What is. There are. I am. These are passive phrases.
But what about: sister is and heart is? Well, these are passive phrases too!
When writers are constrained two ways—no passive verbs allowed and write an idea through the sense of sight—it’s rare that a passive verb doesn’t appear in the rough draft. Often times they peek in via contractions—what’s, it’s, she’s, the’ve and so on.
When this student opened the “sound” paragraph with, “We stand in the line eagerly awaiting what’s to come,” my red pen quiclkly formed a triangle around the culprit. “What’s” is “what is,” after all! There is a list in the student journal to help guide the omission of passive verbs. Contractions are not listed, but rather, learned quickly!
So, back to that opening sentence. How do we help our students accomplish the task at hand? This was an opportunity to use an important writer’s trick—combine sentences. Voilà!
We stand in line eagerly awaiting as the chatter of the crowd and the thud of footsteps climb in volume.
After reading this refined, combined sentence your ears perk up! Right?
This paragraph is focused on detailing a scene through the sense of sound, and this is the perfect sentence to open the idea!
Introduction to Composition: The Essay, Volume 1 offers an opportunity for students to learn all about essay form and practice constrained writing. Each of the five lessons will explore specific traits of the essay—the thesis statement, topic and subtopics, the magic of three, body paragraphs, and how to open / close effectively. While students will not compose essays in Volume 1, they will engage in weekly writing activities to develop a strong voice. Writing an expanded paragraph through one particular sense without using a passive verb is not an easy task! But students will rise to the occasion and find their footing. At the end of the five lessons, students will be equipped with the tools they need to move into Volume 2 and Volume 3.
Matsuo Bashō wandered by foot through medieval Japan and kept a diary of his journeys—prose woven with haiku.
There is sublime simplicity in this poet’s observations:
Autumn moonlight—
a worm digs silently
into the chestnut.
Haiku are the little powerhouses of the poetry world! They are a fun challenge involving the best of word play mixed with a little finger counting to get the syllables just right!
Here’s a little lesson to help you get started:
1. Haiku poems consist of a three-line stanza that has a total of 16-18 *syllables written in the following pattern:
Line 1: 5ish syllables
Line 2: 7ish syllables
Line 3: 5ish syllables
*Slight variations in syllabication is appropriate as this helps the poet maintain the “one thought in three lines” rule.
2. Haiku poems like photographs, capture moments in time. The “haiku moment” snaps a scene for the reader to experience.
3. Haiku poems were originally written as introductions to much longer works of poetry and should be written as one thought in three lines.
Ready to write?
A great way to begin haiku is with a short descriptive sentence:
Beautiful old maple tree, your autumn leaves are floating to rest at the foot of your trunk.
Count the syllables—this one has 22 total—about 5 too many! Next, break your sentence to a lovely little haiku.
Beautiful old maple tree, your autumn leaves are floating to rest at the foot of your trunk. Now the sentence is 19 syllables, ready to break into the three-line haiku:
Beautiful old maple
your autumn leaves are floating
to the foot of your trunk.
Here’s another: In autumn leaves of the Silver Maple turn ruddy and breezily fall.
Count the syllables—this one is 17 syllables. Perfect! Break it to haiku:
In autumn, leaves of
Silver Maple turn ruddy
and breezily fall.
Go for a walk. What is your neck of the woods like during fall? Collect some fallen leaves in a basket. Make simple observations. Begin with a sentences and move to haiku of autumn. Write away!
Writing is an art form achieved via a series of steps:
1) It all begins with an IDEA. Without an idea, the writer will simply stare at the blank page.
2) Once there is an idea in the mind of the writer, the PENCIL steps in to translate thoughts to words on the page.
3) When the pencil’s work is complete, the job of the writer is to become a READER. Encourage your students to RE-READ everything they write.
4) Empower students to use the RED PEN as they re-read to REVISE. Teach them to use strong words, to fearlessly re-arrange, to make corrections, and to not be afraid to strike through.
5) Polish the draft, preferably in cursive by hand.
So how does this happen?
THINK Tortoise (not the hare).
Learning to write is a long journey. We know this to be true. And, on this journey, there is NO better technology than the PENCIL.
When it comes to literacy, much of the exceptional work that your students will accomplish is subjective in nature tied to their ideas. As students read great stories, they make observations. These observations will inspire ideas. Cataloging ideas in writing—pencil on paper—over time builds confidence, develops voice, and promotes perseverance.
