WRITING WORKSHO

PBy: Ms. M. MenendezEdited and Expanded by: Mrs. A. Guerra

“Here’s the secret to writing: there is no secret.” Ralph Fletcher

Packing Punch, Power, and

PIZZAZ in student writing

Something to think about…

Writing is shaped by purpose and audience. Every piece of writing, even writing that is not shared, has a purpose, whether it is to express feelings, to be creative, to explain or inform, to persuade, or to clarify thinking.

Core Beliefs About Writingby Ralph Fletcher

• WRITERS NEED:1. Time2. To separate composing from editing3. Response4. Responsibility

• CONDITIONS FOR REAL WRITING:1. Personal (choice)2. Interpersonal (social)3. Time/Space to do quality work4. Pay-off (purpose/feedback)

Writing is thinking made visible!

Research supports that the more students write, the more fluent they become as writers.

The Writing Process – A Quick Overview

• Prewriting / Planning: Use different planners (graphic organizers) to choose from. Try using a variety of them, and learn what good planning looks like. Spending more time on prewriting will make the entire writing process easier.

• Drafting: Just write! No grading will be involved. These writing opportunities will become the “works” you go back to for elaboration and extension.

• Revising: THIS IS WHERE IT’S AT! It is better to revise one paper more thoroughly than to write ten and barely revise them.

• Proofreading: DO NOT correct errors in grammar while drafting at the expense of impeding the flow of ideas. Edit for sentence variety and specific use of punctuation.

• Publishing: Share your master piece!

REVISING IS WHERE IT’S AT…

• You should ONLY do four things to revise your paper:

•Add something.•Take away something.•Change something.•Move something.

REVISION HELPS ELABORATION AND

EXTENSION IN WRITINGWhat does the ERB rubric say?

• Support: The degree to which the response includes details that develop the main points.

• “4 Paper” - Details are adequate to support the focus.Details are generally relevant to the focus.

• “5 Paper” - Details are strong and varied throughout.Details are relevant and appropriate for the focus.

• “6 Paper” - Supporting details are rich, interesting, and informative

throughout: fully developed. Details are relevant and appropriate for the focus.

ADDING Includes…• Transitional words and phrases• Showing sentences/paragraphs•Magnified moments• Precise word choice• Dialogue• Adding a “magic” conjunction to combine two short sentences• Simile or metaphor

TAKING AWAY Includes…

•Eliminating unrelated information•Too many “I’s”•Too many “and then (s)”•Too many “so’s”•Etc.

CHANGING SOMETHING Includes…• Looking through your paper:•On the LEFT-hand column, list every verb you used in your writing.•On the RIGHT-hand column, write a substitution for each verb you listed on the right.

• EX: You might change FELL with COLLAPSED.

fell The boy fell on the floor.

collapsed

MOVING SOMETHING Includes…• Inverting a sentence:•The old man sat on the wooden bench.•On the wooden bench sat the old man.

• Emphasizing an adjective:•The exhausted ballerina fell into a deep sleep.•The ballerina, exhausted, fell into a deep sleep.

• Changing the “voice”:•The maid cleaned the room.•The room was cleaned by the maid.

Get away from formulaic writing. Be a unique author!

AVOID things such as…• I love winter. Do you?•My dad is a special person. Let me explain why.• That’s why pizza is my favorite food. What’s yours?• I woke up and it was all a dream.

TEN GREAT MINI-LESSONS:

1. Grab the reader’s attention2. Set the scene with a lead3. Bring characters to life (give them personality, show their feelings, etc.)4. Add a TAG to dialogue5. Use hype and exaggeration6. Paint vivid word pictures (details)7. Extra support through examples8. Vary those sentences9. Add vigor to verbs and other parts of speech10.Exciting or engaging endings

1-Grab the Reader’s Attention

Like a master fisherman who baits his hook and lures all sorts of fish into his “trap,” you must catch the attention of your reader from the start!

Your GRABBER or HOOK must surprise your reader from the start:• Question: Something that makes them think• Shocking statement: An unexpected opinion, etc.• Humor: An exaggeration (hyperbole)• Horror: A frightening statement • Authority: A quotation from an expert

• Dialogue: An exchange of words between people• Literary work: A line from a famous poem or song• Famous person: Famous words from someone

well- known• Anecdote: A little story that happened to

someone• Sound effect: An onomatopoeia• Setting: Describe the time or place• Etc.

Examples of books with great grabbers:• Hey Al by Arthur Yorinks (description of character

and question) • Big Mama’s by Donald Crews (question) • My Mama Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Moore

Gray (description of a person) • Owl Moon by Jane Yolen (setting the mood) • All About Owls by Jim Arnosky (question lead) • Vote! by Eileen Christelow (What if..? Scenario) • The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles

(quote) • My Brother Martin by Christine King Farris

(anecdote)

From all these techniques, CHOOSE ONE, and write an introductory paragraph with grabber:

• Use dialogue: have the main character talking to someone.

