Paragraph Writing, Week 3

Comparing and Contrasting: Would You Rather Be a Hammer or a Nail?

Overview
In this two-week lesson, the entire writing process from pre-writing and
brainstorming to drafting, revision, copy editing, and publication will be
taught.
In this first week, students will brainstorm ideas in response to the
question, Would you rather be a hammer or a nail? Ideas will be
recorded on the board and students will begin to draft their essays.
Midway, the instructor will stop to teach some useful sentence
structures for comparison and contrast. The students will complete
their first drafts this week by the end of class.
First Hour: Prewriting
Hammers Nails
• Powerful • Collective
• Pose the question to the students, • Only need one • Hold things together

Strengths
“Would you rather be a hammer or a • Control the situation • Permanent
• Aggressive
nail?” See the YouTube videos of El
Condor Pasa and the Simon and
Garfunkel English version of the song; • Destructive • Get hit
if possible, play this in class. • Lonely • Can be bent

Weaknesses
• Not important alone
• Whole-class discussion (perhaps with • Passive
some realia): What are hammers like?
What are nails like? What are their
strengths and weaknesses?
• Record ideas on a the board or using
a projector.
First Hour, Cont’d: Drafting
• Raise the question: Now that we’ve had this discussion, which would
you rather be? Why? In your own words, what is good about being a
hammer? What is bad? A nail—good and bad?
• Let’s write! (Have students write freely and do their best. We are not
going to grade this yet)
• Allow students 20 minutes to write. Circulate among students as they
write, answering questions, and asking to read what has been written.
When a great sentence is written, stop and share it with the class. Be
encouraging but not directive.
Second Hour
• Stop toward the end of the first hour or beginning of second hour to discuss some
possible sentence structures; generate some model sentences using these:
• On one hand, ….; but on the other, ….
• Whereas hammers…., nails….
• Although nails …, hammers….
• Hammers are…., but nails….
• Nails….; however, hammers….
• Use the Would You Rather? Examples to illustrate how to compose the paragraph.
• Allow students to continue writing to the end of the period. The instructor may
collect the papers or assign them to be completed as drafts and brought to class
the next week.