Critical Thinking Unit – Essay Rough Draft
The final essay for this unit will be based on ideas, thoughts and issues brought up by the various readings and assignments. It may include any of the subjects discussed in the unit, and incorporate any of the information discovered through projects or reflective writing.
At the same time, one of the primary goals of this assignment is to create a better understanding of the writing process and to gain skills in communicating clearly through writing.
The rough draft of the paper should be organized similar to the following outline –
- Provide a definition and explanation of what it means to “think critically” and why this is important.
- Examples of situations in which critical thinking is important.
- A THESIS statement revolving around one of the readings or projects we have done in class.
- You will need KEY POINTS in your essay that focus your ideas.
- Your ideas will need to be developed using examples, quotations, details, and anecdotes that relate to your ideas and thesis.
- The essay should have FLOW – you want this to be smooth to the reader, and the audience should see a sense of unity in your writing.
- The ideas and examples used in your essay should CONNECT BACK TO YOUR THESIS.
Since this is a major practice in writing, part of this assignment involves a focused one-on-one writing conference. You must meet with me for 5 minutes during class, during lunch, or after school to discuss your draft.
Rough Draft Essay Rubric
The rough draft is 25% of your grade for this unit.
A rough draft that receives an A will . . .
- Be turned in on time, and is 2-3 pages in length (typed and double-spaced).
- Define critical thinking and its importance.
- Have a clear thesis related to this unit.
- Provide at least 3 ideas from texts, activites, and projects that work to prove their thesis.
- Have flow – it is well organized, incorporates voice, and has good sentence structure and word choice.
- Be proofread for ALL spelling and grammar errors, and provided in M.L.A. format (this means citations of what you have used) (1-2 errors allowable)
A rough draft that receives a B will . . .
- Be turned in on time, and is 2-3 pages in length (typed and double-spaced).
- Define critical thinking and its importance.
- Have a clear thesis related to this unit.
- Provide at least 2 ideas from texts, activites, and projects that work to prove their thesis.
- Have a strong conclusion that relates to the thesis, and has a decent flow.
- Be proofread for MOST spelling and grammar errors, and provided in M.L.A. format (this means citations of what you have used) (3-4 errors allowable)
A rough draft that receives a C will . . .
- Be turned in up to one day late, and is 1½-2 pages in length.
- Define critical thinking and its importance, but is vague.
- Has a clear thesis that defines the basis for the paper.
- Provides at least one idea from texts, activites, and projects that work to prove their thesis.
- Have a type of flow, but is disjointed in parts and can be difficult to read.
- Be proofread for spelling and grammar errors, and provided in M.L.A. format (this means citations of what you have used) (3-4 errors allowable)
A rough draft that receives a D will . . .
- Be turned in up to two days late.
- Fails to define critical thinking at all.
- Lacks a clear thesis.
- Doesn’t provide examples or information from the unit.
- Lacks flow. Reads bad. Not good. Like, not.
- Not proofread and not in M.L.A. format. Mr. Kimmel is dissatisfied.
A rough draft that receives an F will . . .
- Be turned in 3 days late. See this? 3 days late = F.
- I dislike writing in this category. I think you all know what an F involves.
- You didn’t write anything. There wasn’t anything for me to even grade.
- Your paper does not connect to what we are reading or doing.
- There’s no flow, spelling and grammar are damaged. You write like Lil’ Wayne.