• Begin describing the setting of a story about a natural disaster.

• Pose a thought-provoking question. • Describe a character’s thoughts or feelings. • Begin with an astonishing fact. • Use a sound effect. • Start with a quotation from an expert or someone

well-known. • Describe a setting. • Use humor or word play.

Writing Activity

2-Set the Scene With a LEAD

• The LEAD is a very important part of any piece of writing. The first few sentences are often the point when readers decide if they're going to continue reading.

• Jump right into the action: Begin in the middle of an action-filled portion of the story (you many need to use flashback later)

A little more explanation on LEADS• Common Lead:

It was a day at the end of November. My mom, dad, brother, and I were at our camp on the lake. We had arrived the night before at 10:00, so it was dark when we got there an unpacked. We went straight to bed. The next morning my dad started yelling at me from the dock at the top of his lungs. He said there was a car in the lake.

• This is a very common lead that is not very exciting. lt puts all of the who, what, where, when, and why information at the beginning. This is not the best lead because the reader gets all of the information at the beginning and there is no real need for them to read on.

THE FOLLOWING LEADS ARE MORE EXCITING AND WILL GRAB THE READER'S ATTENTION:

• Action Lead: A Main Character Doing Something

I gulped my milk, pushed away from the table, and bolted out of the kitchen, slamming the screen door behind me. I ran down to the dock as fast as my legs could carry me. My feet pounded on the floor, hurrying me toward the sound of my dad's voice. "Scott!" he yelled, "there's a car in the lake!"

Dialogue Lead: One or More Characters Speaking

"Scott! Get down here on the double!" Dad yelled. His voice sounded far away.

"Dad?" I screamed. "Where are you?" I squinted through the screen door but couldn't see him.

"l'm down on the dock. Move it. You're not going to believe this," he replied. “There’s a car in the lake!”

Reaction Lead: A Character Thinking

I couldn't imagine why my father was yelling for me at 7:00 in the morning. I thought fast about what I might have done to get in trouble. Did my report card come in the mail? Did he find the lamp I broke playing football in the house? Before I could move, his voice rang out again."Scott move it! You're not going to believe this. There’s a car in the lake!”

THREE THINGS A LEAD IS SUPPOSED TO DO:

1. Leads give enticing information about the story.

2. Leads should make a reader want to read on.

3. Leads usually begin in the middle of the action. You can go back to the beginning of the story in paragraph two.

3-Bring Characters to Life

•Rely on clues that an author has written to make inferences about a character’s personality or motivation.•After a few days of practice, this will become quite easy to see.

•Guess My Emotion• Small Readers Theater skit with a pre-chosen emotion to be used with a particular character.•EX:Big Bad Wolf

pessimistic Little Red Riding Hood bossy

Simple Mini-Lessons to teach this:

READING:

• Short WritesTeacher provides a simple sent., and students use graphic organizer (head and body) to do a Show, Don’t Tell. (See next slide.)

JEALOUS

• Next, write a complete narrative that includes at least one character you have fully developed.

In order to do this, use the Character Profile graphic organizer.

4-Add a Tag to DialogueTHE PURPOSE FOR DIALOGUE TAGS: • Dialogue tags like “he said” and “she

explained” have two main purposes in a story or paper:

• They tell the reader who is speaking or the source of the quotation. If you were writing about three people at the beach, you would include dialogue tags so that the reader would know which of the three people were talking.

• They show the reader actions related to the comments. If you were writing about three people sharing a secret, for instance, you might use the dialogue tag whispered to describe how someone was talking.

Dialogue Tags found in Bedhead:

• shouted Mom, Dad, and Emily as they ran up the stairs and headed for the bathroom door

• she whispered, in her calmest calm Mom voice • Mom said, giving it a try • they said, sighing a confident, job-well-done

sigh • shouted Dad, taking aim with a squirt • the three shouted, seeing the boy with bristles

poised • he pointed, the hat, the hat • demanded Oliver, holding tightly on to his hat

LET’S TRY IT OUT…• Pair up to look through literature models (trade books and/or magazines) containing narratives, and list the dialogue tags you find.• Share your dialogue tags. • If your dialogue tag used the word “SAID,” substitute it for a stronger, appropriate one.• Last, we will go back to Bedhead and substitute some dialogue tags.

Apply the Skill in YOUR Writing:

•Go to your writing notebook, and find a piece of writing you created

last week.• Select an event for which two lines of dialogue can be written.•Write the dialogue with tags that use a strong verb and/or provide additional information or direction.

For a list of strong verb-substitutes for SAID, refer

to the wall.

Also, here are

many more:

5-Use Hype and Exaggeration

• HYPERBOLE:•The use of exaggeration as a figure of speech.• It may be used to evoke strong feeling or to create a strong impression, but is NOT meant to be taken literally.• It is often used in POETRY and in casual speech.

