4th Grade Writer’s Workshop Unit 2 Raising the Quality of Narrative Writing The heart of the CSISD Writers Workshop Units of Study stem directly from Lucy Calkins Units of Study for Primary Writing and Units of Study for Teaching Writing 3-5. Based on the needs of students and teachers in CSISD as well as the demands of the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) at each grade level, additional suggestions for mini-lessons and resources have been added. Session 1: Reading with a Writer’s Eye Teaching Point: Students will study mentor texts in partnerships and identify the qualities of strong narrative writing that these stories demonstrate. Materials: Mentor Text- “Eleven”, chart paper, mentor texts of personal narratives for table use Connect: “Writers, we just celebrated your writing in our Author’s Celebration not too long ago. You became published authors and we even posted these stories outside for all to see. In fact, on my way into school this morning, I noticed many students and teachers looking at our published work and stopping in their tracks to see what your stories were about! At first, I saw them just glancing at the stories, then their glances turned into stares, and then they just stopped in the hallway and started reading! I heard them say “Ahh” and “Ohh” and even saw them laughing at certain parts of stories. Writers….. that’s exactly what we want to happen! Writers dream of writing in a way that makes people stop in their tracks and go, “Ahh….” and you’ve done that! Teach (Model): “Today, I want to teach you that when we want to make powerful writing, one strategy we can use is to study the writing of authors we admire. We can read their writing and ask, “What did this author do that I could also do in order to make my own writing more powerful?” Model how students can emulate a piece of text (Make sure students understand what emulate means!) A possible sample mentor text can be the excerpt from “Eleven” found on pages 4-5 of Lucy Calkins Book 2 (which might have been previously read). While reading the excerpt, actually absorb yourself in the text and become a part of the story. Demonstrate how to experience the story, feeling free to act out some of the parts.

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Putting the story down, lean in and talk directly to your students…..”I can picture the story exactly. As I was reading, I practically felt like I was Rachel, moving the sweater to the corner of my desk with my ruler (so I don’t have to touch the nasty thing).” Demonstrate that you can shift from reading and experiencing the excerpt to reading and extrapolating pointers about good writing. “Now I’m going to pause, shift, and think, “What do I notice about this story? What are the main things the author Sandra Cisneros has done that I need to keep in mind if I’m going to write like this?” Scan the excerpt one more time, and think aloud “I’ve noticed she’s written about an episode in her life that other people might not have noticed or thought was a big deal, but it was to her.” Show what the authors’ techniques are by creating the first section on the following anchor chart: Lessons from Mentor Personal Narratives 

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Writers often write about a seemingly small episode, yet it has BIG meaning for the writer. Writers often tell the story in such a way that the reader can almost experience it from start to finish. It helps to record the exact words a character uses.

Scan the story again, and say “She writes it from start to finish with so much detail that I practically feel as if I am reliving the episode.” Show more author techniques by adding to the anchor chart: Lessons from Mentor Personal Narratives 

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Writers often write about a seemingly small episode, yet it has BIG meaning for the writer. Writers often tell the story in such a way that the reader can almost experience it from start to finish. It helps to record the exact words a character uses.

Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Suggest to the students to first read like readers (envisioning and experiencing the text) and then like writers (analyzing what the author does). Ask them to list the main things the author has done and then share their lists. “Let’s give it a try. I will resume reading, starting with the section where Rachel pushes the red sweater to the corner of her desk…… As I read, experience it, making a movie in your mind. Then, I’ll reread it and you can make notes about what the author is doing with her words.” Allow time for students to stop and jot…. Noting what Cisneros did in her text that they could emulate. After giving students enough time to generate a few items, say “Tell your partner what you noticed.” From hearing the student conversations, gather more ideas that could be added to the ongoing anchor chart. A possible addition might be: Lessons from Mentor Personal Narratives 

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Writers often write about a seemingly small episode, yet it has BIG meaning for the writer. Writers often tell the story in such a way that the reader can almost experience it from start to finish. It helps to record the exact words a character uses. Writers often convey strong feelings, and they often show rather than tell about those feelings.

