Lesson 3: Framing the Personal Statement Unit Plan / Date: Thurs 4/18
Creator: E. Quigley
Objectives /
  • Students will understand the project expectations and timeframe.
  • Students will understand new expectations for Advisory class in general.
  • Students will have better self knowledge of their hopes and fears for this project and be able to anticipate challenges.
  • Advisor will have a better understanding of how her students view themselves as writers. This understanding will help the advisor more strategically support their advisees during the unit.

Materials: /
  • Morning check-in question
  • Project Packet of Handouts:
  • Project Overview
  • Calendar of unit
  • Check list of required components
  • Rubric
/
  • Pre-Self Assessment/Reflection
  • College Binder
  • Pens or highlighters

Set Up /
  • Hole punch packets so they can be stored in binders

LESSON PLAN / Materials
Morning Check-in
15 min. /
  • Distribute and review warm-up questions: (8 min.) Explain in one paragraph: Why is it easier to write about someone else rather than ourselves?
  • Share out or do Cold Call. Give credit for completing both writing tasks and for being a good listener/participant. (7 min.)
/
  • Morning check-in question

Quick Warm-up
2-3 min. /
  • Distribute the packet of handouts and ask students what they notice. Anticipated responses:
  • Lots of stuff here.
  • This is overwhelming.
  • This isn’t a class—this is just advisory.
  • Turn discussion to how this quarter is more serious b/c of the goal everyone must meet: writing a personal statement.
/
  • Project Packet of Handouts:
  • Project Overview
  • Calendar of unit
  • Check list of required components
  • Rubric

Read-aloud
~8-10 min. /
  • Conduct read-aloud of Overview by assigning people, popcorn, etc.
  • As the students read Overview, they are to
  • Underline what they think is the most important line.
  • Ask at least 2 questions in the margins.
  • 3 Students share out what they underlined.
  • 3 dif’t students share questions. Answer them
/
  • Pen or highlighter

Procedural Note
~5 min. /
  • Ask: What does our advisory need to do differently so we successfully achieve the goal of this unit?
  • If needed, record these suggestions for future reference.

Review docs
~5 min. /
  • Students skim the calendar. Ask for questions. Explain that you’ll use this to keep them on track.
  • Conduct read-aloud of check list. Ask for questions.
  • Do NOT review the rubric at this time.

Pre-Assess & Self-Eval.
~10 min. /
  • Distribute Pre-Assessment & Self Reflection. Students have 6 min. to complete
  • Students share out responses
/
  • Pre-Self Assessment/ Reflection

Closing /
  • Students store the Project Packet in their college binder and give you the self eval/reflection to review.
/
  • College Binder

The Personal Statement Project

Overview

Advisory/English Language Arts 11X

Under Pressure!

All you need to do is write 600 words. Sounds simple, right? Yet those 600 words might be the deciding factor in your acceptance to a college. This is why most high school students find the personal statement to be the toughest essay they’ve ever written. You have to figure out a way to incorporate the best of yourself into one single piece of writing. The topic, the style, the beginning and the ending—all of it needs to align in your favor because it’s the only part of your application that gives the admissions officer a glimpse into your soul. Oh, and it’s the very last thing that officer will look at before deciding whether or not to accept you. In this case, last impressions are more important than first impressions. We’re sweating just thinking about it!

But fear not. Every one of you can and will write an amazing essay. It’s just a matter of following some simple steps, learning the tricks, and trusting the process. The best part is that you’ll be guided by your advisor--someone who knows you well and who has written a few of these essays already.

It’s the end of Advisory as we know it…

Since this essay is so important, we’re changing our approach to Advisory during Quarter 4. You’ll notice it will feel more like an English class because you’ll spend 90% of your time on writing and revising—even during morning check-in. To reflect this shift, you’ll get an English credit instead of an Advisory credit this quarter.

Why did we make this change? After much discussion, we determined that advisors are best suited for helping 11th graders write their essays because of the nature of it. It’s an extremely personal piece of writing and you need to be guided by someone who knows you personally and who can give you one-on-one support. Advisory allows for that. We also determined that colleges would find you more attractive if you take additional English courses.

What’s the final outcome of the quarter?

In the beginning of June, you’ll submit your final Personal Statement. An 11th grade advisor other than your own will evaluate and grade the essay. This way your feedback will be more objective. Her/his grade is a test grade.

How will I stay organized and on track?

