I Have A Dream

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Martin Luther King's famous speech, I Have A Dream, lets all of us know what he was thinking. It lets us in on the dreams Dr. King had for all people. Some of his dreams have come true and others need more help.

Dr. King was not alone. We all have dreams of our own. In the following essay, you will follow your dreams and write about them. You will write a five paragraph essay. The order of your paragraphs is left up to you but, you must have one paragraph on each of the following:

• Dreams I have for myself
• Dreams I have for my family
• Dreams I have for my school
• Dreams I have for my country
• Dreams I have the the world

Example:

All paragraphs must have:

An Introduction sentence-

I have a dream for ... myself, my family, my school, my country, or my world


A Topic sentence/s-

I dream that one day, very soon, everyone will have a place to live.


Three or more Supporting sentences-

Being homeless must give a person an awful feeling.
It just is not right that some people have no place to call home.
It is everyone's responsibility to see that all people, especially children, have a place to go to each night that is warm, safe, and welcome.


A Concluding sentence-

Homelessness is something that can be eradicated. We all have to become part of the solution.

Proceedure:

1. You will start by making a web or chart that list the five areas you are to cover (myself, family, school, country and world). For example, the web area for the paragraph written above might look like this:


MY COUNTRY
Main Idea:

• Homelessness
  
Supporting ideas or reasons:

• awful feeling
  
• no place to call home
  
• safe, warm, welcome, for everyone, especially children
  
• can be solved
  
  
Note, there are no complete sentences in your web, just words or pharses to remind you of your ideas.

2.Then you will state what the main idea for each paragraph.

3. Then under each main idea, you will list supporting statement that will tell why you want this dream to come true.

4.You will write the 1st rough draft of your five paragraph essay using the information on the web or chart.

5. You will type your rough draft into a wordprocessor, spell check and print.

6. You will proofread your essay and get three other people to proofread your essay. Be sure they sigh your paper so they can get credit for their public service to you.

7. Edit your work based on the feedback from your classmates.

8. Print out a copy and give it to the teacher for proofreading.

9. After you get it back, make any final corrections and turn in all your work. This includes your -web or chart, -written rought draft, -typed and proofread (by at least three people) rough draft, -copy, proofread by teacher draft, and -final copy.

10. You may volunteer to read one of your paragraphs from your essay at a special assembly during Black History Month.

Evaluation:

• up to 25 points for your web,
  
• up to 25 points for all your written, typed, and proofread rough drafts,
  
• up to 50 points for the final copy with all corrections, for a total of 100 points.
  
  

• Did I include my web that has a main idea and at least three supporting reason for each of the five areas of my essay?____
  
• Did I include my written rough draft?____
  
• Did I include my first typed copy with a least three signatures showing the students that proofread my work?____
  
• Did I include the corrected typed copy, I submitted to the teacher for proofreading?____
  
• Did I include the final copy with all the correction necessary to show my best work?____
  

Sample of one student's project with drafts and final copy

Student handout that may help faciliate writing the rough draft

This page was created on Feb 20, 1997.
(c) Thomas C. and Mary L. O'Haver, 1997