1st Grade Writing Workshop Units of Study

Unit 4: Authors as Mentors

Authors as Mentors

The goal in this unit is to use authors of children’s literature, as a role model when writing stories. Authors often take what has happened in their lives and write stories that embrace their experiences. Ordinary people who live ordinary lives- people like you and me- can write like writers. This unit will focus on authors, such as Angela Johnson, and show students how we can write and be inspired to write stories just like them.

Note: In this unit, Angela Johnson is referenced in most of the lessons. The authors you study for writing should have written at least one or two brief chronological stories that resemble the focused personal narratives your children are writing, used writing techniques that you suspect your children might want to emulate, and written in ways that could open your children’s eyes to new possibilities. There are other suggested authors and their books that can be used:

Angela Johnson: Joshua’s Night Whispers, The Leaving Morning, and Do Like Kyla

Ezra Jack Keats: The Snowy Day, Peter’s Chair, and The Pet Show

Donald Crews: Shorcut, Night at the Fair, and Bigmama’s


Joanne Ryder: My Father’s Hands, The Snail’s Spell, and One Small Fish

Unit 4: Authors as Mentors

Session 1: Discovering Small Moments, as Angela Might

TEKS: 1.17, 1.18

Resource: Units of Study for Primary Writing (Book 5), Lucy Calkins

Teacher Notes: The author often references Angela Johnson’s texts in the lessons. Keep in mind that other Authors and their texts are suggested as well, in book 5. Please refer to The Conferring Handbook Book for more suggestions. You will need 3-4 page booklet paper available for writing and Joshua’s Night Whispersby Angela Johnson.

Connection
Tell the children you found an author that writes just like them.
“I went to the library this weekend and found this book.” Hold up Night Whispers by Angela Johnson. “I read it and thought, this is just like the books you kids write! Let me read it to you.” Read the book in its entirety to the class. “When I read this book I notice how Angela writes books, just how I want to write books. Maybe this author can be a teacher, a mentor for me.” I think we should make Angela Johnson our mentor, our teacher, and try to learn from her, because we are a lot like her. What do you think?” Today I want to teach you that a mentor author like Angela Johnson can give us tips on how to come up with ideas for writing.”
Teach
“As writers, we get huge, big ideas to write about. I think of them as “watermelon” topics. Angela probably thinks, I might write about my vacation we took or all about my son Joshua (another watermelon topic). Angela Johnson could have writteneverything about Joshua, but she decided not to write about a watermelon topic, like all about her son. Instead she took one tiny seed, one tiny topic, so she wrote about the time Joshua heard night noises and got out of bed. I’m pretty sure that this really happened to Angela and her son Joshua, and thought I can write about that.”
Active Engagement
“So now, think of one watermelon idea… my birthday party, my trip, my dog, playing with my friend, and tell that topic to your partner. Now think of a tiny seed idea, one detailed story inside that big watermelon idea. Angela Johnson’s watermelon idea was writing about her son Joshua, and she actually wrote about the tiny seed idea which was when Joshua got out of bed when he heard sounds. Now turn to your partner and tell them your tiny seed idea.”
Link
“I was thinking that you all might want to be writers like Angela, so I got something special for you. Have student notepads ready to pass out. This can be white, or notebook paper cut and stapled into a tiny notebook. This is your tiny topics notepad, but before you can write in these, let’s make them our own. So, I have a cover page for you to decorate. If you have time you can open up your tiny topics notepad and write the story idea you just had or other ideas. Then you can get a booklet and begin to write one of your stories.” Happy Writing!
Share
Share:Tell the class about a writer who had a great idea for a tiny topic.
Conferring Suggestions:Ask them to touch each page and say what they will write. Help then put some words down on each page. Ask them to tell you more about the tiny topic.