The PENCIL enables student writers to engage the brain in multisensory ways. When we write we 1) HEAR the idea stirring in our mind; 2) We SEE the letters and words we are forming; and 3) We engage HAND-EYE coordination.
Here are some ideas to inspire PENCIL work:
Mastering the art of handwriting fosters the ability to concentrate, to contemplate, and to communicate confidently. Download our FREE handwriting worksheets here and here. Cursive is not only a beautiful art form, it is a skill that promotes concentration.
Encourage your students to sharpen some pencils!
More than 15 years ago, my mother-in-law enlisted Liam with the task of sharpening fifteen dozen pencils that she would be taking to an orphanage in Uganda. I appreciate how she organized these perfect child-sized humanitarian activities for my children.
Liam got to work immediately. At one minute per pencil, 180 pencils, the task would take about three hours without a break! The task actually took Liam most of the morning. At one point he came in and asked me if he could use the manual pencil sharpener.
“The electric one might be faster.”
“But it’s clogged.”
“Okay Liam, sure.”
“Thanks Mom.”
***
A couple of hours later Liam came bounding into the kitchen with a pencil stained grin holding the sharpened pencils tucked tidily back into their original packaging.
“Wow Liam, all these sharpened pencils!”
“I hope the children in Uganda are happy when they write!”
I choked back the lump in my throat, “I hope so too Liam. Well done son.”
Later that evening I went into the studio to tidy up, and there it was, a brand new installation—our manual pencil sharpener had somehow been removed from its perch in the pantry and re-attached with screws to our antique Craftsman desk! After a moment of letting the shock settle, I let a little smile crackle. My son set up shop, got the job done, and I must admit, to this day I am super proud.
BIG ideas written beautifully by hand with a PENCIL on paper are a gift!
The first day of fall is just around the corner! It’s Back-to-School season. Likely your students are close to completing their first CORE journal of the year. Now’s the time to offer a lovely bouquet of red pens.
“What’s your big idea?”
The purpose of writing is to communicate an idea. In order to accomplish this goal, students need to develop the skills and confidence that will prepare them to communicate that idea well.
Teach your students early on to read what they write.
Take this a step further. Hand them a red pen!
Before conferencing with your students, encourage them to read their first draft and to indicate mistakes they catch with red marks. Encourage them to look for misspelling, capitalization, and grammatical errors. They might not catch everything, but you’ll certainly be surprised what they will catch. Once they are confident, challenge them to consider word choice, to rearrange phrasing, to strike through redundancy, and to avoid what we writers call waffle!
All writing comes into being through a process:
1. First comes the IDEA. Without an idea, the writer will simply stare at the blank page.
2. Once there is an idea in the mind of the writer, the pencil steps in to translate the idea to words on the page.
3. When the pencil’s work is complete, the job of the writer is to become a reader. Encourage your students to READ everything they write—absolutely everything! It is often best to leave space between the “draft” and the “read” stage.
4. Next, make sure students use the RED pen as they read through the first draft of their idea. Teach them to look for spelling errors, for capitalization errors, and for grammatical errors. Beyond this teach them to use strong words, to fearlessly re-arrange, and to not be afraid to strike through unnecessary words.
5. Lastly, teach them to polish the draft, preferably in cursive.
There is NO substitute for consistently encouraging your children to write their ideas. No matter the level, kindergarten through high school, make sure your students are equipped with a pencil and a red pen. We urge you to courageously coach your students in the process of writing! Teaching your students to engage in the process of constructing ideas—to read what they write and use their very own red pen—will certainly teach them more about writing than hours and hours of deconstructive writing tasks.
Come June, your students will have not only brought shape to significant original ideas, but also learned to enter into the work that makes those ideas shine. More importantly, they will have gained confidence in their ability to communicate. Writing an idea is genius.
Calendar of Days is designed to be the first thing you do to start each day. It’s the special “opening” activity designed to support observation skills, to apply math skills, and much more. For example when counting days, you have the tremendous opportunity to count by 2s, to count by 5s, to even explore place value as the number of days in school grow to groups of ten and beyond. This activity will become a morning tradition as your students count up and count down to summer! And all this is lovely learning is accomplished during gentle start of day conversation.
Each Calendar of Days bundle includes a teacher whiteboard, a student journal, dry erase markers + eraser, and two thematic books tied to the calendar.
Each day the teacher whiteboard is filled fill out, leaving room for student interaction, “What’s the weather like today?” Students move on to complete the journal each day, copying the whiteboard when necessary. On day 5 each week, students will create a small journal entry about a favorite day.
