Big Book of Ready-to-Go Writing Lessons: 50 Engaging Activities with Graphic Organizers That Teach Kids How to Tell a Story, Convey Information, Describe, Persuade & More!

129 Pages·2000·7.84 MB·English

by  Marcia Miller

B IG Boo
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Ready-to-Go
Writing Lessons
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Marti by Marcia Miller and Martin Lee
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S C H O L A S T I C
PROFESSIONAL B OOKS
N Y • T • L • A • S
EW ORK ORONTO ONDON UCKLAND YDNEY
M C • N D • H K
EXICO ITY EW ELHI ONG ONG
Thanks, Matt
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BI Teachers may photocopy the designated reproducible pages for classroom use. No other part of this publication
e may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
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means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For infor-
mation regarding permission write to Scholastic Inc., 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Cover design by Norma Ortiz
Cover and interior illustrations by Stephen Cox
Interior design by Grafica, Inc.
ISBN: 0-439-07747-8
Copyright © 2000 by Marcia Miller and Martin Lee. All rights reserved.
Printed in the U.S.A.
2
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Teacher Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
P 1: WRITE TO DESCRIBE
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Ideal Hideaway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Students describe places they wish they could escape to.
s Catchy Captions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
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ur Students write brief and punchy descriptions of events or images.
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R Name That Character! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
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hin Students create and name characters and write brief character sketches.
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Te Flavorful Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
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sti Students write descriptions of favorite food items.
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ch Blockbuster Blurbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
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e, Students create capsule summaries of books or movies.
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artin Compare & Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
M Students describe how two items are similar and different.
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Miller Sweet Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Students describe dreams they have had—or wish they had!
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Mar In Animal Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
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s Students write descriptions of animals’ behavior, as observed over time.
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ess New Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
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g Students write descriptions from the points of view of inanimate objects.
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Writi Target on Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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G Students describe sporting events or other kinds of contests.
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dy-t More Ideas for Descriptive Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
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k of PART 2: WRITE TO NARRATE
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G Amusing Anecdote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
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Dear Diary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Students write diary entries that narrate real or fictional experiences.
A Dark and Stormy Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Students write scary stories.
Did You Hear The One About…? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Students create original riddles or jokes.
What If. . .? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Students write responses to hypothetical what if situations.
Tongue Twisters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Students create original tongue twisters.
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Pourquoi Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Students write stories that attempt to explain natural phenomena.
My Sci Fi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Students create original science fiction stories.
Dastardly Deeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Students write original mystery stories.
Comic Strip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Students develop brief comic strips.
More Ideas for Narrative Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
es PART 3: WRITE TO INFORM
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so But Why? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
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arti Students focus on specific environments, recording what they observe.
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& Sky Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
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arci Solve a Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
M Students present problems and reasonable solutions.
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ons Science Q & A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
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Writin ExtrSatu! dEexnttrsa w! r.i t.e . n. e.w . s. .a .r t.i c.l e. s. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
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dy-t Students provide sets of rules for playing games.
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ok Students write rejection letters.
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P 4: WRITE TO PERSUADE
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In So Many Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Students write persuasive statements in 25 words or less.
Giving Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Students give advice.
Couch Critic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Students review movies, videos, or television shows.
Take Out an Ad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Students create advertisements.
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To a “T” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Students create messages that might appear on T-shirts.
Inviting Invitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Students write letters of invitation to birds!
Dear Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Students write letters to magazine or newspaper editors.
Billboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Students create catchy slogans.
Write to Make it Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Students write formal letters of complaint.
es My Fellow Americans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
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Le Greetings! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
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Miller Students write fan letters.
ci Hello, You’ve Reached… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
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ns Find the Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
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Writin In aSnt uEdmenetrsg wenrictye b.r .i e.f .s .c .r i.p t. s. f.o .r .9 .1 .1 . c. a. ll.s .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
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dy-t Students write classified ads.
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of Ask an Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
ok Students write to authors.
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Parody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Students write new lyrics for existing songs.
More Ideas for Practical Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
REPRODUCIBLES
Self-Evaluation Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Editor’s Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Certificates of Merit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
