WAG

Writing Task: Write an informational paragraph explaining ways the people of Ancient Egypt adapted to their environment and successfully created a civilization.

SOL:   3.7 The student will describe how people in ancient world cultures adapted to their environment. 

Audience: Teacher and classmates

Purpose: To review and remember information about Ancient Egypt for the unit test.

Length: One paragraph

Directions and requirements:

• Provide a topic sentence
• Include 3 or more supporting details/reasons
• Provide a concluding sentence
• Use complete sentences that begin with a capital letter and end with punctuation
• This assignment with be graded and will count as a classwork grade
• Turn in your graphic organizer and your paragraph

Writing Supports:

• Complete the graphic organizer before you start writing
• Refer to the Study Guide in your folder
• Pebble Go may also be used 

Rubric:

	3	2	1
Begins with a topic sentence	Paragraph begins with a topic sentence	Topic sentence was attempted, but is not clear	No attempt was made to start with a topic sentence
Includes 3 or more details	Includes 3 or more details	Includes 2 details	Includes 1 or no details
Ends with a concluding sentence	Paragraph ends with a concluding sentence	Concluding sentence was attempted, but not clear	No attempt was made to end with a concluding sentence
Uses Complete sentences	All sentences are complete with no errors	Most sentences are complete, but has a few errors	Paragraph contains many incomplete sentences
Uses capital letter to begin and punctuation to end sentences	All sentences begin with capital letters and end with punctuation.	Most sentences begin with capital letters and end with punctuation, but has a few errors.	Paragraph is missing many capital letters and punctuation.

Example:

Life in Ancient Egypt was not easy, but the people found ways to adapt to the environment and survive. First, they created an irrigation system. This allowed them to use water from the Nile River to water their crops. In addition, they fished in the rivers and seas near them to provide food for people. Also, traders traded goods along the Nile River and the Mediterranean coast so that they had a variety of goods for everyday life. The people of ancient Egypt adapted to their environment in many ways that allowed their civilization to grow and be successful. 

Reflection – Writing this lesson was very eye opening to me and what might have been missing from my instruction previously, clear explicit direction and expectations. I like the WAG and the idea of giving my 3rd grade students all the information they need/want upfront and very clearly. At the age of 8-9 I don’t think that I would distribute a copy to each student, but I think it is a good format to display when going over the assignment. I will be interested to see this year if but displaying this it cuts down on the questions they have about an assignment and if the quality of their work improves. I can’t wait to try it out!