Link: Reiterate teaching point and send the students off to study mentor texts (use previously studied texts). “So today writers, we have a goal to write personal narratives that will stop our readers in their tracks! We learned today that writers first read as readers, trying to experience the story. Then writers read as writers. It’s just like chefs who taste a yummy dessert and wonder what the recipe is….. or a seamstress who studies a dress and wonders how to create the same pattern on another design. Writers read the work of others and ask, “How did they write this? What did this author do that I could try?” Try: “Today and for the rest of your writing life, whenever you gear yourself up for an important writing project, I hope you remember to study texts that are like those you want to write. I’ve put a small folder of personal narratives on the middle of your tables today. Instead of writing today, we are going to read! Read these to experience them first, and then read them again to study the main things the author does. List what you see the author has done that you can try in your Writer’s Notebooks, and get ready to talk about these techniques. “

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Share: Continue the anchor chart of authors’ techniques, gaining perspective from the student talk during Partner Share Time of the mentor texts they experienced and studied. The anchor chart may possible look like this: Lessons from Mentor Personal Narratives 

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Writers often write about a seemingly small episode, yet it has BIG meaning for the writer. Writers often tell the story in such a way that the reader can almost experience it from start to finish. It helps to record the exact words a character uses. Writers often convey strong feelings, and they often show rather than tell about those feelings. Writers often include two and sometimes three small moments so that there is a sense that the stories have a beginning, middle, and ending.

Remind children of the strategy that can help them today and every day: Writers can learn writing techniques from great literature. *This anchor chart is more than likely very similar to the Qualities of Good Personal Narrative Writing chart from the previous unit. This is intentional! Students need various ways to think about these qualities and this session offers another approach to this same topic.

Session 2: Starting with Turning Points Teaching Point: Introduce students to a strategy for generating narrative ideas by thinking of first times, last times, or times they realized something important. Materials: chart paper, Writer’s Notebook Connect: “Yesterday we surrounded ourselves with stories that resemble those we hope to write, and we asked, “What did this author do that I could try?” We especially looked at how all these stories shared a similar form. They all contain more than just one small moment, they have writing that leads up to the main small moment in the middle, and then they sometimes have more moments to make an end. In the stories we read, we notice that there is a beginning, and then something happens to change things, and then there is an end. The moments that change things are all different, but are all important. If you study these small moments harder, you will notice that they all include some kind of turning point.”

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“Today, as we begin to work on new pieces of writing, I want to remind you of all the strategies you already possess. You know how to write stories that make readers sigh and laugh, pull in and read more. As writers, we all carry with us an invisible backpack full of all the strategies we’ve ever learned, and we pull them out as needed. Our past anchor charts are still here in the room to remind you of all the strategies you’ve learned. It won’t be a surprise to see you gazing at them later today to help you brainstorm a writing idea.” Refer to the previous anchor chart in the Launching Unit: Strategies for Generating Personal Narrative Writing Teach (Model): “Today, before you start generating personal narratives, I want to teach you one more strategy that I often use when I want to write. I find it helps me to list moments in my life that have been turning points for me. These are often first times, last times, or times when I realized something important.” Teach this strategy in a step by step sequence. “In order to come up with a first time or a last time, I take something I do all the time and think about the first time or last time I did this activity. I also think about moments when I suddenly realized something important. This is a little bit harder to do.” Model this technique by making a list as you think aloud. “When I want to pick a topic for a personal narrative that will make a really good story, one that will have the shape of a story ( beginning , middle, and end ) it often helps me to think about turning point moments. Now you’ve seen to do this, you might make a list after brainstorming. Then, I can choose one moment from the list that I believe is the most significant to write about in detail.” Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Students will think of turning points they could write about. They will jot them down in their Writer’s Notebook so that they have a list of story ideas for later. Teacher will create an anchor chart with general topics for turning point stories.

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Questions to Ask to Find Turning Points first/last time you did something hard to do first/last time you did something you now do every day first/last time with a person, an animal, a place, an activity a time you realized something important about yourself of someone else a time you realized a huge change in your life almost happened

Link: Remind children that writer’s draw from their growing repertoires of strategies. Remind them they have an invisible backpack full of strategies from throughout the year and add the strategy of identifying turning points to their strategy toolbox. Try: Students will pick one entry from the chart. They will jot a few ideas and then pick one and write about it. Then send them off to work. Share: Ask partners to share and discuss their own writing. Ask one partner to share an entry and the other one to share observations of it. “Writers, yesterday we read samples of mentor texts written by famous authors, and we talked about those texts. We noticed what most of those authors tended to do. Today we have new texts that we can look at – texts YOU have written. Would you and your partner get together and share the entry/entries you wrote today? What is it that you’ve done? What were you trying to do? How is the form of your writing similar to and different from the form you noticed in the mentor texts? Talk deeply and read closely, and in a few minutes I’ll bring us back together to talk as a group.” Give time for partners to share their entries and share observations.

