Students will understand the essential elements of a conclusion. Sample essays with and without conclusions. The teacher uses gestures to explain the four elements of a conclusion. To add to the fun, the teacher can then invite students to come up in groups of four and time them to see how fast they can touch back, look to the future, go to the heart and end with a zinger. Once students have acted out the gestures, the teacher can pass out examples of essay conclusions that address all four elements.
Students label each part of the conclusion.
Next, the teacher passes out conclusions that are clearly lacking one or more of the elements. Students identify the weaknesses and rewrite the conclusions. Students can be assessed on the conclusions they write or rewrite.