We completed our discussion of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" by discussing and my then outlining on the board specific instances of Scrooge's societal and individual redemption. I then distributed a 3 paragraph essay writing exercise based on the story. We studied the instructions and the structure of an essay. After reading the prompt, I discussed how to form a topic sentence that addresses the prompt and Atticus worked on drafting a topic sentence. We broadened the scope of the sentence, and then I explained how to compose the rest of an introductory paragraph by introducing the arguments the essay will advance . I assisted Atticus in preparing the remainder of the paragraph. We will continue, and hopefully complete, the writing excercise early next week.