Session 3: Starting with Strong Feelings Teaching Point: Introduce students to another strategy for generating narrative ideas by writing the name of a strong feeling on the page. Materials: Writer’s Notebooks Connect: Celebrate the way children share their entries with each other. “You are living like writers. I want to tell you a story about a friend of mine who is a photographer. Every time we take a walk together, he points out possible picture ideas. Even though he doesn’t have his camera with him, he notices picture opportunities. The same is true for writers…. We can live our lives seeing possible story ideas!” Teach: (Model): “Today I am going to teach you a strategy that works well to generate a personal narrative. We know it is easier to write well if we are writing about small moments that are important ones. Usually, we will recall times we wanted to do something badly or felt something strongly. It sometimes works to FIRST think of a strong feeling like worry, hopefulness, embarrassment, or sadness. We can write a feeling at the top of our page and then ask ourselves, “Can I remember one particular time when I felt that feeling? Then we write the story of that time.” Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Tell students to write one feeling (all will do the same one, i.e., “hope”) in their notebooks and brainstorm a list of memories associated with that feeling. 6

Here’s a possible Feelings Chart:

Worry *the time I knew my mom was going to the doctor; the phone rang and when I answered it, I worried over what the news would be *the time I came home, collected the mail, and saw one envelope that held a report card After the students have practiced with this particular feeling, ask them to choose another feeling to practice the listing strategy again. While they are choosing and picking their next feeling, you can create a chart similar to this one: Embarrassment *the time when my dress ripped and I had to go to the party with scotch tape holding my clothes together *the time when the kids told me the dress I was wearing looked old-fashioned enough to serve as a costume in the Civil War play “Now that I am ready to write, I need to choose one of these events that seem significant to me. First, I ‘ll make a movie in my mind of what happened, and think, “Who said something or did something that could get this started, that would make a good lead?” If time permits, choose your event and begin a quick-write of the narrative on chart paper. Link: Restate today’s teaching point in the context of the children’s writing strategy repertoire in particular and writing life in general. “Today, if you are having trouble getting started on your personal narrative, try this strategy of writing an emotion at the top of your Writer’s Notebook, then listing moments when you felt that emotion. Then, take one of those moments and turn it in to a story.” 7

Try: “Write in silence as we do the important work of putting our true stories on the page.” Share: Congratulate students on writing personal narratives of significance. Tell students that another strategy for generating personal narratives of significance is to retell family stories. Teacher shares personal example of family story. Ask students to think of stories which are told/retold in their families. Group students (4 or 5 together) to briefly share some of those stories.

Session 4: Yesterday’s Revisions Become Today’s Standard Practice Teaching Point: Students set goals for lifting the quality of their writing by using all they’ve learned so far about writing and studying mentor texts. Materials: “jot list” for student’s sample writing, Writer’s Notebooks Connect: Restate that students now have a repertoire of strategies for generating writing ideas, but that many no longer need these strategies as they now come to school brimming with ideas. “Over the past few days, we have learned a lot of strategies for generating ideas for true stories. I know you can continue to use and rely on those strategies, and other strategies you have learned earlier in the year whenever you are unsure of a writing topic. I also know that many of you are entering the WW each day brimming with ideas and that you often don’t need a “jumpstart” for your writing. Your life itself sparks your writing!” Specifically tell your students that what they once did through revision and editing can now become part of planning and drafting. “Today, instead of helping you think about WHAT to write, I want to help you think about HOW to write. What you once did in our revising and editing stage now becomes a natural part of your first draft.” Teach (Model): Today I’m going to teach you how one child in our class studied the first paragraphs of her first publication and incorporated what she learned into her upcoming drafts. “Remember that earlier we talked about the importance of studying authors and texts they write? Well, yesterday, ____(insert student name here) _______ studied an important author. She studied herself! She went into the hall, took down her published piece and made a “jot list” of things she wanted to work on in her next entry.”

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Here’s a possible “jot list” of ________’s paper:       

indent write in paragraphs zoom in on small moment start at beginning start with dialogue or small action follow the timeline step by step tell what I was thinking

Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Recruit students to help the child study the next sections of her publication, gleaning more lessons. “Let’s take a listen to the next parts of _______’s paper. What are some other things that _______ has learned how to do that she can apply to this paper?” Read the remainder of child’s sample paper. Allow for time for partner talk, discussing possible suggestions for writing improvement. Add to the list if needed.         

indent write in paragraphs zoom in on small moment start at beginning start with dialogue or small action follow the timeline step by step tell what I was thinking show-not tell-feelings write with precise details

Link: Rename your teaching point: Writers can draw from all we’ve learned from past writing experiences and apply those lessons early in the process of writing future texts. “Writers, I often end my mini-lessons telling you to remember that writers always ______. You know this is an important task- to remember the lessons you’ve learned along the way so that you can grow stronger and more skilled as a writer. But I want to tell you that becoming stronger and more skilled as a writer takes MORE than just remembering….. it takes action. You have to take what you have learned and DO IT! Use it again and again, until it’s easy enough for you to do automatically.” Try: Students will make plans and take action with a previous piece of writing. Offer a time to review a sample and make a “jot list” of what to improve on. Share: Demonstrate for children studying a mentor author’s work to learn ways to achieve a writing goal.

