Grade5
Unit2FictionalWriting
EnduringUnderstanding(s):
EssentialQuestion(s):
Goodwritersusetheirdailylivesasawayto
Wheredowritersgetideasforwriting
minestoriesforfictionalwriting.
fictionalstories?
Writerschooseaseedideaandbeginto
Howdowritersdevelopcharactersfor
developcharactersbycreatinginternaland
fictionalstories?
externaltraits.
Effectivewriterssketchoutpossibleplotlines
Howareplotlinesdevelopedforfictional
forstoriescalled“storymountains”that
writing?
representtraditionalstorystructure.
ConditionsofaWritingWorkshop
APredictableStructure
Writingworkshopbeginswithaminilesson;continueswithindependentwriting/teacherand
conferring,duringwhichtheteachercirculatesamongwritersandmeetswithindividuals;
andmayconcludewithagroupmeeting(e.g.responsetoapieceofstudentwriting;agroup
discussionofwhatwritersaccomplishedorproblemsthatemerged;theteacher’s
observations;follow-uptotheminilesson).
RegularTime~TimeAllocation(s)
Teachersschedulethree-fivewritingworkshopsaweekofatleastsixty-minuteseach.
Note:HartfordandHarringtonprovideeighty-minuteblocksforReadingandLanguage
Arts.Teachersalternatereadingandwritingdays.Tosupportthedemandsofthereading
program,teachersareencouraged/requiredtousetwentyoftheeighty-minutesonwriting
daysforreading.Seeapproximatetimeallocations:
Minilesson 5-25minutes
StatusoftheClass 5-10minutes
IndependentWriting/
25-30minutes
Peer/TeacherConferring
Mayconcludewith: 5-10minutes
GroupMeeting
Discussion
TeacherObservations
Followuptominilesson
Readingmayinclude:
20minutes
Teacherconferring
RunningaGuidedReadingGroup
ProvidingIndependentReadingtime
Choice
Studentsdevelopmostoftheirwritingprojects.Teacherspushforauthorityandpurpose:
studentswritingwithpassionaboutwhattheyknowandcareabout,forreasonstheybelieve
in.Duringgenrestudies,studentschoosetheirownsubjects,themes,andapproaches,andthe
genreworkbecomesanotherprojectawritermightengageinduringtheworkshop.
WorkmanlikeAtmosphere
Thewritingworkshopisquietandproductive:writingisthinking,andteachersinsiston
silencesowritersmaythinkwell.Thereisnotalkingduringindependentwritingtime,except
inpeerconferenceareasorwhenateacherandwriterconfer.Teacherandstudentswhisper
duringtheirconferences:iftheteacher’svolumeislouderthanawhisper,thenoiselevelinthe
workshopwillrisetoemulateit,andtheteacher’svoicewilldistractwritersfromtheir
thinking.
8.1 Interdisciplinary Connection: Educational Technology
All students will use digital tools to access, manage, evaluate, and synthesize
information in order to solve problems individually and collaborate and to create and
communicate knowledge.
Integration of 21st Century Themes and Skills:
•
•
•
•
CRP6.
CRP5.
CRP7.
CRP8.
Demonstrate creativity and innovation.
Consider the environmental, social and economic impacts of decisions.
Employ valid and reliable research strategies.
Utilize critical thinking to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
TheComponentsofaMinilesson
Research,thenDecide
Minilessonsgrowfromteachers’observationsofwhatstudentsdon’tknoworwillneedto
knowtoproduceexcellent,literarywritinginarangeofgenres.Teachersresearch
minilessons.Theylearnabout:
• differentgenresandtheirfeatures
• poet’sandauthor’sinspirationsandprocesses
• poeticandliteraryfeaturesandtechniques
• howdifferentpunctuationmarkscuereaders
• formatconventions
• usageconventions
• techniquesfororganizinginformationandargument
•
elementsoffiction,characterdevelopment,theme,purposeandsoon.
Mostminilessonsinthefirstweeksofschoolareprocedural,asstudentsgetthehangof
workshoproutines.Minilessonsarepresentedonactivboardsoreaselpads,sothe
informationisvisualandoralandparticipatory.Studentstakenotesonminilessons.
Teacherssaveandcollectplansandmaterialsforfutureuse.
