This Lesson's Title:

Unique Imaginary Friends

writing original adventures about imaginary sidekicks

This lesson was built for WritingFix after being proposed by NNWP Teacher Consultant Barbara Laber at an SBC-sponsored inservice class.

The ideal "mentor text" that can be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the picture book Ted by Tony DiTerlizzi. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author.

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:

The writer will, first, create an original imaginary friend, inspired by Ted from Tony DiTerlizzi's wonderful picture book.  The writer will then think of an ordinary activity done on a daily basis, like feeding the family dog.  The writer will write about doing the ordinary activity, but he/she will pretend that the activity is being done with the imaginary friend that has been created. Teachers: Click here to see the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is idea development; an original and detail-filled story is what students will be encouraged to create.  The support trait in this assignment is word choice; DeTerlizzi celebrates his love of words by creating new ones that don't even really exist, and students can be encouraged to try this same technique.