At the quote sandwich level, students begin learning how to use quotations as evidence to support their claims. In the quote sandwich analogy, the quote is the meat and toppings that that give the sandwich flavor. The writer's responsibility is to choose this flavor carefully by selecting just the right quote. The claim and explanation are the bread that surrounds the quote. They package the quote up to deliver and explain it to the reader.
For the first example, students look at a quote sandwich based on the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. This simple text allows students to examine the structure and analytical style of the quote sandwich. Since the claim is about Humpty being important, the explanation must connect back to the idea of importance. After looking at the example, I have students try their own but with the claim "Humpty was broken beyond repair" instead. Students discover that they can use the same quote, but that this explanation should focus on Humpty's condition, instead. They might point out, for example, that the king's men are likely the very best in the land, so if they couldn't fix him, no one would be able to. |
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This year, students practiced writing quote sandwiches by reading a news article and completing quote sandwiches. The packet was designed to provide a gradual release. At first, students must simply write the missing explanation for the given quote and claim. Next, the student must both select a matching quote and explain how that quote supports the given claim. Finally, the student must develop their own quote sandwich based on the article.
After completing the packet from homework, students met in pairs to compare their answers before we reviewed as a class. Finally, students met in small groups to take a stab at writing their first paragraphs. They were able to recycle quote sandwiches from the packet and adjust them to fit the new prompt. This led into our lesson on writing an analytical paragraph. |
Additional Practice
After introducing the quote sandwich, students continued to practice it through the daily "Do Now." These warm ups were also scaffolded to allow students to build skills. Hover over or click on each slide to see the caption.