Notes for creating an outline

Taking the time to create an outline will help prevent those horrible moments of staring at a blank page and having no idea what to write.  Writing a meaningful outline may take time (and "mental gymnastics" as I like to say), but is ultimately worth it.  Here is how I created mine, using the claim I created at the beginning of the unit (and made the decision last week to stick with) that 8th graders should have access to books abut death because they can teach teens how to process through loss if and when they face it: