Post on 08-Aug-2015
WRITING WORKSHOP
Before we begin…
…Please make sure that you have your
White Binder on your desk for this
workshop.
GREAT WRITERS…
…plan their writing by thinking about the
moral. Great writers add conflicts to their
stories because conflicts are what make
stories interesting.
I’m going to tell you guys a story…
…then you tell me what you think.
GREAT WRITERS…Once upon a time, there was a boy named John.
John was tall and handsome and everything always went well for him. He´d wake up in the morning and brush his teeth and comb his hair so he always looked good. All the girls at school loved John. He got all A´s on his tests because he studied everyday and remembered everything he read. His teachers loved him too. One day a boy at school said something really mean to John. He was jealous of John. John just shrugged. It didn´t bother him. That day he walked home from school. Several girls followed him, giggling. He waved at them and crossed the street and walked another two blocks home. Nothing else happened on the way home. His mom made him dinner. It was delicious. John went to bed and slept well. The next day he woke up and did the same perfect day again. The End.
GREAT WRITERS…
What do you think? Do you feel like something is
missing?• Tension? Conflict? Problems? Drama?
Stories are boring without drama.
How can we add drama to John´s life? A central
conflict is what drives a story and makes it
interesting.• Turn and talk to your partners about what problems
or conflicts we can add to John’s life.
GREAT WRITERS…
Remember, there are lots of kinds of conflicts.
Let’s discuss them. Conflicts can usually be
described as main character vs. ______________
(write on board)
Examples…
EXAMPLE OF MAIN CHARACTER VS. OTHER CHARACTER…
• Ex. two characters want different things or the same thing but can’t share, maybe they’re competing for something, or perhaps they believe in different ideas—what could this look like? How can we describe this…in writing?
EXAMPLE OF MAIN CHARACTER VS. SHARK (OR NATURE)
• Storms, hunger, a character could be sick, animals, a journey, surviving in the wild or the desert, etc.
• Ex. John went camping and got lost in the woods. How might be survive? What skills might he need?
EXAMPLE OF MAIN CHARACTER VS. HIMSELF.
• May be the most abstract but also the most common to all of us.
• Think about a time in your life when you had to make a decision but you didn’t know what to do….our characters can have the same problems, not sure what to do or what to believe, they struggle with decisions and ideas inside themselves…..
John’s brother steals a
car & crashes it one
night, but nobody finds
out, except John. Should
John keep it a secret &
protect his brother or
tell his mom
what
happened? What is the
right thing to do?
GREAT WRITERS…Let’s think about our characters that we’ve been writing
about…we all have great characters and now we even have
a setting.
Let’s make sure that our characters have a conflict, so that
the reader is interested and our stories aren’t boring.
This doesn’t mean we need to create a lot of action and
fighting and explosions, but we do need a conflict, we need
a problem that our characters struggle with.
GREAT WRITERS…Think about your character, what problem can you give
them? • Will it be character vs. character, character vs. nature,
character vs. him/herself? • Turn and talk to a partner about your idea and remember that
the problem should involve your character’s belief system.
Now I’d like you to write that problem down in your white
binders.
This won’t be part of your story, but it will give you an idea
you can use when you go back to writing your story.
READING WORKSHOP…
Before we begin…
Please make sure that you all have your
reading (red) notebooks on your desks.
GREAT READERS……pay attention to story elements.
All fiction stories have some common elements known as
story elements.
Writers of fiction use these elements to build meaning in
their stories.
As readers of fiction, we pay attention to the elements of
a story—characters, setting, conflict, plot and resolution—
in order to build our understanding of stories.
• Today, we are going to read a story from Birthday Surprises called “Don’t be an Uncle Max,” by David Adler.
• As we read, you should identify the elements of the story in order to build our understanding.
• As we learn about each of the elements, let’s make a note in our red notebooks.
GREAT READERS…WOW!! Joanne has not done her homework in
months!! And her mother does not seem
pleased. I wonder how that is going to play a
role in the rest of the story…
Let’s write down the names of the characters
we’ve met in our notebooks… • Joanne, her mom, Uncle Max and Mrs.
Taylor.
GREAT READERS…What have we learned about the problem or conflict in
the story? What did you notice? Who is the conflict
between?• Turn & Talk to your partner.
Wouldn’t you agree…the conflict is between Joanne
and her parents.
