Technical Writing - The Hobbit

In this lesson, the students will read The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien and make a list of the steps the the Hobbit took to reclaim his gold ring because he found out how important the ring was, and he wanted it back.

First, you need to explain to them about technical writing. Technical writing involves a how to or listing items or steps in order. The Hobbit wanted to reclaim his gold ring, which was important to him. He didn't know about the importance of the ring until he experienced the effects of having it on his finger. He took it off of his finger when he arrived back with his group because he didn't want them to know about it. There are steps that the Hobbit took to reclaim the gold ring. The students will list those steps and what pages they found them on. After the students understand about technical writing and what they are to do with their assignment, then they need to read The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. As they read, they need to become aware of the steps and write them down and the pages where they found each step. When the students have completed their assignment, they will submit them to you for grading.

You can grade the students on their oral performance and on how well they wrote their papers. You can grade them on sentence structure, paragraph structure, grammar, and punctuation.