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“Writers, I love the plans you made for yourselves today. I have one hint that can help you do whatever you aspire to do. Whatever writing goal you take on for yourself, a mentor text can usually give you examples of ways to get there.” Share one student’s goal and a mentor text that can match to that goal.

Session 5: Listening For Significance in Seed Ideas Teaching Point: Students in partnerships are great listeners who draw out the possibilities in each other’s seed entries. Materials: “Monitoring My Writing Process Checklist” Connect: Remind children that they are job captains for their writing and that they can use the writing process charts to guide them as they progress along a predictable course. Invite them to choose ideas when they feel ready. “Many of us have organizers and calendars to make sure that we use our time wisely. Earlier this year, we learned that writers often keep tabs in their writing process by charting their progress. Because we know that our writing progress will generally proceed down a predictable sequence of work, we can keep a chart of the writing process near us while we work and check off when we have completed each task.” Use this possible anchor chart to show progress through the writing process: Monitoring My Writing Process 1st piece 2nd piece Gather entries Select and develop one seed idea Storytell to rehearse writing Read published writing that resembles what I want to imitate Draft leads-try action, dialogue, setting Make a timeline Choose papers, plan story on pages, copy lead Write draft with each part on separate page Reread and revise for clarity Draft endings Revise and edit more now or decide to wait until later, or NOT revise at all “I want to remind you that you can decide when you are ready to move along in your process. When you are ready to choose a seed idea, you’ll want to make a check in the first column on your chart to indicate that you have collected entries and you are certain which one you want to turn into a seed idea.” Tell your students that it you personally find comfort in sharing writing decisions with a partner. “For me, it has always been a little scary to make a choice about my seed ideas. Sometimes I say to myself, ‘I wonder if this idea is good enough to develop into a story.’ When that happens, 10

what I really need is a good listener. I need someone who’ll say, ‘Tell me your story.’ That person listens with such close attention that I find myself saying more than I thought there was to say and I really get into the heart of my seed story. And it all happens because I have someone to share it with.”

“Today I want to teach you to become good teachers for yourselves and for each other. Each of you needs someone who can listen so deeply and so intently that you find yourself saying more than you thought you had to say. Good partners help us know we’ve chosen a good seed idea and help us get started finding the words to write about that seed idea.” Teach (Model): Tell the story of one time when you listened so intently to a writer that you helped the writer find significance in a seemingly small moment. “One time I pulled my chair alongside a student who was really seeming to have a hard time writing. When I looked at all the other students’ writing, they had pages and pages filled. This student has 3 lines on his paper! When I looked at his paper, I immediately wanted to say ‘You need more writing! Get busy!’ but I knew he needed to talk through his story. When the student saw that I cared enough to read his 3 lines again and ask questions, he believed that I really cared about his writing. Even though his writing was short, I tried visualizing what his story was about. All of a sudden, the child starting giving me more details! After a long silence of me visualizing more details, the student began using words and details that seemed to fill in all the blanks for me. I understood and believed his story! That’s all it took.” Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Set one child up to share her seed idea, and use this as an opportunity to coach the children in listening responsively to each other’s writing. “Let’s practice being that kind of listener. _________ is going to share an entry that she thinks might be her seed idea. Listen to her and think about what you would say after being a thoughtful listener.” After child reads their sample, ask the question “What could you say to _____ to make her know you were a true listener? Remember, I don’t want you to ask questions, but to let _________ know you were listening.” “When writers have someone who REALLY listens, we often end up realizing the special part of our story that moves us, that fills us with feelings. When we have a listener, we take our own story and realize what matters most to us.” Link: Remind children that when they are choosing their seed ideas, they can be listeners for each other and themselves, using this as a way to find significance. Have copies of Monitoring My Writing Progress mini-charts available for students to track progress. “Writers, remember that you need to be job captains for yourselves. Some of you will continue to check entries for yourselves and others are ready to choose a seed idea. If you have chosen a seed idea and need a partner, find a quiet place to confer and share. Partners, be listeners who help writers want to write.” 11

Try: Students will find a copy of their Monitoring My Writing Process Checklist. “Once you have chosen your seed idea and talked about it, you may want to draft a timeline, you may want to try some leads, you may want to start your draft. Students who are starting their drafts will want to use lined paper.” Share: Plan a way for every writer to read a bit of his/her writing aloud to the group as a means to celebrate children’s stronger and stronger writing.

