Can three random nouns launch a powerful story idea?
This lesson idea was first proposed by Northern Nevada Writing Project TC Cindy Reynolds.
The intended "mentor text" to be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the picture book Brave Margaret: An Irish Adventure by Robert De San Souci. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author.
Washoe County teachers, click here to search for this book at the county library.
Teacher Instructions & Lesson Resources :
Pre-step (before doing this lesson): This page's "strong opening paragraph lesson" should probably follow a "strong opening sentence lesson." Here are two great WritingFix handouts to help your students discuss and learn what a strong introductory sentence can be like.
"Little Red Riding Hooks" Handout A one-pager from the awesome classroom of teacher Dena Harrison, this handout shares eight different techniques to start a story interestingly with just one sentence.
"Novel Openings" Handout A one-pager from the NNWP's Going Deep with 6 Trait Language Guide, this handout shares twenty-three interesting sentences that have started real novels over the years.
Step one (sharing the published model): From Teacher Cindy Reynolds: "Brave Margaret: An Irish Adventure, by Robert De San Souci is a wonderful story about a woman who yearns for adventure, fights a dragon, and in the end, wins the heart of her true love. In addition to the story’s engaging action, it has a strong introduction which draws the reader in. As you read the first page to your students, ask them to close their eyes and listen for four things: the introduction of the main character, the setting of the story, interesting objects, and finally, the wants or desires of the main character. Make four columns on the board for each of the elements: main character, setting, and the wants and desires of the main character. Lead the students in a discussion about what they heard and using their words, fill in the three columns."
Next, in front of your students, use the same columns to brainstorm ideas for stories that haven't been written yet but would make great stories:
Character Ideas:
Setting Ideas:
Story Objects:
Wants/Desires:
a convict
a nurse
a peasant
Or?
a prison cell
a hospital
a potato farm
Or?
a loose brick
a new medicine
a fishing spear
Or?
his innocence proved
to save everyone
to find her brother
Or?
This might be the ideal time to show the teacher model for this lesson on the overhead. Have students discuss the questions at the bottom of the overhead and share their answers. Talk about how good organization often comes from a powerful opening, in this case an opening paragraph, not just a sentence.
Step two (introducing models of writing): In small groups, have your students read and respond to any or all of the student models that come with this lesson. The groups will certainly talk about the idea development , because of the discussion tool that has been included with each model. You might prompt your students to talk about each model's organization as well.
Step three (thinking and pre-writing): Time to write. Distribute a blank pre-writing and drafting worksheet to each of your students, and have them plan to write. The interactive button game above will give your students lots of choices to help plan their paragraphs. If you are unable to get your students to a computer, you can click the buttons yourself, find five to ten examples, and write them on your blackboard or whiteboard. Students can make their choices from the list you give them.
Step four (revising with specific trait language): Two tools for revision are provided below. You can use one or both, depending on how much time you have to spend on this assignment.
To promote response and revision to rough draft writing, attach WritingFix's Revision and Response Post-Its to your students' drafts. Make sure the students rank their use of the trait-specific skills on the Post-Its, which means they'll only have one "1" and one "5." Have them commit to ideas for revision based on their Post-It rankings. For more ideas on WritingFix's Revision & Response Post-Its, click here.
Step five (editing for conventions): After students apply their revision ideas to their drafts and re-write neatly, require them to find an editor. If you've established a "Community of Editors" among your students, have each student exchange his/her paper with multiple peers. With yellow high-lighters in hand, each peer reads for and highlights suspected errors for just one item from the Editing Post-it. The "Community of Editors" idea is just one of dozens and dozens of inspiring ideas that is talked about in detail in the Northern Nevada Writing Project's Going Deep with 6 Trait Language Workbook for Teachers.
Step six (publishing for the portfolio): When they are finished revising and have second drafts, invite your students to come back to this piece once more during an upcoming writer's workshop block. Their stories might become a longer story, a more detailed piece, or the beginning of a series of pieces about the story they started here. Students will probably enjoy creating an illustration for this story as they get ready to publish it for their portfolios.
Publishing on-line?Option 1: Student writers can submit their drafts at WritingFix's Community of Student Writers. To do this, students will need to have an e-mail address and the ability to remember a password. Other students can respond to their writing at this on-line community. Option 2: WritingFix is always looking for new student samples to publish and share on-line. Have you used the prompt on this page to write something you're proud of? If you are willing to share your photo, grade level, first name, and last initial only, write to us at publish@writingfix.com, and we'll send you a permission slip for you and your parents to sign and return to us. You might become a published author who inspires other student writers!
Learn more about Robert De San Souci's books
by clicking here!