Teach
Inminilessonsteacherspresenttheirideasforwritingandtheirprocessesasplanners,
drafters,revisers,polishers,editorsandproofreaders.Theshowstudentshowtocreate
literature.Examplesofdemonstrations:
• Generatingandorganizingdataforanessay,writinganessaylead,creating
transitions,experimentingwithessaysconclusions
• Theteacher’slistofterritories:potentialandfavoritetopics,genresand
audiences
• Optionsforpoets:howtousethewhitespace,createlinebreaksandstanza
breaks,cuttothebone,usearhymingdictionary
• Brainstormingtitles
• Howtopunctuate,capitalize,andparagraphprose;howtoquoteand
paragraphdialogue
• Tryingalternativeleadsandconclusions
• Differentkindsofnarrativeleads:action,dialogue,reflection
• Brainstormingsolutionstoawritingproblem
• Writinganineffectivememoiroressay/writing,oratleastbeginning,agood
one
• Poeticforms:haiku,sestina,tritina,pantoum
• Proofreadingforspellingerrors
• Differentkindsofcorrespondence:thank-youletter,letterofcondolence,letter
ofcomplaint
• Collaborativepoetry(teacherandstudentscontributelines,andtheteacher
formatstheseonthechartoractivboard)
• Usingathesaurustofindstrongverbs
• Composingonthecomputer.
WorkinGenres
Teacherspushforvarietyandteachabout,show,anddemonstratepoems,memoirs,short
fiction,essays,bookreviews,parodies,avarietyofbusinessandfriendlyletters,andplays,plus
othergenresasaneedofinterestemerges.
ResponseDuringWriting~TheArchitectureofaConference
Link
Teachersmoveduringwritingconferences.Theymeetwithindividualsatstudents’tablesor
desks,andtheytrytomeetwitheverystudentoften.Individualconferenceslastanywhere
fromone-minutetofive.Teachersreadthewritingsilentlytothemselves.Theytalkwith
studentsaboutcontent,style,andstructure:information,organization,language,reflection,
direction,significance,purpose,characterdevelopment,leads,conclusions.
Typicalteacherentreestotheconference:
• How’sitgoing?
• HowmayIhelpyou?
• Tellmeaboutyourwriting.
• Whatareyouworkingon?
• Whatdoyouhavesofar?
• WhatpartcanIhelpyouwith?
Typicalquestionsthatfocusoninformation,direction,reflectionandpurpose:
• Whyareyouwritingthis?
• Whereareyougoingwiththis?
• Whatareyoutryingtodohere?
• TellmemoreaboutX.
• Idon’tunderstandY.
• Doesthismakesense?
• What’sthispieceofwritingreallyabout?
• HowdidyoufeelorwhatdidyouthinkwhenXhappened?Arethereother
placeswhereareaderwillwonderaboutyourthoughtsandfeelings?Please
markthem.
• Asareader,Ican’tsee,feel,orhearX.Whatcanyoudo?
• Isthepaceofthestorytoofasthere?Canyoumakeamovieinyourmind,then
expandthispart?
• WhatwouldhappenifyoutriedtodoXhere?
• MayIshowyouhowI’dhandletheproblemofY?
• Whatwillyoudonext?
PeerConferences
Theteacherdesignatestwoorthreespacesapartfromthewritingtablesordesksforstudents
toconfer.Toinitiateapeerconference,thewritertellswhathe/sheneeds.Studentsusepeerresponseformsattachedtoclipboards.Peerconferencesareaboutcontent/informationonly:
studentsdon’tediteachother’swriting.
ConventionsandEditing
Studentsspell,punctuate,capitalize,formletters,andformataswellastheycanastheydraft.
Studentsself-editformallywhenthecontentofapieceofwritingisset,usingindividual
proofreadinglistsasaguide;thentheteachereditsandcorrectsanyerrorsthatwriters
missed.Thenextdaytheteacherteachestheindividualwriterafewconventionsatatime,
basedontheerrorstheteacherobservedwheneditingthestudent’swriting.Studentsaddthe
newconventionstotheirindividualproofreadinglistsandcheckforthesethenexttimethey
edit.
Publication/GoingPublic
Studentswritetoberead,nottocompletepiecesofwritingforinclusionintheirfolders.
Teacherslookforandpresentbothin-houseandprofessionalpublicationoptions,andthey
editstudentwritingwithaneyetowardpreparingitforrealreaders.
Figure1,p.xvii-xix.LessonsThatChangeWriters,NancieAtwell,2002.
FictionalWriting
Re-visitasneededConditionsforWritingWorkshop
(seeabove)
Re-visitasneededExpectationsandRulesfor pgs.xx-xxi,Atwell
WritingWorkshop WritingTerritories&HeartMapping
Allowstudentstoupdate
CanaReaderSeeIt,HearIt,FeelIt?
