Unit 3: Imaginative Stories

/ Unit Pacing: 4 Weeks
Dates: February 16 – March 13
Planning for Instruction / Professional Resources / Suggested Sequence:
Mentor Texts:
Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
Katie Meets the Impressionist, by James Mayhew
Chapter Books:
Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis
Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’engle
Texas Treasures stories:
“Wilbur’s Boast” from Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White,
3.2 edition; pages 217-227
“Wolf” by Becky Bloom, 3.1 edition; pages 83-104 / Treasures Grammar and Writing Handbook, (Resource CD), Fictional Narrative unit, pp. 47-66
Treasures Phonics/Spelling Practice Book (Resource CD), Macmillan/McGraw-Hill / Prewrite & Organize – 6 days
Draft – 2 days
Revise & Teacher/Peer Conferences – 6 days
Edit – 2 days
Final Draft/Publish – 3 days

Areas of Focus:

Genre and Audience / TEKS / Grammar/Editing / Assessment
Fictional stories let us experience life from someone else’s point of view. They can make us feel strong emotions—happiness, sadness, or even fear. After reading the best stories, we may even feel changed in some important way.
An imaginative story can take many shapes or genres: mystery, fantasy, adventure, realistic, etc. The foundation for each of these is similar: setting; characters; problem; plot; solution.
Imaginative writing invents a situation or story based on the writer's imagination. The writer may use his/her knowledge of the world to bring a unique flair or flavor to the writing but is not bound by the constraints of reality.
Students may want to publish their stories in a picture book format and read their stories to younger students / Students will write imaginative stories that entertain the reader with vivid details about the characters and setting. Imaginative stories in 5th grade need to have a clearly defined focus, plot, and point of view.
The writer may choose to invent the characters and create them to be realistic or fantasy characters. The story may be set in the past, present, or future.
The story structure contains a beginning, middle, and end with a problem that reaches a climax and is solved at the end.
Writers use the basic techniques of description, details, and dialogue when developing their story ideas / In this unit, students will use transition words and phrases to show the connection between ideas and how different events are related in their narrative writing.
The following spelling patterns should also be taught during this unit:
Words that contain the letters ou have different vowel sounds. These words can be categorized by sound to help children recognize the patterns that may help them spell the words correctly. (Examples: could, touch, through, bought)
They will also learn common spelling patterns found in words with closed, open, and final stable syllables. See the editing section below for a more complete explanation.
tudents will also practice the correct spellings of single-syllable homophones. / Imaginative or fictional stories are not tested at any grade level K-12. However, writers use the basic story structure to write a story in narrative form and this structure is the foundation for the personal narrative which is tested in 4th and 7th grades.
Because, from a very young age, children read many forms of imaginative and fictional stories (including fairy tales, mysteries, and realistic stories), they develop a ‘natural ear’ for the narrative story structure. Many children find the idea of writing a fictional story far more engaging than writing a personal narrative. You can take advantage of their interest in creating fictional characters and events to teach students the fundamental skills that good story tellers (and story writers!) use to create some of our best-selling books and novels.
Lesson
and Pacing / TEKS
Student Expectations: / Student will know: / Student will be able to:
Weeks Seven - Ten
Feb. 16 – March 13
Lesson 1:
Imaginative Stories / 18(A) write imaginative stories that build the plot to a climax and contain details about the characters and setting; / An imaginative story is an invented story that is meant to entertain. It contains the elements of fiction-- character, setting, problem, plot, resolution.
The writer may choose to invent the characters and create them to be realistic or fantasy characters. The story may be set in the past, present, or future.
The story structure contains a beginning, middle, and end with a problem that reaches a climax and is solved at the end.
Writers use description, details, and dialogue when developing their story ideas.
Key Terms: imaginative story, invented story, entertain, realistic, fantasy, climax, description, details, dialogue / Write a fictional story to entertain an audience of younger students.
Use their imaginations to develop the story elements of character, setting, problem, plot and resolution.
Develop story ideas using description, details, and dialogue.
(ELPS 5G-Writing)
17(A) plan a first draft by selecting a genre appropriate for conveying the intended meaning to an audience and generating ideas through a range of strategies (e.g., brainstorming, graphic organizers, logs, journals);
17(B) develop drafts by categorizing ideas and organizing them into paragraphs; / Imaginative stories contain invented story elements. Therefore, a writer spends time stirring the imagination during the prewriting stage.
Writers make a plan for their story ideas, in a sequence of events that moves the reader through a well-developed plot.
Writers use their plan as a guide when writing their first draft. / Develop a character for an imaginary story.
Create a plan and write an engaging plot for an imaginary story.
Write a conclusion that ties the story elements together.
17(C) revise drafts for coherence, organization, use of simple and compound sentences, and audience
17(D) edit drafts for grammar, mechanics, and spelling using a teacher-developed rubric; and
17(E) publish written work for a specific audience. / Writers read their stories to other writers in a peer conference to get their opinions on whether the story has the desired effect.
They use these opinions to make decisions about how to revise and change the details of the writing.
Writers pay close attention to spelling, grammar, and mechanics to make sure the reader is not distracted by errors.
Key Terms: imaginative story, invented story elements, stirring the imagination, plot, description, details, dialogue, mechanical errors / Revise the story by adding description, details, and dialogue that enhance the story line (ELPS 1B-Learning Strategies).
Conference with a peer to get ideas about how to make the story more engaging (ELPS 2E-Listening).
Edit the story with peers to correct all mechanical errors (ELPS 3F-Speaking).
Create a picture book to publish their imaginative stories and share it with an audience of younger students.
22(A) use and understand the function of the following parts of speech in the context of reading, writing, and speaking:
(viii) time-order transition words and transitions that indicate a conclusion;*
*Once these SEs have been explicitly taught, it is expected that teachers will continue to review and imbed these SEs into all writing projects for the rest of the year. / Transition words and phrases connect the ideas in a story and show how different events are related.
Key Terms: transition, connect ideas / Use transition words and phrases to show the connection between ideas in a narrative writing (ELPS 5F-Writing).
24(B) spell words with more advanced orthographic patterns and rules:
(vi) abstract vowels (e.g., ou as in could, touch, through, bought);*
24(D) spell words with common syllable constructions (e.g., closed, open, final stable syllable);*
24(E) spell single syllable homophones (e.g., bear/bare; week/weak; road/rode);*
*Once these SEs have been explicitly taught, it is expected that teachers will continue to review and imbed these SEs into all writing projects for the rest of the year / Words that contain the letters ou have different vowel sounds.
These words can be categorized by sound to help children recognize the patterns that may help them spell the words correctly.
*In a closed syllable, the vowel of the syllable is short, because the syllable is closed off by one or more consonants.
*If a syllable is open, it will end with a long vowel sound spelled with one vowel letter (unless it’s the final syllable.)
*A final stable syllable, such as consonant+le, is found only at the end of a word. The consonant +le may be combined with an open syllable, resulting in a long vowel sound. (Ex: cable, bugle, title) The consonant+le may also be combined with a closed syllable, resulting in a short vowel sound. (Ex: little, whistle, trickle)
*See the website in the teacher resources for more detailed information.
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but has a different meaning.
Examples of homophones include:
eye and I, rose and rows, bear and bare, break and brake, buy and by, scent and cent, deer and dear, hear and here, one and won, etc.
Key Terms: different ou sounds, open syllables, closed syllables, final stable syllables, homophones / Spell words that contain the different ou sounds correctly in their writing.
Spell words with open, closed, and final stable syllables correctly in student writing.
Spell homophones correctly, depending on the meaning of the word in the sentence.
(ELPS 5C-Writing)

