Narrative Writing Examples - Set One, Choice One

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following for Dey Planted de Silver in de fiel’.

  1. Read the first paragraph and figure out the name of the person who dictated this narrative. ______
  2. Read the second paragraph and figure out about how old she is. ______
  3. What kind of work did this slave do? ______
  4. How did she feel when the North – the Yankees – invaded the South during the civil war? ______
  5. A narrative may retell a personal experience. What was the main event this slave retold? ______

______

  1. What year was this narrative dictated? ______
  2. Answer the critical thinking questions from the WebQuest:
  1. Language changes over time and the slaves don’t speak in the same way people usually talk today. Do you still find it easy to understand what they’re saying? Why or why not? ______
  2. Does the way the narrative is written give you a better feel for how it felt to be a slave? Why or Why not? ______

Narrative Writing Examples - Set One, Choice Two

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following for A Horn for a Headache.

  1. Who dictated this narrative? ______
  2. This slave was born in 1854. How old was he when he dictated this narrative? ______
  3. What kind of work did this slave do? ______
  4. What did he do when the Yankee soldiers came through during the civil war? ______
  5. A narrative may retell a personal experience. What experience did this slave tell about that has to do with the title of his narrative? ______

______

  1. Answer the critical thinking questions from the WebQuest:

A. Language changes over time and the slaves don’t speak in the same way people usually talk today. Do you still find it easy to understand what they’re saying? Why or why not? ______

B. Did you get a better feel for how it felt to be a slave by hearing about it directly from a slave? Why or Why not? ______

Narrative Writing Examples - Set Two, ChoicesOne or Two

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following table for the interviews with Rosa

from El Salvador or Gill from Djibouti.

Name of Immigrant
Name of Interviewer
Date of Interview
Place of Interview
Reason for coming to America
How she/he got to America

Narrative Writing Examples - Set Two, ChoicesOne or Two

Continued

El Salvador Djibouti

DIRECTIONS: Answer the critical thinking questions from the WebQuest:

1. Can you personally connect to any of the comments the immigrants make about coming to the U.S.? How? ______

  1. Do you think it’s easier to go to school or to work if you’re born in the country or if you’ve immigrated. Why? ______

Now it’s your turn. You get to write a narrative. Remember, you can retell a personal experience or make up an imaginary story. Write one paragraph, with a minimum of five sentences. Here are your choices: pick one.

  1. Write about something that happened to you that you know you won’t ever forget. It can be scary, funny or sad but it must be real.
  2. Write about something unreal – make up a wild story about the wonderful and amazing thing your pet porcupine did.

Narrative Writing Sample

By super, well-known, famously cool author ______

Title:______

______

Expository Writing Examples - Set One, Choice One or Two

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following table for the expository essay you read.

Title of the Essay
List three things the author wrote that you think are important.

/ 1.
2.
3.
List one thing you learned about American culture or history from reading this essay.
Answer the critical thinking questions from the WebQuest:
1. Have you ever been in a parade or seen one?/ How did it make you feel?
OR
2. Have you ever been to New York City to visit the Statue of Liberty? / Do you think that when you get to visit a historical monument yourself, that it becomes more meaningful to you? Why or why not?

Expository Writing Examples - Set Two, Choices One or Two

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following table for either Why do Geese Fly

in a V? or How much Water does a Camel’s Hump Hold?

  1. What is the answer to the question in the article you read?

  1. What is one other important fact you learned while reading this article?

  1. Name a related Web Site where you could find more information on the
topic you just read about and describe what you would find there.
  1. Name something you could read to find out more about the topic you
just read about. Be sure to give the title and the author.
  1. Expository writing gives information. Information can be gathered from
lots of places. Think of three sources of information you could use to
gather facts for a research paper on the Viet Nam War assigned by
your social studies teacher. Be as specific as possible. (In other
words, don’t just simply say “books.”)
1) ______
______
2) ______
______

3) ______
______

Now it’s your turn. You get to write an expository paragraph.

Remember you need to give information or explain something. Write at least five sentences. Choose one of these topics:

  1. Give a new studentinformation about your school – just the facts; no opinions!
  2. Explain how you should eat spaghetti.

Expository Writing Sample

By super, well-known, famously cool author ______

Title:______

______

Persuasive Writing Examples - Advertisements, Choice One or Two

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following for the advertisement you read.

Answer the critical thinking questions from the WebQuest.

  1. Picture yourself reading this long ago, do you think you would have been convinced to buy the product? Why or why not?
  1. Instead of a newspaper or magazine advertisement, how might you get an advertising message out today?

Persuasive Writing Example- Letter to the School Board

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following for the letter by Billy Gobitas.