Each year, the Calendar of Days bundle includes two read aloud stories connected to days and weeks and months and seasons. During kindergarten, the books introduce the days of the weak and the weather. During first grade, we include two books to help you and your students explore gardening as connected to seasons. In the second grade, two wonderful books about more advanced weather and clouds are sure to inspire! The books are included as a springboard for you the teacher. Make them familiar. Read them often. Extend the new knowledge with creative activities.
“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” ~Mark Twain
All great writing begins with singular words. Vocabulary development begins in infancy. Babies move from babbling to utilizing whole words during the first year of life. Before entering Kindergarten, they are understanding and using a lexicon of around 5,000 words! As students begin to read, this vocabulary will increase exponentially.
Unfortunately, vocabulary development exercises often become disconnected from purpose. Words are singular, possessing significant specificity.
“I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it until it begins to shine.” ~Emily Dickinson
Challenging our students to actually use new words in their written ideas will guarantee that these new words are etched into memory. Actively igniting words—reading, speaking, and writing—is the art of communicating.
Over the course of the school year, Operation Lexicon will grow your student’s lexicon. Each week your student is presented with four words ABCeDarian style—four A words, four B words, four C words and so on—from the lexicon of a significant author. Students will not only explore the words being used in the context of exceptional writing, but will employ the words in new ways. Setting your student on an adventure with words, not just any words, but the words great writers use, will help them understand just what words are worth.
Of course students will be using new words to construct sentences. But, perhaps more importantly, students will construct narrative passages using the new words presented each week. One Crafting a narrative passage can be fiction or non-fiction, or, it can be something in between. Narration is a significant genre of writing where the goal is to tell a story. Story details can unfold in a linear or non-linear manner. Practicing this art form is a significant goal for students throughout all of education. Operation Lexicon provides an ongoing opportunity to practice this work simultaneous to acquiring a rich vocabulary.
Four Words from the Work of E.B. White
inquires, irksome, idyllic, injury
Set the Stage
Offering students a setting to spring from is a great way to begin. Here students were presented with information about pistachio groves and a little bit of pistachio lore. The lesson didn’t take long, just long enough to spark an idea.
Pistachio trees were introduced to the United States in 1854. Did you know most pistachios produced in the US are grown in California? Pistachios need a mild winter chill and healthy warm breezes to thrive. But coastal regions are not ideal. The pistachio is a small tree that begins to produce fruit during the fifth year after planting and only reaches full maturity after fifteen years. April frosts will kill flowers and cool summers won’t promote good kernel development. Favored by the Queen of Sheba, known as the smiling fruit, from the hanging gardens of Babylon, to the Venetian court, these bright green nuts have a rich history.
Get Writing
The following 175-word narrative micro-story was inspired by the essence of the above details. Students were encouraged to create a scenario with two characters, real or imagined, connected to a pistachio tree. The lesson concluded like this: “Now, use this information and the four words of E.B. White and begin your story in a world once upon a time, one fine day in fall…
One breezy day in fall, Monarch and Bluebird have an argument in the shelter of a pistachio tree.
Bluebird hungrily inquires, “Hey colorful Monarch! Are you delicious?”
Frightened and fibbing, Monarch replies, “No Bluebird! I’m bitter! My orange and black will mix together and make a most irksome ache in your stomach!” Feeling an ominous chill, Monarch coyly suggests, “Surely this idyllic tree is big enough for us both. Why don’t you take the shady side and I’ll live on the sunny side?”
Bluebird, pausing to decide if the butterfly is telling the truth, finally says, “But your colors are enchanting. I can’t let you go!”
“I’m warning you,” says Monarch. “You will regret eating me!” He flutters farther down the branch, distancing himself from the bird among the toasted foliage.
Bluebird hops closer for a second look. “Perhaps, on closer inspection, those stripes do look dangerous.”
So Monarch flutters, hidden on the sunny side of the tree among the leaves and smiling seeds, safe from injury, while Bluebird sings sweetly on the shady side.
Bridge to Terabithia is a quintessential middle school read. It is tied to one of our CORE, Level 3 Integrated Literature and Writing units. By the time students reach this level, they are confidently journaling and writing their ideas inspired by great stories. As the teacher, you have the profound opportunity to guide your students into the work of unpacking the story. During middle school, introducing the concept of themes and symbols and motifs conversationally adds richness to the discussion and depth to what is gleaned from the story. Following are seven tips for going deeper into this wonderful story.
ONE. Be WOWed!
