What it is. The second opening states a sharper claim in less time.
Why our test works. Comparison against their own earlier work is the only benchmark a child fully believes, and two openings by the same child six lessons apart show progress or its absence more plainly than any rubric score can.
Leans on. Lesson 27 taught the claim-opening.
Watch for. Keep the first paper on the desk. The comparison IS the lesson.
Draft the opening of the explanatory project. The worked example is the one you build on the board: Teacher shows the road map with today's slot named, and models draft the opening on the cl The class reads Writing Book 8, p.72 — our own page, so a child who was absent can still get the lesson.
You open by saying where this sits — what it follows and what it is part of — in one sentence, and then you give them the reason it matters, in your own words, for about ten seconds.
Then you do one yourself, building it on the board and leaving it up: Teacher shows the road map with today's slot named, and models draft the opening on the class piece — one slot only, so the model is followable. The board copy is what they look back at when they stall, so it stays there for the whole lesson.
The We-do is the main whiteboard moment of the lesson — short answers, boards up on your signal, every child visible at once. Class works the same slot on the shared piece, then reads two versions aloud and says which is clearer and why. If the answer is a whole sentence rather than a word, take it on their notebooks instead, because a sentence written on a whiteboard is written once and destroyed.
They open Writing Book 8 to page 72 and read it with you. Stop at the worked example and let them look at it.
Exit directions in full, standing still, before anyone moves. Then they work alone: In your notebook: draft the opening for your own piece, double-spaced so there is room to correct.
You close on the exit direction — Read the one sentence you are most sure of. — taken from every child before anyone stands, and then the line you want them to still have tomorrow: You know how to open. Do it faster and sharper.
Keep the first paper on the desk. The comparison IS the lesson.