Lesson17,pgs.66-68
PolishingProse
Lesson14,pgs.56-59
What’sEasyaboutWritingBadFiction Lesson28,pgs.103-104
What’sHardaboutWritingGoodFiction Lesson29,pgs.105-106
ProblemstoExploreinFiction
Lesson5,pgs.21-25
TheMainCharacterQuestionnaire Lesson30,pgs.107-112
ConsiderationsinCreatingaCharacter Lesson31,pgs.113-114
ShortStoryStructure
Lesson32,pgs.115-116
WaystoDevelopaCharacter
Lesson33,pgs.117-118
ProofreadingforSpelling Lesson62,pgs.223-224
HowaThesaurusCanHelp Lesson19,pgs.73-77
TheReallyBadWords
Introduction,pgs.78-79
Lesson20,pgs.80-81
ChecklistofskillscitedinCommonCoreforWritingFictionalTextforGrade5.This
checklistwillbeusedtoinforminstructionaldecisionsforminilessons,assessing
students’writing,andasanaidewhendevelopingarubric.
W.5.3 Writenarrativestodeveloprealorimaginedexperiencesoreventsusingeffective
technique,descriptivedetails,andcleareventsequences
A.Orientthereaderbyestablishinga
situationandintroducinganarratorand/or
characters;organizeaneventsequencethat
unfoldsnaturally.
B.Usenarrativetechniques,suchas
dialogue,description,andpacing,to
developexperiencesandeventsorshowthe
responsesofcharacterstosituations
C.Useavarietyoftransitionalwords,
phrases,andclausestomanagethe
sequenceofevents
D.Useconcretewordsandphrasesand
sensorydetailstoconveyexperiencesand
eventsprecisely
E.Provideaconclusionthatfollowsfromthe
narratedexperiencesorevents.
Modifications
Special Education:
● Use Research, Decide, Teach, Link methodology during conferring with students
● Teacher models own writing
● Show additional number of samples/examples
● Provide additional opportunities to practice
● Use individual teacher/student conferences to address student’s needs
● Use small group table conferences to address needs
● Develop target vocabulary
● Scaffold comprehension when reading is used to promote reader response
● Use graphic organizers to develop key concepts/ideas
● Teach key aspects of a topic. Eliminate nonessential information.
English Language Learners (ELLs):
● Model Thinking Aloud
● Encourage Partner Talk
● Repeat and Clarify
● Provide a Sequence
● Encourage self-selection of topics
● Target vocabulary
● Scaffold comprehension when reading is used to promote reader response
● Scaffold content-literacy reading
● Allow products to demonstrate student’s learning
● Provide on-going feedback
Students at Risk of School Failure:
● Utilize TIME Mentor Program
● Build a relationship
● Allow flexible due dates
● Employ strategies from Classroom Instruction that Works
● Create the Opportunity to Learn strategies
● Build lessons around student interests
Gifted Students:
• Utilizeflexiblegroups-groupgiftedstudentswithothergiftedstudentsorhigher-level
learners
• Encouragestudentstoexplore/researchconceptsindepthviaindependentstudiesor
investigations(individual/group)
• Differentiateproductassignments.Employdifferentiatedcurriculumtokeep
interest/motivationhigh
• Encouragecreativeexpressionandthinkingbyallowingstudentstochoosehowto
approachaproblemorassignment(problembasedlearning)
• Invitestudentstoexploredifferentpointsofviewonatopicofstudyandcomparethe
two
• Providemultipleopportunitiesforstudentsto“OwnTheirLearning”
• Askstudentshigher-levelquestionsthatrequirestudentstolookintocauses,
experiences,andfactstodrawaconclusiontootherareasoflearning.(Webb’sDepth
ofKnowledge-Level4)
• Createaroomenvironmentthatencouragescreativityanddiscoverythroughtheuseof
interestingliteratureandreferencematerials.Supplyreadingmaterialsonawide
varietyofsubjectsandlevels
• Providealearning-richenvironmentthatincludesavarietyofresources,media,tasks,
andmethodsofteaching
• Focus on Habits of Mind pedagogy
Core Instructional Materials:
● Atwell’s Lessons That Change Writers Program 2002 edition
● Newsela.com for leveled texts
Technology/Equipment: ACTIV Board, LCD projector, sound system , CDs, DVDs, videos,
internet, iPod