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Ms. Kincaid |
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Writing / ReadingNarrative Writing Strategies A Writer's Notebook is a special place where you keep your BEST writing ideas and thoughts. Your notebook should reflect you because you are putting your thoughts, emotions, and memories in it. One purpose of the notebook is to motivate you to become a better writer! In the Writers Notebook, we list story starter ideas. We may or may not write about all of the ideas we come up with. We may or may not publish all of the stories that we begin. That is ok. Another Writer's Notebook purpose is to learn and practice the writing process. The writing process is: 1. List DETAILS and ideas about your topic. Place details into categories. Does the detail belong in the beginning, the middle, or the ending? Example of a Narrative Writing Prompt Plan: topic "I arrive home" What happens first details: door opens see cat lying on the couch navy blue couch white and grey cat (named see go over and kiss What happens next: races to the kitchen, as fast as a bolt of lightning jumps up onto counter meows to let me know that I need to turn on the water faucet enthusiastically drinks the trickle of water Finally: faucet turned off she continues to lick faucet jumps down saunters to couch jumps up rolls over falls asleep Non-example of a writing web (or plan) It is a non-example, because there aren't any specific details. Most items are vague and do not paint a clear picture in the reader’s head. Web topic: Universal Studios First Middle End excited first time very scared cousins long line little boy first time cousins on ride bought tickets excited long line ride there went on rides excited 2. WRITE (20—30 minutes): Get your ideas on paper quickly! Stay focused and make sure you write ON TOPIC. Use your planning notes and put additional thoughts, feelings, and specific details in your paragraphs. Example of a rough draft: Topic - Visit to Santa's House I am so lost! Hmmm. Maybe someone at this odd—looking house can help me. I'm looking all around the red and green door for a door knocker. I don't see one, so I jingle the bells attached to the holly wreath. Ouch! I scratched my hand! The door creaks open and the smell of sugar cookies fills my nostrils like a garden bursting into bloom. I am face-to-face with a tremendously large man, dressed in a candy apple red shirt and tights, as green as a football field on the first game of the season. He is wearing a "Hi! My name is Ralph" name tag and holding the most delicious—smelling cookies I have ever seen. A cigarette is dangling out of his mouth. Ashes from the cigarette are floating down like snowflakes onto the sugar cookies. "What do you want?" barked Ralph. "Santa ain't here, so buzz off!" I tried to explain that I was lost, but I was too amazed. Behind Ralph, are a group of reindeers sitting around a table playing cards. One of them has a bright red nose. Could this be Rudolph? He sees me standing in the doorway and comes over. He asks me if I am lost then he gives me directions back to the freeway. He tells me to be good, then waves bye-bye as he closes the door. 3. REVISE (3—5 minutes): Reread your draft silently to yourself. Remove any wimpy words and replace them with DYNAMIC VERBS, INTERESTING ADJECTIVES, and PRECISE DETAILS! Rewrite confusing parts and replace it with easy to follow paragraphs that have a variety of long and short sentences. Example: Topic - Visit to Santa's house Add a new beginning and ending to the rough draft. Use a technique called real—fantasy—real. This means the first paragraph would be about taking the wrong exit off of the freeway and getting lost during a blizzard. The last paragraph would be about getting back in the car with directions on how to get back on the freeway. Everything in between would be not true and a fantasy. New beginning example using the "looking glass" technique. I'm letting the audience read my thoughts. Man! Could the snow be any thicker? I think I got off of the correct exit but who can read the sign? I'm out here in the middle of nowhere! Which way do I go? Is that a house? Maybe I'll pull in here and ask for directions. Whew! What a workout, walking in the knee—high snow to the front door. My toes feel like small Popsicles inside my damp boots. My teeth are chattering so loudly that I can barely hear the loud Christmas music playing inside. I search for a door bell or knocker. I don't see one, so I jingle the bells attached to the holly wreath. Ouch! I scratched my hand! The door creaks slowly open and the smell of sugar cookies fills my nostrils, like a garden bursting into bloom. I am face-to-face with a tremendously large man dressed in tights as green as a football field on