What do you guys think Joanne thinks about Uncle
Max? And what do her parents think about him? • Turn & Talk to your partner.
GREAT READERS…Now that we’ve completed the story, think
about the ending and Uncle Max’s gift.• Turn & Talk to your partner about the ending
and how the conflict is resolved.
Let’s take a minute to write in preparation for
conversation. What do you think about Uncle Max’s
present? How does that fit with the rest of the
story? Why did he send it?
GREAT READERS…Do you think the conflict was resolved? Do
you think Joanne’s parents changed their
minds about Max? Why?
As readers of fiction, it is important that we
identify the story elements while we read.
This allows us to deepen our understanding
of what the story is about.
GREAT READERS…
Now would be a
good time for you
to take out your
independent
reading books and
complete a chart
based on those
stories.
WRITING WORKSHOP
Before we begin…
…Please make sure that you have your
White Binder on your desk for this
workshop.
GREAT WRITERS……plan their stories with a story map. What do
you see? What is
this used for?
Turn & Talk to your partners to discuss…
GREAT WRITERS…We call this technical drawing a blueprint. A
blueprint is a detailed outline or plan of action
and is used in architecture. But why do we make them?
Because you can’tbuild a
house w/out a plan.
Just like architects make
blueprints before they build,
writers use story maps to
plan their stories.
GREAT WRITERS…In the past few mini lessons, we have planned for
our characters, setting, and conflict.
Now it’s time to focus on the big picture and create
story maps.
A story map is a strategy that uses a graphic
organizer to help you plan out the elements of your
story such as the characters, setting, problem,
solution, moral, etc.
GREAT WRITERS…Let’s make believe I’m
going to write a fiction
story…
Title: Suzy Sleeps Over
Setting: Suzy’s house,
Lisa’s room
Characters: Suzy, Lisa,
Suzy’s mom, Suzy’s dad,
Lisa’s mom
GREAT WRITERS…Conflict: Suzy is scared to
take her little Oxxo phone
to Lisa’s house. She is
scared that Lisa will laugh
at her.
GREAT WRITERS…Resolution: Lisa ended up
having an Oxxo phone too.
Suzy changed her mind
about bringing hers
because Lisa had an Oxxo
phone too.
Theme: Friends accept
each other just the way
they are.
GREAT WRITERS…Now it’s your turn to try…
draw this story map in your
white binders.
With your other prewrite
notes, complete the story
map.
When finished, turn and
talk to your partner and
share your story map.
GREAT WRITERS…As we know, the prewrite step of the writing
process is very important because it makes us
more prepared and organized to write a draft.
In fictional writing, having a story map really
helps us picture our story.
Remember that just like architects use
blueprints to design what they want to
construct, writers use story maps to plan what
will happen in their stories.
WRITING WORKSHOP
Before we begin…
…Please make sure that you have your
White Binder on your desk for this
workshop.
GREAT WRITERS……grab their readers by beginning with the
setting.Can anyone
tell me
where this
is?
This is a
place. Or
what we call
a setting in a
story.
GREAT WRITERS…By beginning my story with a setting I can
introduce the reader to where my character
lives and introduce what religion he celebrates
or maybe describe his culture.
So at the beginning of my story I need to
create a Setting for my story and I can do that
by describing a place where my story begins.
GREAT WRITERS…If I use the picture we just saw I could start
with…
The big square had many people. The bells
of the old and beautiful Cathedral rang
loudly as people rushed to mass. Balloon
sellers shouted. You could hear the sound of
the water of the fountain in the center of the
square. Children ran and laughed and some
clowns made groups of people gather by the
street. It was a hot sunny day.
GREAT WRITERS…Turn and talk with your partners and tell
them some other ideas you could add to this
setting.
So maybe you want to begin your story in an
attractive way, be mysterious and put your
character into a context, before telling your
readers anything about him…remember you
can do that by beginning with the setting.
WRITING WORKSHOP
Before we begin…
…Please make sure that you have your
White Binder on your desk for this
workshop.
GREAT WRITERS……grab their readers by beginning with
action or with a conflict to hook the reader.
How, you may ask?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz5JmgL
QEzs
GREAT WRITERS… If this movie started by talking about the
science of making dinosaurs, a lot of people
would be bored.
But instead, it started with action, and
introducing the main conflict… man vs.
dinosaur (nature).
