How you doin’? (2018). F.R.I.E.N.D.S - Joey writes a letter of recomendation [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/n_ch8GWnJzQ?si=pqvUB08s4zgG52mD
K20 Center. (n.d.). Affinity Process. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/87
K20 Center. (n.d.). Anchor Chart. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/58
K20 Center. (n.d.). C.R.U.S.H. & Smush. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/821
K20 Center. (n.d.). Elbow Partners. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/116
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery Walk/Carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/118
K20 Center. (n.d.). Mentimeter. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/645
K20 Center. (2021, September 21). K20 Center 5 minute timer [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/EVS_yYQoLJg?si=fJvuvFWH3vJ3B0z9
K20 Center. (2021, September 21). K20 Center 2 minute timer [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/HcEEAnwOt2c?si=5K1jIbi9rJpegjED
K20 Center. (2021, September 21). K20 Center 3 minute timer [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/o9ViOMe_Wnk?si=RtCQ8rC3_PGpJjDe
K20 Center. (n.d.). Six-Word Memoirs. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/75
Lamott, A. (2005). Shitty first drafts. In Eschholz, P., Rosa, A., & Clark, V. (Eds.) Language awareness: Readings for college
writers. (9th ed., pp. 93–96). Bedford/St. Martin's.
Magic School AI. (2024). Magic School AI: Academic Content tool. Magic School. https://www.magicschool.ai/
The Harvard Crimson. (2023). 10 Successful Harvard Application Essays | 2023. The Crimson Brand Studio. https://www.thecrimson.com/topic/sponsored-successful-harvard-essays-2023/