the first game of the season. A "Hi! My name is Ralph" name tag is stuck on his garnet and gold polka dot shirt. He is holding the most delicious—smelling cookies I have ever smelled. A cigarette is dangling out of his mouth. Ashes from the cigarette are floating down like snowflakes onto the sugar cookies. "What do you want?" barked Ralph. "Santa ain't here, so buzz off!" I tried to explain that I was lost but I was too amazed. A bitterly cold gust of wind pushed the door open farther and I spied a group of reindeer sitting around a table playing cards. Is that Rudolph the red nosed reindeer? The reindeer sees me steadfastly staring at him with my mouth wide open, gets up from the table, and crosses the room. He asks me if I am lost. I nod in assent then he gives me directions back to the freeway. "Be good or we won't make a stop by your house!" he calls out and waves bye-bye just before Ralph slams the door. Thud! I take the long hike through the deep, damp snow down the sidewalk, start my car then pull out of the driveway. “Swish – swish,” whisper the wiper blades, as I carefully follow the directions. Turn left at the light then go another two blocks. The freeway entrance will be on my left. The snow stops blowing long enough for me to find my way back onto the highway. 4. EDIT (3—5 minutes): Proofread your revised piece. Correct spelling and punctuation errors. Remember to indent each new paragraph. Reread your piece again to make sure it flows smoothly and you that you have caught all errors. 5. PUBLISH: Share your writing with others. Have another person read your writing! Expository Writing Strategies Expository Prompts can be identified easily by the words: explain, why, or how. If a prompt has explain, why, or how in it, then students will need to write to explain the topic using reasons. The approach is slightly different from a narrative prompt (writing to tell a story or what happened). Students still follow the steps to good writing: Step1. Plan: 5—10 minutes Students should write a list of reasons explaining the topic. The list should contain at least five to ten reasons. Next, students need to narrow down the reasons to the top three. The three reasons are the ones that they can write the most details about. Step 2: Draft 20 —30 minutes Next step is to write the five paragraph essay. Students should have an interesting beginning, three reason paragraphs in the body, and an ending paragraph. Choosing an interesting beginning is key to holding the reader’s attention. Writers could begin with a sound (Bam! Crash! Crunch!) or a thought (Uh oh! That didn't sound good.) or a five finger lead. The three paragraphs in the body should have transition words at the start of each new paragraph. Students should include the following writing strategy tools: q fact adjectives (adjective that include a number) q proper nouns (identify specific people, places, or things) q explain one of your reasons by including definitions q list examples using ******magic #3****** (adjectives, or verbs, or proper nouns in groups of three) Writers need to add an ending to their writing piece. The ending should "tie" all of the paragraphs together by restating the topic. Step 3 Revising: 3—5 minutes Writers must pause to reread their piece so they can remove wimpy words (a lot, cool, fun). Revising means some words are removed and more specific details are added. If the writing piece does not have a beginning or an ending - ADD Step 4 Edit: 3—5 minutes Writers need to review their work again. This time, they need to check for spelling and capitalization errors. Any word you think might be misspelled, please try to spell it to the best of your ability. Remember all proper nouns need to be capitalized and so do the beginnings of sentences. Check your work for punctuation. As you reread, ask yourself, "Do I need a comma or period here?" If you paused as you read that part - then the answer could be "Yes!" Time is up! Expository deadline writing can be challenging but not too difficult. Planning your time wisely and following the expository steps will help you produce a quality writing piece. Fancy Folder Book Projects Students are expected to read at home for 30 to 45 minutes nightly per state guidelines, therefore each student will be required to read and complete Fancy Folder Book Projects. These projects will count heavily in the report card reading and writing grades. The requirements are: ** Choose a book that you want to read. ** Students are expected to record their project due dates in their planners. ** This is a writing and language arts project. Computer generated text or clip art will NOT be allowed!! I am more concerned with the spelling and handwritten text than a student's art ability.
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