Session 6: Writers ask, “What am I really trying to say?” Teaching Point: Students carefully consider what their stories are really about as an aid to truly craft and revise their narrative. Materials: Writer’s Notebook Connect: Celebrate the stories you heard yesterday. “Writers, yesterday many of you chose your seed idea, and you told your stories to each other in ways that made people gasp and laugh or want to hear more. The stories I heard yesterday were significant ones. You all are doing hard and important work! I believe you are ready for the most important writing lessons I will teach you……” Teach (Model): Tell students that writers need to ask, “What am I really trying to say in this story?” and let that question guide us as we develop ideas into drafts. “Before you can decide which lead will work best for you, or whether you want to stretch out one section or another, you need to decide what you really want to say in your story. You need to ask, ‘What is my story really about?’ You also need to realize that same story could be written to show very different things. For example, if I am writing about a ferris wheel, I could write about how I am conquering my fear of heights. OR I could write about how I always feel alone in a huge crowd of people. When I have chosen my seed idea, I need to pause and think, ‘What am I really trying to say in this story?’ and then let your answer be your guide.” Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Invite students to retell a familiar event twice, angling the story differently each time to show different meanings. “You told the same event really differently, didn’t you? You brought out different details in each story because you were aiming to show something different in each version.” Link: Reiterate that writers need to pause and ask “What am I really trying to say?” and then make sure they are conveying that meaning. Try: Send students off to write an entry about “what they are really trying to say”.

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Share: Convene the class and remind children of strategies writers use to bring out their meaning. Ask one partner to story tell his or her story in ways that highlight their meaning.

Session 7: Studying and Creating Leads Teaching Point: Students study how other authors write their leads, and then craft their own leads in similar styles. Materials: examples of leads, specifically the lead to Owl Moon by Jane Yolen written on chart paper, other familiar stories to examine leads, previous anchor chart titled Monitoring My Writing Process Connect: Remind children of the techniques they learned when studying leads in Unit 1. “Writers, remember when we studied leads in our Launching Unit? By looking at the work of published authors, you learned some techniques to try. You learned how to start a narrative by telling a small action, by establishing the setting, or by having a character say something. This time, because we are experienced writers, we’ll notice even more. Today we’re going to look at mentor authors and texts we love.” “Have any of you ever tried to do a skateboarding trick? Or a skiing trick? Or a new dance step? If so, I bet you’ve watched someone who can do these things, maybe in real life and then you’ve tried to imitate that person’s moves. I’m bringing this up because I want to remind you that writers study other writers whom they admire. This is how we learn moves to use in our own writing. Today I want to teach you to expand your options for writing leads by looking closely at how writers whom we admire begin their stories.” Teach (Model): Demonstrate a process children can go through as they study the craftsmanship in another author’s lead. Highlight the author’s technique by contrasting it with what the author could have done. “When I reach out for an author to study, I reach for one whose writing reminds me of what I’m trying to do. I reach for an author who has written a text I admire. I’ve always admired Jane Yolen’s lead to Owl Moon.” (Show lead to Owl Moon which has been written on chart paper ahead of time.)

*Point out the following characteristics of the text: narrator’s relationship with father, silence of the setting, lots of details Name explicitly what Jane Yolen did with her lead…. She changes the usual order of the sentence. She puts when and where first, then adds a comma and then tells the action. It was late one winter night, long past my bedtime, when Pa and I went owling.