GREAT WRITERS… Raise your hand if you’ve ever picked up a
book, read the first page and were immediately
bored. • Maybe you thought, this book is already boring
and I just started it, maybe you changed books right away…sound familiar?
One way we can hook our readers is by
starting the story with action or a conflict.
GREAT WRITERS…This hooks the reader in right away.
There are lots of ways to start a story
instead of just saying: “Once upon a time,
there was a girl named…”
Let’s think about some books or stories
that started with action or conflict…• Who remembers the “Harry Houdini” book?
Does anyone remember how it began?
GREAT WRITERS…• How about the book, “The Raft”? Does
everyone remember how that book starts with Nicky being all sad because he’s going to be stuck with his grandmother in the woods with nothing to do? Conflict?
In any story, characters have problems or
conflicts. One thing we can do as writers is
start with a problem.
Sometimes that means we can start with an
action…
GREAT WRITERS…
Shorty ran! The people of the Silent Tribe all ran after him with large nets. Of course, they didn´t shout because they didn´t believe in noise. But they were really angry with Shorty for playing his trumpet at night during the dinner ceremony. If he didn´t escape, he might never make noise again. He held onto his trumpet tightly and ran as fast as he could across the meadow.
GREAT WRITERS…Of course, sometimes the conflict isn´t an
action• Sometimes the problem is when a character
doesn´t know what to do or has to make a tough decision.
Shorty didn´t know what to do. The Silent Tribe forbade loud noises. They considered the silence to be sacred. But Shorty just had to make noise. He was a trumpet player! How could he live with the Silent Tribe and never play his trumpet? He sat and ate his food with his new, quiet friends, and thought about this problem.
GREAT WRITERS…Let´s think about the characters you have
been writing about. What problem or conflict
do they have? What´s an exciting event or
action that you have thought about writing?
Could you start your story with it?• Let´s all take 20 seconds and think about our
characters, the settings, and how we can start a story with a conflict.
• Turn and talk…share ideas with a partner.
GREAT WRITERS…Remember, there are many ways to start a
story.
Great writers can start a story with action or
a conflict to hook the reader in.
What do you think?
READING WORKSHOP…
Before we begin…
Please make sure that you all have your
reading (red) notebooks on your desks.
GREAT READERS……pay attention to the characters in the story.
Writers of fiction develop their characters in two
ways:• Directly and indirectly.
Sometimes writers tell us specific details about a
character, such as the color of his or her hair or that a
character has a particular hobby…this is known as
direct characterization.
GREAT READERS…
More often than not,
though, readers must
analyze a character
through the writer’s use
of indirect
characterization.
As readers, we make
inferences based on how a
character acts, thinks and
speaks.
GREAT READERS…As we read, we ask ourselves questions about wy
characters do certain things, what makes them think a
certain way, or why they say something in a particular
manner.
Ultimately, these questions help us figure out who
these characters are.
Today, we are going to read “Promises” by Ellen
Conford.
GREAT READERS…We will pay attention to what we learn about
the characters and how.
After we read the story, we will move into a
conversation about our thinking.
Start a new page in your Reading (red)
Notebooks for this story and be ready to stop
and make notes.
GREAT READERS…So, what do we know so far? What characters have we
met?• Turn & Talk to your partners.• We have met the narrator (whose name we don’t know) and
her friends Laura, Melanie and Tracy. Tracy didn’t give the narrator a birthday present. Hmm…that is interesting, No?
We have gathered some information about the characters.• Turn & Talk to your partners about what we have learned
so far.
GREAT READERS…We are learning about the characters from
their actions & words.• Stop and make a note about something you have
learned or something you want to remember.
What do you think Tracy means by “empty
promises”? • Turn & Talk to your partners.
GREAT READERS…What do you think Tracy means by saying the box is
empty like the narrator’s promises? Write down your
ideas…
Everyone now should take a minute to read over all of
their notes…then let’s share our thoughts about this story
and what we learned about the characters from their
actions, thinking and dialogue.
What do you think about this story? Who wants to begin
the conversation?
GREAT READERS…Let’s talk about the characters and what we learned
about them through their actions, thinking and
dialogue.
By analyzing characters’ actions, thoughts and
dialogue, we understand who the characters are and
how they are integral to the story.
Let’s keep this in mind as we continue to pay
attention to characters in our own reading of fiction.