This Lesson's Title:

Your Own
Faraway Place

driving into an emotion-evoking, imaginary land

This lesson was created by Northern Nevada teacher Robbie Gilmarten.

The ideal "mentor text" that can be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the chapter book The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author, especially from the chapter called The Doldrums.

Click here to view this book at Amazon.com.

If you are a Washoe County teacher, click here to search for this book at the county library.

Three-Sentence Overview of this Lesson:

First, students will build background by hearing an excerpt from The Phantom Tollbooth, an excerpt where the main character, Milo, travels to a distant land that has a distinctive mood: melancholy.  Next, students will discuss how specific word choices create help to create mood, and they will discuss how word choice is related to voice.  Finally, students will write about driving in a fictional faraway location, and they will attempt to establish an ambience through word choice and voice. Teachers: click here to read the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is word choice, and the support trait is voice; writers will thoughtfully select a word that invokes mood, turn it into a location, and then develop the atmosphere of a fictional local, utilizing associated words.