LEADSA great way to start writing!

WHAT IS A GOOD LEAD??

The beginning

of your storycatches the

reader’s attention

makes your reader want to read onmakes the

writer want to write

more!!

LEAD

SDialogue (Talking)

Sound Effect (Onomatopoeia)Ask A Question

Set-upAction Lead (Exciting Verbs!)Snapshot of a Small Moment

Flashback (describe a past event)

DIALOGUE“Wake up!” my mom shouted.

Uses quotation marks “ and ”

SOUND EFFECT (ONOMATOPOEIA)

Thwack! was all we heard in the baseball field that day.Thump. Thump. Thump. I woke up startled.

QUESTIONHave you ever been late on the first day of school?

SET-UPThere once was a girl who lived with seven sisters. ORThe kitten was always into trouble.

State something about the main character.

ACTION LEADI jumped out of bed, raced to the closet and threw on an outfit.

SNAPSHOT OF A SMALL MOMENT

My eyelids slowly opened and I wondered why it was so bright. I gasped and reached for my clock.

FLASHBACKI have only slept in once, but it turned out to be one of the worst mistakes I’ve made!

Ready for a quiz?Guess the lead!

There was a coyote who swallowed a flea.Actio

n

Lead

Dialogue Lead

•Brrrriiiiiing! The telephone ring made me jump.

Sound Effect

The girl was late getting home for supper.Actio

n

Lead

I looked at the long dirt road that crawled across the plains, remembering the morning Mama died. They had come for her in a wagon and taken her away.

Flashback

Lead

Hello little mouse, what are you doing? Question

Lead

Jack and Annie were walking home from the

grocery store.

Action Lead

Outside the Beast’s castle, snowflakes swirled.

Snapshot of Small Moment

Every morning, Skippyjon Jones woke up with the birds and this did not please his mother at all.

Set-up