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“Later today, or whenever you write, some of you may want to emulate Jane Yolen’s lead.” Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Rally children to study the lead in another published text and to name what that author has done. “So our big question today is ‘What are authors doing that I could try?’ I’m going to pass out some mentor texts that we know really well. When you get a text, will you and your partner find the lead and read it together. Decide if the author wrote a lead similar to the one we studied from Jane Yolen or if it is different. If it is different, how? What has the author done? Dissect the sentence like I did when I said Yolen wrote where and when, and who did what.” Link: Rename the teaching point, reminding children that today, and whenever they write they can let authors become their teachers. “Writers, remember that we talked about wanting to try tricks in sports or any other activity, we watch those we admire and try to imitate them. Similarly, we do the same in writing. When we want to write really powerful leads, we study the authors we love and try to imitate their talents and techniques. Let’s add to the chart we’ve started Monitoring My Writing Process.” Add to the chart:

Monitoring My Writing Process Gather entries Select and develop one seed idea Storytell to rehearse writing Read published writing that resembles what I want to imitate Study published leads. Pay attention to what the author did and how the author did it. Let this influence your own writing. Draft leads-try action, dialogue, setting Make a timeline Choose papers, plan story on pages, copy lead Write draft with each part on separate page Reread and revise for clarity Draft endings Revise and edit more now or decide to wait until later, or NOT revise at all

1st piece

2nd piece

Try: Study published leads and pay attention to what the author did and how the author did it. “Let this influence your own writing as you write today.” Share: Share the process by which a student had crafted a stronger lead.

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Session 8: Telling the Story from Inside It Teaching Point: Students write from the narrator’s point of view. Materials: Writer’s Notebooks, draft paper Connect: Help children see where they’ve been and where they’re going in their writing process. “Writers, many of you have written several leads and you’ve also written entries about your seed idea, exploring what it is you want your story to show. Many of you have also practiced the storytelling strategy in preparation for writing your story. As you work on your drafts today, I have one bit of advice to give you that can set you up to write an especially true story. You need to put yourself inside the skin of the main character. The character is YOU! It’s you in a different time and place. Your job as a writer is to tell the story as you see it unfolding, looking through the narrator’s eyes.” Teach (Model): Tell the story of one time when you wrote a story, staying inside the constraints of your particular perspective. “I first experienced writing inside a point of view when I ……” Tell a story from your point of view, not another person’s point of view. You could model how the story would sound from both points of view. The other point of view wouldn’t be as detailed or powerful. The story from your personal point of view would really tell of the experience in a rich and deeper way. Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Tell students to listen as you “voice” a section of your own narrative. Stop periodically, have them hold thumbs up or down to indicate if you have stayed in your “point of view” or if you have “lost it”. Link/Try: Rename your teaching point. Send children off to copy their leads and to climb into the skin of their narrator. “If you haven’t done so already, find your favorite lead. Copy this lead on draft paper. Take a moment to recall the story and put yourself inside the skin of the narrator. (the person telling the story) Wherever you are in the lead of your story, go there mentally before you write. See what’s around you, taste it, live it, and as you write, write step-by-step of what you experience.” Share: Share an example of a child’s writing that includes details from inside the story.

Session 9: Bringing Forth the Internal Story Teaching Point: Students learn that bringing out the deep connection between external actions and internal responses can strengthen their personal narratives. 15

Materials: mentor text “Eleven” (found in Book 2 of LC) or “Roxaboxen” Connect: Tell a student anecdote to illustrate the writing challenge many children may be facing by this time in the unit. “I’ve been talking with many of you about the importance of focusing your stories. But some of you are worrying that if you focus your stories too much, it will be too short. Did you know that our lives are not just about what happens to us but our response to what happens to us? I used to worry that I had a boring life compared to the writers that I was studying. But now I know that just isn’t true! I can take any moment of my life and write about it and it carries the biggest truths of my life. You can do the same.” Explain to students that when we write, we don’t just write about WHAT happens to us but also the responses we have to the event. Much of the story will then be an internal story, not just the external story. “In a story, I can run, jump, spin, climb, clamor, dig, holler – but I can also yearn, fantasize, remember, regret, worry and imagine. Often a character’s internal life is as rich as his/her external life.” Teach (Model): Return to the mentor text (in this case, Eleven) or (Roxaboxen is another good example of a possible mentor text) to study the balance of external and internal story. “When I pause in the middle of a draft to examine my work, sometimes I ask myself if I have told the internal story as well as the external story. Sometimes, when I study the work of other authors, I ask myself if they have written about their feelings and thoughts.” Study the excerpt from Eleven and notice when the author was sharing thoughts or feelings vs. events happening around the character. Identify those as internal vs. external. Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Provide a brief scene from another mentor text and ask students to study the balance of external and internal stories. “After I share this scene from the book _______, tell your partner the external and then the internal events of the story.” Link: Remind students to reread and revise their drafts, bringing out the internal story, and to rely on mentor texts for support. “Sometimes we rely on certain lenses when we reread our drafts. At times, we look through the lens and check punctuation, or word choice, etc. Today, we are going to look through our lens and determine if we are using a good balance of internal and external. Did we seesaw back and forth between writing what happens and writing what we’re thinking?” Try: Students go off to reread their drafts in a manner which allows them to notice the internal story. They may ask themselves, “Did I provide a balance of internal and external? Did I seesaw back and forth between writing what happens, and writing what I’m thinking?” 16

Share: Ask children to meet with partners and to share their writing before they added the internal story, and after they added it.