We’ve created a calendar and a check list so you’re never behind. You’ll keep your drafts in either a notebook, a binder, or a folder. You’ll type your essay on googleDocs so we can give you feedback on your progress (Just like we did for the SPI project freshman year). We’ll frequently meet one-on-one with you to give you feedback.

We look forward to what’s ahead!

Student: ______Advisor:______

The Personal Statement Project

Check List of Required Components

Advisory/English Language Arts 11x

Component / How it’s graded / Due Date / √
1. / Completed free-write #1 / Classwork / Mon. 4/30
2. / Completed free-write #2 / Classwork / Tues. 5/1
3. / Completed free-write #3 / Classwork / Thurs. 5/3
4. / Completed free-write #4 (an actual college essay prompt) / Classwork / Fri.
5/4
5. / Hand wrote body of 1st draft / Quiz / Thurs. 5/10
6. / Typed 2nd draft, incorporating my Advisor’s feedback / Classwork / Tues. 5/15
7. / Revised my typed draft to improve the voice and style of my piece / Quiz / Tues. 5/29
8. / Completed my absolute best draft, incorporating my Advisor’s feedback and addressing copy edits. / Test / Tues. 5/5

Personal Statement Rubric

Dimension / Characteristics of a Successful Statement / Some Characteristics of a Weak Statement
Relativity to the Prompt / □You’ve cleverly followed the directions of the prompt by focusing on one central event, quality, or experience / □The essay doesn’t follow the prompt closely enough. You’re not giving the colleges what they asked for.
Individuality & Originality / □This piece distinguishes you from other applicants.
□You send a unique message about yourself.
□Out of the stacks of essays, I would remember yours—and for all the right reasons. / □The reader of this probably won’t remember you because the topic/experience/message you’ve chosen—or your slant on that topic/experience/message--doesn’t set you apart from the other applicants.
Introduction / □You immediately grab my attention and make me want to keep reading. / □You’re opening doesn’t make me want to keep reading. It’s a bit boring.
Content Development / □You deeply develop and reflect on the prompt using specific experiences/examples.
□You show (instead of telling) to get your message across.
□You offer insight and give me something to think about long after I’ve finished reading. / □You’ve used a lot of words to say very little.
□Your writing skims the surface and doesn’t reflect the deep thinking/insight we know you have on the topic.
Conclusion / □Your closing is natural, but it doesn’t waste my time by repeating what’s already been said.
□It “hints” at what you said in the introduction. / □This ends with a “thud” (Am I missing something here or did you forget to write the rest?)
□Or the ending just goes on and on, without really saying anything.
□You use clichés like “in conclusion” or “finally”.
Voice / □This sounds like you. Your writing captures your personality and I can almost hear you saying this.
□Your tone is formal, but it also keeps the reader engaged. / □This sounds like somebody else. Reading this, I wouldn’t think it came from you.
□You have either an overly-casual or overly-formal tone.
Language use & Style / □Your language and style greatly enhance your message.
□Sentences vary in length and type so I can imagine you actually saying them out loud.
□Language (especially verbs) is vivid and brings your message to life.
□Word choice is specific, but you didn’t overuse the thesaurus to make yourself sound smart.
□You avoided slang and clichés
□You use the active voice. / □The language and style take away from your message.
□Sentences all have the same rhythm….which puts me to sleep.
□Either language is too general and bland (words like “Bad”, “great”, “nice” don’t help me visualize what you’re saying) OR you’ve incorporated too many thesaurus words that make you sound fake.
□Too much passive voice.
Organization / □There is a logical flow and structure to the essay.
□Each paragraph of the essay is also organized on its own.
□Effective transitions are used to connect parts of the essay. / □It’s difficult to follow the message of the essay because it’s disorganized.
□Sections seem like they were just dropped in—they don’t lead out of previous sections.
Conventions / □There are no errors with grammar, spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. Because of this, I take you seriously. / □There are errors. These distract me from the writing and I lose confidence in you.
Formatting / □12-point font
□Times New Roman or Ariel Font
□Black
□Double-spaced
□One-inch margins / □Formatting not followed

Student: ______Advisor:______

The Personal Statement Project

Pre-Assessment & Self Reflection

Advisory/English Language Arts 11x

  1. Looking ahead at this project, I think I’ll be most successful at…because…
  2. Looking ahead at this project, I’ll probably be most challenged by…because…
  3. To overcome this challenge, I will…
  4. When it comes to writing, I would describe myself as…