“The bag weighed a ton.”

Hyperboles are considered “extravagant exaggerations” and are, therefore, NOT APPROPRIATE when writing essays or reports, BUT a little hyperbole is an effective way to color the speech of a character in a short story OR to use it to make a point effectively in a humorous piece of writing.

EX: I’ve told you a million times not to exaggerate.

Let’s try it!1. Use these statements to

complete original hyperboles:• The student is so lazy that…• The class was so boring (or

exciting) that…

2. Work in pairs to author a short story creating a character that uses hyperboles constantly.

3. Hyperboles are used in “Yo Mama” jokes. Yo mama’s so small, she does chin-ups on the curb.

4. Make a list of at least 5 hyperboles not already mentioned. Now, choose 1 and create a poem using hyperbole.

Your poem must have at least 10 lines. (Do not use anyone’s mama!)

READ THIS EXAMPLE OF A POEM WITH HYPERBOLE:

The HippoA head or tail - which does he lack?I think his forward's coming back!He lives on carrots, leeks, and hay;He starts to yawn - it takes all daySome time I think I'll live that way.

6-Paint Vivid Work Pictures(types of details)

•Writers paint word pictures in the mind of the reader much like an artist paints on canvas. • Artists use color, lines, and shapes, while writers use words!

Complete this sentence:

I know from this picture…

•NOW, what do you think artists and writers have in common?

• THE NEED TO BE CREATIVE! They give DETAILS to show what the picture or writing is about.

•Now, looking at the picture again, tell things that show WHAT, WHERE, WHO, WHEN, HOW

(the 4W’s and 1H).

* Using one of the pictures in front of you, write a simple sentence. * NEXT, add details around it that answer the 4W’s and 1H.* Make a short storyusing as manyvivid words aspossible.

who

where

whenwhat

how

You can also focus on sensory details:

• Sensory Details: Details that refer to the senses (see, touch, taste, smell, hear)

• Example: The pizza was too hot.One bite of the roasted red pepper and onion pizza singed the roof of my mouth and blistered my tongue.

• What sensory words help to create an image in the reader's mind?

Choose a sentence from the following, and add words that relate to at least 2 different senses:

•My cousin caught a lizard.•The nurse is bringing the syringe.•The airplane crashed.

7-Extra Support Through Examples

• INCOMPLETE….. Must finish this lesson

8-Vary Those Sentences• One way to make writing interesting is to write sentences that sound different from each other. •We can do this by beginning our sentences differently and making some sentences long and others short.

By: Vicky Spandel

2 versions of the same story:

•We went to the beach. It was sunny. It was warm. We had fun. We flew kites. We ate snacks.

•We spent a warm, sunny day at the beach. When we got hungry, we had a snack. Later on, we flew kites high in the sky. It was a great day!

Look for places to add more information (prepositional phrases, clauses, and sentences) where needed.• Example: Larry ran out of the movie theater, hid

behind the trashcan, and ate popcorn.

After running out of the movie theater, Larry crouched behind the trashcan in the alley behind the cinema complex and munched on his stolen popcorn.

Where was information added, and what does this information contribute to the sentence?

Choose one sentence, and add ONE of the following: *a subordinating clause *a prepositional phrase *another sentence (put together as a compound sent.)

• The hungry lioness hunted all afternoon.• Two dragonflies fluttered in the garden.• The old robot cannot function properly.

• Find at least 3 places where you can elaborate and improve your sentences.• Carefully choose where you

will elaborate and how you will elaborate; you do not want to be overly descriptive or use words that you would not normally use. • Feel free to share your work

with another member of the class to help you figure out where you should add more detail.

Now, go to your writing notebook and find one piece of writing you’ve done before:

9-Add Vigor to Verbs and Other Parts of Speech by:

Mrs. Royce

Example: The couple had lunch at a truck stop right on the highway near the city line.

Robert and Kristine hurriedly ordered hamburgers and icy cold Cokes for lunch when they stopped at the “Easy Rest” truck stop before traveling the last length of the highway to Phoenix on that suffocating blistering June afternoon.

Now it’s your turn:• Using the picture below, write one or more

sentences using vivid, specific verbs, adjective, adverbs, etc.

10-Exciting or Engaging Endings

Once you’ve hook them and held them, reel them in!

“Another really important part of a story is the ending, the last sentence or last few sentences. Your ending is the last thing that a reader has in his/her mind after she reads your story. The way the story ends can make the reader have certain thoughts and feelings so authors want to create powerful endings. Authors want to write endings that stick with the reader long after he/she finishes the story. A writer wants a reader to keep thinking about the story and a powerful ending helps this happen.” from Calkins & Martinelli, 2006

• INCOMPLETE…….. Must finish this lesson

These are just some strategies to help you become a better writer; there are many more, some of which we will learn in middle school and others you will learn in high school.

THE END