St. Croix Catholic Middle School Writing Standards for Final Drafts

Formatting:

 Papers typed (or ink cursive when a note from a parent is supplied)

Typing requirements:

 One inch margins

 12 point font

 Font – Times New Roman (Times)

 Double spaces

 Indent for paragraphs

Top right corner:

 First and last name

 Date

 Subject

 Assignment label (vocabulary, chapter summary, character outline, etc.).

Grammar/Mechanics:

 Complete sentences (subject and predicate)

 Proper punctuation

 No abbreviations, symbols, or text language

 Correct spelling

Reminders:  A piece of writing needs a beginning, middle, and end

 A paragraph has supporting details referring to the topic sentence

 Sentences show a logical order and consistent theme

Six Sentence Paragraph Format

Sentence #1: General statement about the topic

Example: Mother Teresa lived the Gospel of Christ without counting the cost.

Sentence #2: State three points in one sentence about the topic.

Example: She led a life of prayer (point 1), chose to live with the poor (point2), and served the poorest of the poor in Calcutta (point 3).

Sentence #3: Write a sentence about point 1.

Example: After receiving Holy Communion, Mother Teresa would say one prayer of thanksgiving, and a second one asking Jesus to teach her how to pray.

Sentence #4: Write a sentence about point 2.

Example: She was determined to live like the poor she served and depend wholly on God for everything she needed. Sentence #5: Write a sentence about point 3:

Example: Mother began her work in the slums by picking up dying and abandoned people on the streets and caring for them.

Sentence #6 CLINCHER/CONCLUDING:

Example: Allowing herself to joyfully live as Christ did, Mother Teresa dedicated her life to God.

Mother Teresa lived the Gospel of Christ without counting the cost. She led a life of prayer, chose to live

with the poor, and served the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. After receiving Holy Communion, Mother Teresa

would say one prayer of thanksgiving, and a second one asking Jesus to teach her how to pray. She was

determined to live like the poor she served and depend wholly on God for everything she needed. Mother

began her work in the slums by picking up dying and abandoned people on the streets and caring for them.

Allowing herself to joyfully live as Christ did, Mother Teresa dedicated her life to God.

12 Sentence Paragraph Format

SENTENCE #1: General statement about the topic - The December evening is bright and still.

SENTENCE #2: State three points about the topic - All around me I behold snow, ice and light.

SENTENCES #3, #4, #5: Write three sentences about the first point – Fresh flakes reflect dusk’s fading light. Like a toddler’s blanket, it lay thick and soft while covering the earth. Crunching beneath my boots, I march to the beat of winter.

SENTENCES #6, #7, #8: Write three sentences about the second point – Meanwhile, icicles hang from every edge and elevation. Their slow evening melt produced a rhythmic beat. Strings of outside lights can’t compete with nature’s crystals SENTENCES #9, #10, #11: Write three sentences abut the third point – Quietly, the moon appears alongside the stars. Its reflective light makes a welcoming gesture to all who pass by. This glow could be felt as well as seen.

SENTENCE #12: Clincher or concluding sentence - Nothing is lovelier than the ornaments nature provides on this Christmas Eve.

Nature’s Perfect Christmas Gift

The December evening is bright and still. All around me I behold snow, ice and light.

Fresh flakes reflect dusk’s fading light. Like a toddler’s blanket, it lays thick and soft while

covering the earth. Crunching beneath my boots, I march through drifts to the beat of winter.

Meanwhile, icicles hang from every edge and elevation. Their slow evening melt produces a

rhythmic beat. Strings of outside lights can’t compete with nature’s crystals. Quietly, the

moon appears alongside the stars. Its reflective light makes a welcoming gesture to all who

pass by. This glow is felt as well as seen. Nothing is lovelier than the ornaments nature

provides on this Christmas Eve.

Tips on Writing a Good Thesis Statement Use Specific Language Your thesis statement should be as specific as possible. Because it provides a “road map” for your paper, it should be direct on what you plan to address. Avoid using vague words like “good” or “bad" or "same" or "different" in your thesis statement; instead, use synonyms that shed light on what you mean by "good.” For example, if you're writing a compare-contrast essay about the similarities and difference in characters between two novels, don't write, "Character A and Character B were alike and different in many ways." Instead, be as specific as possible about the shared and contrasting qualities the characters possess. Answer a Question

To be effective, your thesis statement must answer a question. Sometimes this is easy, because your teacher will provide you with a question to answer, and you can formulate your thesis from the question. For instance, your teacher may ask a question such as “Should cell phones be banned in school? Why or why not?” Your thesis could then begin with “Cell phones should (or should not) be banned in school because…” and then, depending on your paper's length requirements, you'll want to briefly state two or three reasons in your thesis statement as to why they should or should not be banned. If your teacher hasn't asked a specific question, try writing your own topic question. For instance, if your topic is healthy school lunches, you could ask yourself, "Why are healthy lunches so important in schools?" to begin formulating your thesis statement.

Pass the "So What" Test

A useful way to determine whether your thesis is effective is to ask whether it passes the "So what?" test. In other words, if your reader wonders "So what?" after you state your thesis -- meaning that your reader doesn't understand the broader issue you're attempting to address -- you'll want to revise it to make it more clear and descriptive.

WORD LIST: PREPOSITIONS

A preposition is a word that relates a noun or pronoun to another word in a sentence. "The dog sat under the tree." at about before above behind across below after beneath against beside along between among by around down during on top of except out of for outside from over in past in front of since inside through to toward instead of under into underneath like until near up of upon off with on within onto without

Tired and Over Used words Many Tall/short Pretty Big/little Nice Awesome Very Cool Funny Good Interesting Bad Amazing Well A lot Incredible Great Walk Beautiful Run

Like See/saw/seen Said Happy

Get/got/gotten

Go/going/went

Many 5 Paragraph Essay

Really PARAGRAPH 1

1. Topic sentence

2. State point 1

3. State point 2

4. State point 3

5. Reveal your thesis statement

PARAGRAPH 2

1. Restate point 1 most important point

2. Supporting detail/data/story/example

3. Another supporting detail/data/story/example

4. Additional detail/data/story/example (Optional)

5. Final supporting detail/data/story/example

PARAGRAPH 3

1. Restate point 2 next important point

PARAGRAPH 4 1. Restate point 3 last important point

PARAGRAPH 5

1. Summarize your thesis

2. Discuss your findings

3. End with a strong conclusion