Introduce the 6 traits- Talk a little bit about each one. Go over the posters.
Have them in their table groups come up with “What makes good writing” and put each idea on a separate sticky note
Then have them put each sticky note on the correct chart paper – each trait on its own piece of chart paper / Read Mouse and Redwoods (2 short stories) and see which one they think is good writing and why
Create heart maps for the covers of their writer’s notebooks – show an example. They write words of people, places, things, memories, etc. that they care about. These will provide them ideas to write about of things that are ‘close to their hearts’. / Introduce personal narratives. Create a chart paper titled Personal Narrative and then 1. An important experience or event that has happened to you
2. You explain what happened to your audience
3. It’s told in chronological order (beginning, middle, and end)
4. It’s written in first person (uses words like I, my, we, our…) / Read Wilford Gordon Macdonald Partridge by Mem Fox and talk about memories. Difference between a memory that you remember and something that someone has told you. Share a memory that you have and tell the story. Then they write about a memory in their writer’s notebooks. Have them share at the end.
Read You Have to Write and talk about ideas.
Tshirt ideas lesson- narrowing your focus. On the board choose a topic- basketball. Then talk about how to narrow the topic, use the tshirt graphic organizer to narrow down the topic. Narrow it down 4 times until you’re left with a small tshirt- or a small moment story.
Have students do this using one of their topics from their heart maps. Once they have a small tshirt moment then have them fill out the A-Z brainstorming graphic organizer. When they have filled out most of the letters, have them start writing a small moment story / Do the Disney Land example and talk about how you need to choose a small moment and show the example of poor writing. Then fix it together as a class. Model, shared writing / Talk about ways to generate personal narratives: On chart paper – 1. Think of a persona, place, or thing that matters, then list clear, special moments you remember. Choose one to write about.
Start with person- show them on the board how it would look. Brainstorm people that matter to you- write them on the board. Then choose one and circle that person. Now list clear, special moments you had with that person. Next, choose one small moment and start writing a short story.
Have them do this in their ideas section of their notebooks. Share some. / Today do place. Brainstorm on the board just like you did with person. Have them think of at least 3 places that are special or matter to them. Then have them choose one. Circle it. Then write clear, specific moments they remember at that place. Pick one and start writing about it if you have time. If students are having a hard time getting down to small moments then have them use their memories and think of them as t-shirts again to narrow them down.
Have them share.
Today do thing. This one is a little bit harder for them. Do the example of your own on the board.
Have them do this again in their ideas section and share some at the end. / Today talk about a watermelon topic and a seed story. Tell them that you want to have them look through their ideas section of their notebooks. Tell them your topic is Florida, then have them help you come up with seeds for that topic. Talk about how a seed story, or small moment, could be 5 minutes, could be 20 minutes, but it isn’t a whole day, week, etc. it is one small time that you will explode. / Now have students look back through their notebook at all of the ideas and moments they have come up with. Have them choose one small moment or seed story. They should use the tshirt GO if they need help narrowing their idea. Now this is what they will write for their personal narrative. / Fall poems with the senses – for Open House. Then type in computer lab.
Show students how they can use a timeline to get an idea for a small moment story from their life.
Explode the moment- use the two paragraphs lesson. Talk about which paragraph is better. Why? Because it is a small moment and uses details, etc. Now have partners choose one sentence from the bad paragraph and explode it. Make one sentence into a paragraph like the other paragraph and add detals, etc. share them. (see lesson plan) / Leads lesson- talk about leads/types of leads. Dialogue, action, setting specifically. Have students come up with 3 different leads for their personal narratives. Have some kids share. Then have them get with their writing partner and have them vote for their favorite lead. Once they have a favorite lead then work with their partner to make their lead the best it can be. Grabs readers’ attention. / Read the first chapter from Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. Talk about exploding the moment. Ask the kids what senses they heard in the first chapter. Ask them how long they thought that was- maybe 10 minutes? Mall moment with great descriptive language and senses. Have students in pairs fill out the explode the moment graphic organizer based on the first chapter. Then share them.
Talk about how good writing allows the reader to ‘play a movie’ in their minds. Have them close their eyes as you read chapter one again. Ask them if they can picture it so well they can play a movie in their mind. Descriptive language and voice allow you to see what’s happening. Showing vs. telling. / Storyboarding- show students what storyboarding is. Use an example- the boy and girl storyboard picture- to show them what might be happening in the story. Then show them the personal narrative that you are doing. Show them the storyboard that you did. Show the words you wrote under the boxes then ask them what you should draw for each box. Draw a quick sketch and show them that they should be quick, these are not illustrations. Also show them that they should jot down some words along with the box.
Students do storyboards for their own story.
Have students fill out an explode the moment GO for their own stories. When they have finished have them cut out each square of their storyboard and paste each one onto a separate sheet of lined paper. Then they should begin writing. This helps them stretch out their story. / Read students “Car Ride” chapter from Knucklehead by Jon Sciezka. Talk about descriptive language and showing vs. telling.
Have students work on their drafts and then begin to conference with students when they have finished their draft. / Showing vs. Telling. Read the following “My grandmother was a very brave little girl.” Then read them the showing of that: “One day when my grandmother was a little girl she and her friends cut across a pasture on the way home from school. When a bull charged them she turned, got her friends behind her, pulled out her long sewing scissors, and stuck them up the nostrils of the bull. He didn’t bother them any more. / Have students come up with 3 titles for their story. Then have them get with their partners and vote on a title. Then have them revise their titles with their partner to come up with the best title possible.
Quick writes to do at the beginning of lessons:
1.Write on board “Why I don’t Have my Homework”. List a few possible reasons students could come up with for not having homework in on time. Have students add to the list. Encourage “imaginative” reasons. When students have finished their stories, share. Then talk about the way imaginative ideas make a topic more fun. / 2.Write on the board “Why I’m Late for School”. List a few possible excuses. Have students add to the list – the more imaginative the better. Have students write their short story and then share. Talk about using imagination to add interest to a simple topic.
3.Write on the board “My Favorites”. Share with students some of your favorites: places, activities, foods, people, songs, books, etc. Have them create their own lists.
4.Write on the board “That Makes me Mad”. Tell students some things that make you mad and have them create their own lists. Share ideas. / 5.Read aloud Joan Walsh Anglund’s “A Friend is Someone Who Likes You”. Have students list all the different kinds of friends they have or can think of (older, younger, pets, toys, etc.) Talk about the qualities that make a friend. Share.
6.Write on the board “What I’d like to Change about School”. Tell students some of the things you’d like to change and then have them create their own lists. Share ideas.
7.Write on the board “1. What 2nd graders know. 2. What 6th graders know. 3. What 9th graders know. Ask students which topic they are the most capable of writing about. Ask why. Ask why writing about one of the others would probably be too difficult for them. Talk about the importance of knowing about what you write about. / 8.Write on the board “1. The Scariest Halloween 2. Radishes 3. How to Sharpen a Pencil”
Ask students which story they’d want to read. Ask why. Have them suggest titles of stories they wouldn’t want to read. Then list titles of stories they would want to read. Talk about the importance of having an interesting topic to write about and creating great titles.
9.Write on the board “Five Good Uses for a Pocket”. Have kids each make a list of the five best uses they can think of (limit it to 5). Share ideas. Ask students to think about which ideas appealed to tem most – and why. Contrast ideas with imagination and those with little thought.