Session 10: Adding Scenes from the Past and Future Teaching Point: Writers use scenes from the past or future to bring out the internal story and add power to their narratives. Materials: mentor text titled Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark by S. Cisneros, previous anchor chart titled Qualities of Good Personal Narrative Writing Connect: Invite children to recall a fantasy story in which the character suddenly steps into another world. Explain that time travel can happen similarly in personal narratives when the narrator remembers the past or envisions tomorrow. “Sometimes characters in personal narratives travel through time and place. We do this by remembering and fantasizing.” Teach (Model): Share examples by both professional and student writers that show writing about both imagined future events and remembered past events. “Let me show you an example of an author who wrote something that actually involved about five minutes of real life. In this story, the narrator thinks ahead, imagining what will happen in the future. (In other stories, the narrator may think backward, recalling what happened years ago.) In today’s story, you’ll notice that the writer still moves step by step through time, but also travels to the future in her mind. For a little bit of the story, she actually writes about a time that hasn’t actually happened. Take a listen as I read part of Papa Who Wakes Up Tired in the Dark.” *You can find this excerpt on pg. 117 in Book 2.) “When I study a text to see what the author has done, I don’t just read it once. I read it, reread it, and reread it again. Watch how I do this with the text we just read.” Read the text again, modeling how to identify the events of the story and also identifying portions where the author moved to another time and place. Active Engagement (Guided Practice): With a whole-class exercise text, practice jumping forward or backward in time. Link: Remind children that as writers they need to draw on their entire repertoire of strategies to accomplish whatever it is they want to do. “Writers, remember that you have the option of having your main character either imagine a future event OR recall a past event.”

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Try: Remind students while writing; they should use the strategies on the class chart Qualities of Good Personal Narrative Writing. Share: Share an example of a student’s writing that show moving to a new scene at a new time, making sure that it strengthens the writer’s overall intent.

Session 11: Bring Forth the Story Arc Teaching Point: Students learn that a powerful way to revise their narratives is to bring out the story structure. Materials: chart paper, possible mentor text such as Peter’s Chair, markers, another read aloud with similar story structure Connect: Let your students know that revision begins with seeing possibilities in drafts that at first we think are finished. “Some of you have been coming to me saying ‘I’m done.’ That’s a great feeling, isn’t it? When I get to the end of a draft, I sit back and enjoy the feeling of being done. As I have told you earlier this year, ‘When you think you’re done, you’ve only just begun!’ Once we’ve reached the end of a draft, we are in a very special place because now we can make our best work even better. That’s how learning goes. Did you know that revision comes from the word vision? It literally means to see again. Today I want to teach you one way to revise (to see again) your writing.” Teach (Model): Analyze aloud the story structure of one of your favorite well-known stories. Help the students identify the structure of the story: In the beginning of the story, the main character is introduced, the character has hopes and desires, the character faces a challenge or problem and then events happen to reach a resolution. “Let me show you what I mean by using the story arc as I see it in Peter’s Chair.” After you have paraphrased the story and identified the important structure, use blank chart paper to draw an arc.

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“Here’s an easy way to see the structure in Peter’s Chair. We’ll call it a story mountain because of its shape.” Continue to identify elements of the structure by placing dots along the story arc/story mountain. Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Retell your favorite story, using voice intonation to help children perceive the story’s structure. “Let me tell you another story. Please listen, and in a moment, I will ask you whether this book followed the same story structure as Peter’s Chair. Remember how stories tend to go (while pointing to the story arc.)” Read or paraphrase the story. “Turn and talk to your partner and decide if this story had the same structure. Be ready to explain your thinking.” Link: Remind children that stories, like the Writing Workshop, follow a form. Help writers realize that knowledge of story structure can help them re-vision their work and decide upon their next steps. “You will need to look at your writing today and decide if your writing is more like a timeline with one event leading to another, each of equal size and importance OR if your writing resembles a story arc.” Try: “Turning a timeline into a story mountain is the same process as building up the heart of your story. If you haven’t built up the incline in your story, take the key section and stretch it out.” Give writers a time to examine their writing and try today’s strategies. Share: Show children a story arc drawn in “mountain” form. Show another story arc for the same story, this time for the character’s internal change.