5
Introduction
I
n Writing: Teachers & Children at Work, Donald H.
Graves writes: “Children want to write . . . .
Before they went to school they marked up walls,
pavements, newspapers with crayons, chalk, pens
or pencils . . . anything that makes a mark. The
child’s marks say, ‘I am.’” As teachers, we want to
guide students to write, and to help them take
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ce control of the writing process as a means to com-
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g tively as they do when speaking. But good writing
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arti For children to become good writers, they have to write. And write more. They should
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& experiment with fact and with fiction. They should experience different genres, styles,
Miller and purposes for writing. They should get their minds around varying degrees of com-
ci plexity. They should wrestle with introductions, opinions, details, and conclusions.
Mar They need a purpose, an audience, and a platform. They need constructive feedback
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s to help them improve their skills and see the power of their words. In so doing, young
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k of want to communicate. So, if we can provide them with the right kinds of stimulation,
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BI Book Award candidates, we will have done our job if we can help them develop a
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What does this book offer?
All writers and potential writers need a boost now and then. How many times have we
heard student writers say, “I don’t know what to write about!” “Where do I start?” “Is
this enough?” or “How do I end this?” The Big Book of Ready-To-Go Writing
Lessons attempts to address some of these concerns in meaningful, authentic, and
enjoyable ways.
6
How to Use This Book
This book presents 50 different writing task. These may point out likely
ideas, presented in 5 parts: responses, highlight common stumbling
blocks, or present tips to help students
Write to Describe
achieve better results. This part always
Write to Narrate
ends with an item to be read directly to
Write to Inform (Exposition)
students. This is a tip that focuses on a
Write to Persuade
pertinent aspect of the writing process,
s Write in the Real World (Practical
ce the genre, or the writing mode. You
ur Writing)
so might post these on chart paper.
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ng Naturally, you’ll find overlap within gives a few ideas for pre-
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eac these categories. After all, it’s pretty senting, publishing, or extending the
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stic hard to persuade without describing or activities.
ola providing information. How good can a
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Sc narrative be that leaves out rich The right-hand page is a reproducible
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brief learning objective that summarizes from task to task. They provide different
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Mill are graphic organizers. Others are
arci Each part opens with a brief statement checklists of points to consider. Others
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© of goals and techniques, and a list of are templates students may fill in. You’ll
ons evaluation tips for that kind of writing. find formats that help students formu-
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Les Each part ends with more ideas for late and organize their ideas and find
ng writing, which is a list of more than 20 their own voices. All student pages have
Writi additional “quickies” you might pursue. the same elements:
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o- This symbol highlights a defini-
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ea Each lesson appears over two pages.
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of The left-hand page is written to you. It cept for the task.
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oo provides clear and simple guidelines to This pencil means, “Write!”
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G help you facilitate the task. You need Sometimes students will write
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e not do everything suggested. Pick and directly onto the page. Other times,
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choose what works for you. All teacher they will use their own paper.
pages have the same elements:
This section is a way to wrap
And NOW—
provides pre-writing up the task. It might have students
ideas to engage students. It offers intro- use their notes to create first drafts.
ductory matter, discussion questions, It might offer ideas for revising or
and one or more ideas you can consider presenting; it might give one last
to adapt the activity. writer’s tip they can apply.
gives suggestions for
ways to help students move through the
7
Teacher Tips
Move through the book as you see fit. Use the reproducibles at the end of
Do activities in any order that makes the book. There you will find a Self-
sense for your class or schedule. Evaluation Checklist, a helpful list of
editor’s marks, and four different cer-
You may find that some activities are tificates of encouragement you can
too advanced for your class, while oth- present to young writers as circum-
ers may be too basic. Some may take stances dictate.
es more time than you have. Others may
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our take less time than you planned. Feel Take advantage of any writing oppor-
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stic Use the writing tasks in this book as product—whichever suits the task.
ola full lessons, warm-ups, homework
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artin assessments. these activities for students to do on
M their own, or you can present exam-
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Mill your teaching style, and the learning progress. Provide a variety of writing
ci styles and levels of independence of supplies, story starters, dictionaries,
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s individually, in pairs, in small groups, author biographies, and so on.
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o lyzing, and summarizing of students’ about, plan, try out, fix, and polish
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o- writing. Establish an atmosphere that your own work until you are satisfied
dy-t promotes intellectual exploration and with it.
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k of other as writers, thinkers, and prob- Involve parents. Present some of these
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BI comfortable as writers so they’ll begin conferences to highlight the value of
he to choose to write on their own, with- this component in your language arts
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out external prompts or assignments. program.
For whole class activities copy the
graphic organizers on to the chart
paper in enlarged versions. You might
also suggest that students copy the
graphic organizers on separate sheets
of paper.
8
Part
Write to Describe
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he goal of descriptive writing is to describe in written terms a person, a place, a
thing, or an idea. Descriptive writing expresses and develops images through the
use of precise sensory words and phrases. Descriptive writing should enable readers to
smell, taste, hear, touch, and see what the subject is like.
s Techniques of descriptive writing include figurative language such as simile and
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Tea EVALUATION TIPS
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sti There are many ways to evaluate students’ descriptive writing. Here are some broad points
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ons q Vivid images?
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y-to- q Is the piece complete?
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e Is the word choice thoughtful, precise, and descriptive?
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How are the mechanics (grammar, usage, spelling, punctuation)?
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