Writing Process: Imaginative Stories - All Attachments (in RED) for this Page can be found here
Prewriting:
Generating Story Ideas from Pictures, p.1 – Imaginative stories
contain invented story elements. Therefore, a writer spends time
stirring the imagination during the prewriting stage.
Finding—and Sharing—Story Ideas, p.2-3 – Coming up with a good idea for a story is often the toughest part of writing.
Interview a Family Member, p.4
Story Chart Lists, p.5-6 – Work with the stories that students are most familiar with—the stories they see and hear in their everyday lives.
Learning Story Structure with Story Maps, p.7-10 – Students can use the same story map to outline the structure of a published story and to plan their own story to include the same literary elements. / Organizing:
Plot line diagram: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/FiveElements.pdf
Types of Conflict Found in Literature and Movies, p.11-12
Plot Chart, p.13 – Writers can plan the events that will take place in their story using this chart.
Bringing Characters to Life, p.14-18 – Once you have a general idea of who your character will be and what problem he/she will face in your story, begin asking some questions about the character to get to know him/her.
Final Draft/Publishing
If your writers are creating picture books, you will need to teach them how to determine which illustrations to include and where to place them in their final drafts so they have the most dramatic effect.
Create a picture book to publish imaginative stories and share it with an audience of younger students.
Display imaginative story picture books in the school library / Conferencing:
Keep in mind, your goal is to help the writer, not the writing - Teacher Conference, p.30
Refine Story Plans, p.31 – Before students begin to draft!
Imaginative Story Criteria, p.32 – Use any of these criteria as the focus of your conference with students.
Do not have students conference with each other about the whole story at once. Instead, have students break the story into parts. Peer Conference Questions, p.33-34 / Drafting:
Once writers plan their own story using a story map or the plot chart, you will need to model the process of taking the information in the story map and turning it into a story that flows from one event to another.
Think Aloud About Your Writing Thought Process, p.19
To help students write all the details about what happened during their story, teach this strategy:
1. Write the first sentence of your story.
2. Stop writing.
3. Read what you wrote.
4. See the picture in your mind of what you are writing about.
5. Think about what else is in the picture that the reader needs to know.
6. Add a sentence or two that might create a more interesting picture. Tell what people are thinking, feeling, or saying.
7. Write the next sentence from your story and repeat these steps for the whole paper.
Editing: *In a closed syllable, the vowel of the syllable is short, because the syllable is closed off by one or more consonants. Examples: riddle, tatter, common, butter
*If a syllable is open, it will end with a long vowel sound spelled with one vowel letter (unless it’s the final syllable.) Examples: total, rival, bible, motor
*A final stable syllable, such as consonant+le, is found only at the end of a word. The consonant +le may be combined with an open syllable, resulting in a long vowel sound. (Ex: cable, bugle, title, table) The consonant+le may also be combined with a closed syllable, resulting in a short vowel sound. (Ex: little, whistle, trickle, topple)
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/28653/ - a thorough explanation of open, closed, and final stable syllables
See Treasures Phonics/Spelling Practice Book (Resource CD) for:
Closed Syllables, pp. 133-138 Open Syllables, pp. 145-150
Final Stable Syllables, pp. 157-162 Homophones, pp. 109-114
Editing Checklist, p. 35 / Revising:
Many of the same techniques you taught during the personal narrative unit can also be used to improve the imaginative stories:
Revising Leads and Conclusions, p.20-23 Revise to add Dialogue, p.24
Revise to ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ Feelings, p.25 Revise to Improve Transitions, p.26
Revising for Snapshots and Thoughtshots, p. 27-28
Have writers check their own work before taking their story to a peer conference -Author’s Revision Checklist, p.29