Session 12: Ending Stories Teaching Point: Writers don’t just end stories, we resolve problems, learn lessons, and make changes to them effectively. Materials: drafts, sticky notes for Share Time Connect: Remind children that they’ve learned to consider personal narratives as stories. “Writers, yesterday we looked at Peter’s Chair and our own stories on a story arc/story mountain. Whenever you write a personal narrative, you can get a lot of power by using story structure.” “Today, I want to focus on helping you with one specific part of your story…. your ending. Writers don’t just END their stories, they resolve problems, change feelings, and learn lessons.” 19

Teach (Model): Tell children that writers draft possible endings, and do so by asking ourselves a series of questions meant to elicit the story’s real meaning as well as how to write the resolution to their story. “When it’s time to write my ending, I think differently than I did when I created my lead. I ask myself important questions like ‘What was my story really about? What was I struggling to achieve in my story? What do I want to say to my readers about this struggle, this journey?’” Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Ask children to think of making the same sort of “mountains” for their own narratives. “Okay writers, take out your draft and imagine the story arc created by your paper. Let’s use that story arc to revise your ending. Look at the journey of your story. ‘What emotions were you feeling at the beginning? Do they build toward the heart of your story? Do your emotions start to change at the turning point? Do you reach a different emotional state by the end?” Allow time for students to talk to their writing partners to discuss how revising the ending reflects the heart of the story.” Link/Try: Assure writers that you understand that tendency to slap any ol’ ending onto a completed story, but encourage them to invest in drafting endings that convey what they want to say. “I know that by the end of my story, I am usually pretty tired so I just slap something down on the end of the page. But when I revise, I look closely at my ending, because I know that is what readers will read last. It’s what they’ll carry with them. Today, I hope you learned that your ending needs to link back to the top of the story mountain. Let’s remember that as we use our writing time today dedicated to powerful endings.” Share: Ask children to share drafts with their partners, who will function as editors. “Exchange your papers with your partner. Readers, please read the drafts as if you were a stranger. You won’t be checking for spelling, because this is still a rough draft. But double check for sense and clarity. If there were places where you were confused, leave a sticky note and explain the confusion.”

Session 13: Editing: The Power of Commas Teaching Point: Students will study how commas are used in writing they admire and then use commas in their own writing to make it more exact. Materials: drafts, mentor texts that use commas, chart of comma purposes Connect: Remind children they will be cycling through the writing process again and again, each time learning new strategies for creating better writing. “Many of you are now satisfied with your writing and you’ve made sure the important parts are developed, you’ve crafted your stories so that they contain a story arc, and now you are ready to turn your eyes to the detailed changes you could make.” 20

Teach (Model): Explain that just as children learned to write strong leads from studying mentor texts, so too can they learn to use commas powerfully. “Writers know is that every single type of punctuation mark has power. As a writer, you are allowed to use any type of punctuation mark you wish. But when you use certain marks, you have to know its secrets! And they all have secrets! You can figure out any punctuation mark’s secrets by studying it in great writing.” Active Engagement (Guided Practice): Set children up to explore the comma with their partners. “To study a punctuation mark, you’ll need to read aloud parts of a text with the mark in them and think about and talk about it. Some questions you might have are ‘What would the writing be like without the mark? What message does the mark send to readers about the words? Does the mark change the sound or speed of the words?’” Give students an opportunity to go through a collection of mentor texts that include commas. If desired, a chart similar to this may be used in their Writer’s Notebook: Examples of commas What Does the Comma Do? Using the Comma in MY Writing

Link: Remind children of what they learned, both specifically and generally. “Today in your writing, you need to do two things: You need to try to make commas use their full power and you also need to keep noticing comma all around you.” Try: Encourage students to use the power of commas in their writing. Share: Ask children to share with their partners their most successful implementation of a comma from today’s session.

Session 14: Reading Aloud Our Writing: A Ceremony of Celebration 

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Welcome children and their family members. Explain that when we read stories, authors bring us into other worlds. Today, the writers in the class will read aloud, bringing all of us into other worlds.

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Explain the plan for today’s Author Celebration. In this case, explain that after a few children read to the group, everyone will disperse to a corner to share writing in small groups.

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Tell writers that after each reading, listeners will respond not by clapping but by reading a poem chorally, just as it is commonly done at large group gatherings like weddings or graduations. Choose one for the class to read chorally. (optional)

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Disperse the readers, providing everyone with snacks. Ask parents and children to circulate, writing notes to the readers. They can respond to writing they already heard and also read more children’s writing during this interlude.