Introductions

Introductions: I have to start somewhere Every essay or paper has to have a beginning. A strong introduction includes the following: Everything beyond that is extra. BUT It’s the beginning that gets the reader interested to read the rest of the paper. So here are some choices as to how to begin a paper. Try to mix it up a little when you write to maintain both your interest and the interest of the reader.
 * A thesis that clearly explains what the ultimate purpose of the paper.
 * A basic layout of all the topics the paper will touch upon.

Try one of these: 1. State the thesis and main points in a strong, meaningful sentence.

Writing is a core skill all students need for the world beyond K-12 education. My current classroom writing instruction teaches, assesses, and builds these necessary writing skills for many different types of learners, the readings from this course have given me some fresh ideas. Adding these ideas to my current instruction will help my students increase their understanding, their need, and their use of the writing process while also adding more differentiation to my lessons to appeal to the digital learners in my classroom.

2. Begin with a vignette or short story that will help describe your thesis and gets the reader interested in the topic. In every aspect of a classroom, teachers ask questions – all types of questions. Student responses to these questions assesses what a student knows, wants to know, and has learned (KWL). Teachers usually have an expectation of an answer to those questions and are expecting their students to respond with what we have in mind. But there is a catch. Remember the movie //Kindergarten Cop//? Arnold Schwarzenegger is left alone as the substitute teacher in a kindergarten classroom. A little girl raises her hand and says she needs to go to the bathroom. A little boy stands up and says, “Boys have a penis. Girls have a vagina.” Even in kindergarten, children understand gender differences. So why is it in education, we don’t take these differences into account? Dr. Leonard Sax (2005), medical doctor and author of the book //Why Gender Matters//, says a “problem [in educating children] arises because the parents d[o] not understand some basic differences between girls and boys” (p. 2). I will argue that teachers and the people who drive educational instruction do not understand those differences either. Recently, studies have shown that boys and girls learn very differently. These studies have also noted the very obvious but overlooked difference as to how boys and girls will interpret and eventually respond to different types of questions. This disconnect is universal throughout a student’s learning years (K-12) but is most prevalent at a high school level where students are expected to respond in writing in almost all of their academic courses and more importantly on standardized tests that help determine both graduation rates and college acceptances. How do these differences affect student interpretation and response, and how can we, as teachers, better prepare our questions and our students for the best possible student answers?

3. Begin with a quote from a notable source that is relevant to your thesis and gets the reader interested in the topic.

 Benjamin Franklin once said, “ [|Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.] ” As educators, we have to remember to be vigilant in the act of teaching and involve ourselves in the process with our students. Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan of the University of Illinois at Chicago (2008) argue that “’disciplinary literacy’ — advanced literacy instruction embedded within content-area classes such as math, science, and social studies — should be a focus of middle and secondary school settings” (p. 40). Their study explains how teachers must involve students with reading, comprehending, and responding for specific content areas, so students will show higher levels of success.

4. Begin with a quote from a source related to your thesis and connects the real world with your topic through a rhetorical question. Due to the current economic crisis, unemployment is high and many people are without work; however, there are companies across the United States that have job openings and no people to fill them. The reason, according to columnist Darren Dahl of //The New York Times// (2012), “is that many would-be workers lack the necessary skills to fill those positions.” According to one of Dahl’s sources, Robert Funk, chairman of the national staffing firm Express Employment Professionals, “There is higher demand for skilled jobs and less demand for unskilled positions than we’ve seen coming out of past recessions”(as qtd in Dahl, 2012). So what does this have to do with literacy instruction? Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan of the University of Illinois at Chicago (2008) argue that “’disciplinary literacy’ — advanced literacy instruction embedded within content-area classes such as math, science, and social studies — should be a focus of middle and secondary school settings” (p. 40) because if teachers focus on helping students read, comprehend, and respond in their specific content areas, students will show higher levels of success.