  1. When was the letter written? ______
  2. Who wrote the letter? ______
  3. Who was the letter written to? ______
  4. What is the letter about?______
  5. Answer the critical thinking questions from the WebQuest.
  6. Do you agree with the letter writer? Why or why not? ______
  7. Whether you agree with the letter writer or not, what major point was he trying to make? ______

Now it’s your turn. You get to write a persuasive paragraph.

Remember you need to convince someone to do something you want or to accept your way of thinking. Write at least five sentences. Choose one of these topics:

  1. You must get tickets to the hottest concert coming to town but you have no money. Convince your parents or your best friend to loan you the money.
  1. You believe that aliens really do exist. Persuade your family and friends to believe as you do.

Persuasive Writing Sample

By super, well-known, famously cool author ______

Title:______

______

Descriptive Writing Examples – Song Writing

DIRECTIONS: Complete the following for the

song, My Country! ‘Tis of Thee.

  1. Read through the lyrics. What is the main idea of the song? ______
  2. What types of people might want to sing this song? ______
  3. How might people in America react when they hear this song? ______
  4. Answer the critical thinking questions from the WebQuest.
  5. Did you get images in your head of America as you read the song and listened to it? What were they? ______
  6. Did the songwriter make you think about America’s history, her landscape or her meaning to Americans? How? ______

Descriptive Writing Examples – Hazy, West Virginia

DIRECTIONS: Read page 1 about Hazy, West Virginia.

Based on the description you read, try and draw a map

of Hazy. Your map doesn’t have to be perfectly accurate but use the description to help you decide where to put places. Label, illustrate and color it to make it interesting. Include at least five of the places in the box below.

CherryPondMountain Moll Kelley Knob BradleyMountain,

the Alderman Farm Hazy Gap Hazy Creek,

the Tanning Trough Bailey Mountain Road Hollow

Descriptive Writing Examples – Hazy, West Virginia

Continued

DIRECTIONS: On pages 5 and 6 of the description of Hazy, the author talks about his grandparents. From his description of them, answer the following questions.

  1. Why wasn’t Grandma happy when she moved in December 1922? ______
  2. What did Grandma really love? ______
  3. What happened to Grandma’s hen during a flood?______
  4. How did Grandpa make his bee bait?______
  5. Where was Grandpa’s “very favorite” spot to hunt for bees?

______

Answer the critical thinking questions from the WebQuest.

  1. After reading about Hazy, did you get a good feel for what it looked like and for some of the people who lived there? Why or why not? ______
  2. The author wanted to convince people to make Hazy a Traditional Cultural Property. Do you understand how his descriptive writing could help him persuade people to do that? Why or why not? ______

Now it’s your turn. You get to write a descriptive paragraph based on the painting below. Read the directions and the example carefully.

DIRECTIONS: You may write anything you like about this painting. You may describe the people or the setting, the colors or the action. You may keep it “real” or you may make something up. Whatever you do, use lots of descriptive language to make your writing interesting. Below is an example for you to read. It describes what’s happening in the painting from a fictional (made-up) point of view. It doesn’t have an ending (yet) and yours doesn’t have to have an ending either. Also, your writing doesn’t have to be this long. You may stick to a paragraph (at least five sentences). Just be sure to use DESCRIPTION!

Captain Kidd Changes His Mind

Captain Kidd, in his soft red cashmere jacket and matching tights, smiled wickedly as he took the hand of the elegant Lady Belair. “I must make this woman my own,” he promptly decided. “She is so beautiful. Look at her: her long brown tresses, her lips like red berries, her skin so soft and silky, her eyes, like delicious pools of chocolate pudding. Ahhhhhhh. Indeed I must make her mine!”

Lady Belair smiled sweetly at Captain Kidd. “Oh my captain, your ship is so pretty. I adore this splendid carpet though I might have chosen pinks and peaches to complement the wooden deck which needs a bit of varnish I think. Oh, and those sails, have you ever considered plaids or a flowered print, perhaps with a ruffled edge? And my, wouldn’t uniforms on all of your sailors look divine? Perhaps a nice navy blue with gold trim and scarlet boots? Oh my, that child by the table is scarfing down all of the pastries. You will send her below deck won’t you dear man? She may frighten my dear little Pompom, my sweet darling, precious little lap dog. And Pompom would enjoy those pastries. I only give her the very best to eat. Who is your pastry chef, by the way? And do meet my charming cousin, Dorothy. She’s quite the authority on literature and could recommend some excellent reading for you and your fine sailors. Why, she could even read to you each day between sun up and sun down.….”

Captain Kidd continued to listen in horror as Lady Belair persisted with her non-stop commentary concerning everything about the ship. “I must get rid ofthis woman at once,” he determined. “She’s a monster in an angel’s clothing. ACK! She will drive me crazy!”

Descriptive Writing Sample

By super, well-known, famously cool author ______

Title:______

______

Writing Guide Organizer pgs. 1-16 by Diana Garmus