Expository Writing: Mini-Lessons - Best Practices from CACPS

Below you will find a variety of different mini-lessons from the various phases in the year-long Writers’ Workshop curriculum trajectory. I only included a few student-work-based mini-lessons though these were quite frequent in my class; much of the crucial inquiry-based side of expository instruction comes out of examination of student work. I tried to provide process notes at the beginning of process-dependent mini-lessons, though most are quite self-explanatory. The documents are available in two formats:

Microsoft Word .doc files that can be edited and used as a starting point for your own document
Adobe Acrobat .pdf files that can be viewed but not edited.

Document	Microsoft Word .doc	Adobe Acrobat .pdf
Reading and Writing Autobiographies	Download	Download/View
Explanation of the Prewriting Process	Download	Download/View
OR-The Basic Structure	Download	Download/View
OR-Understanding the Thesis	Download	Download/View
OR-Supporting Ideas-Details	Download	Download/View
OR-Using and Citing Quotations	Download	Download/View
OR-Writing with Transitional Phrases	Download	Download/View
OR-Using Transitional Phrases	Download	Download/View
OR-Transitional Phrases Word List	Download	Download/View
COMP-Moving from an OR to a Composition	Download	Download/View
COMP-Overview of the Introduction	Download	Download/View
COMP-Overview of the Conclusion	Download	Download/View
COMP-Turning the Question into the Thesis and Lead	Download	Download/View
COMP-The Introduction Paragraph (Using Student Work)	Download	Download/View
COMP-The Lead	Download	Download/View
COMP-Review of Supporting Idea Paragraphs	Download	Download/View
COMP-Supporting Idea Statements (Take 1)	Download	Download/View
COMP-Supporting Idea Statements (Take 2)	Download	Download/View
COMP-Paraphrasing Quotations	Download	Download/View
COMP-Clinchers	Download	Download/View
COMP-More on Supporting Details	Download	Download/View
COMP-The Conclusion (Using Student Work)	Download	Download/View
COMP-Minor Editing Issues Review Sheet	Download	Download/View