As you, the teacher are WOWed, your students will follow.
First things first:
Often, we are asked, “Do I have to read the book?”
Our reply? A resounding, “No, you GET to read the book!”
(You won’t be WOWed if you don’t read the book!)
Our CORE Integrated Literature and Writing Journals are designed to free up the teacher to read closely alongside the student, unlocking the story’s treasure. This enables the student to journal observations and compose ideas inspired by the journey.
No skipping pages!
Recently when Cathi and I began to prepare to deliver a close reading lesson of this wonderful novel, I broke the cardinal rule and skipped what I assumed was a “promo” blurb. But no, I realized, upon reading that this significant passage reminds us that someone long ago hung a rope!
“A Place for Us” is actually an invitation to enter into the story’s world, the story’s wonder—”It was a glorious autumn day, and if you looked up while you swung, it gave you the feeling of floating. Jess leaned back and drank the clear rich color of the sky.” Then Leslie called to Jess, “We need a place just for us.” And so the world of the story is opened to us readers.
Thankfully, Cathi reminded me to NOT skip this introduction!
Ask yourself, “What are the powerful points that bring shape to the big picture?”
What are the points YOU discover? What are the points your student discovers? Remember there is no right answer here. There are parameters—think about the characters, the setting, the plot, and all the words and phrases that help these fold together into a story—but within those parameters, there is room to explore.
Jump to the FORWARD written by Kate DiCamillo
“In afternoons the floor would fill up with great slabs of light, and it was very much like being in a dusty, book-filled cathedral. I read Bridge to Terabithia in one of those great squares of light; and the story, for me is forever associated with light.” Reading this brought to mind Emily Dickinson’s poem “A Certain Slant of Light” and the HEFT/weight that the poet describes is akin to Kate DiCamillo’s description here. Robert Frost’s poem, which is also alluded to in The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is brought to mind too, “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” Kate DiCamillo here makes an astonishing simile: “Bridge to Terabithia is like that room—brimful of light.” She goes on to remind us that something terrible happens. Something terrible. And then she reminds us that we CAN bear this terrible thing. This is the power of literature, it reminds us we are, “…loved and seen, too” (x).
TWO. Seek Out Rich Words
From the Forward…
Rent – to split, to be torn
Brimful – full to the very top edge
“We are devastated, emotionally rent. But still: we feel held, loved, seen. Someone trusted us enough to tell us the truth and because of that the room is golden, brimful of light” (xi).
To the middle of the book and beyond…
Wheedling – To flatter, to coax
“‘Why can’t we charge some things,’ Ellie said in her wheedling voice'” (101).
THREE. Introduce & Explore Themes and Symbols and Motifs
Themes emerge as characters move through the world of the story. Themes connect readers to deeper conflicts that arise on the journey—shared humanity. Themes are NOT “morals” (recommendations on how to live / “moral of the story”) but rather, point to real ways we humans experience the world, archetypical ways. Themes demonstrate topics common to us all—love, conformity, justice, beauty, friendship, courage, power, family and so on.
In other words, it’s NOT a writer’s job to answer the world’s difficult questions, only to SHOW those questions clearly with their stories and allow the characters and the readers to journey through to the other side.
Cathedral —REVERENCE is a recurring theme that is pointed out by Kate DiCamillo in the Forward. Watch for this throughout the story.
LIGHT as a symbol is so often repeated in the story that it transforms into a motif, like wallpaper illuminating along the way.
GOLD When Leslie and Jess help renovate, they want to use blue paint but end up using gold. Ultimately, Leslie compares the room to a magical castle.
How does FRIENDSHIP unfold?
How is EMPATHY strengthened?
Significantly, in Chapter 2, entitled Leslie Burke, the character does not introduce herself until the very end: “My name is Leslie Burke” (22). Up until this point, Jess does not know what to make of this person, “The person had jaggedy brown hair cut close to its face and wore one of those blue-undershirtlike tops with faded jeans cut off above the knees. He couldn’t honestly tell whether it was a girl or a boy” (22). After a small dialogue he decides definatively that this is a girl, but is not sure why he makes this decision. So begins a beautiful unfolding of gender as theme, of childhood, of innocence that leads to friendship.
FOUR. Character Development
Characters weave readers into themes.
Look for passages of immediacy where deeper character traits and desires are revealed. In this story, Jess longs to be seen, to be known. He is trying to move beyond the reputation of being the “crazy little kid who draws all the time,” (4) he is trying to win a race, to make his father proud. What was his father like? We know right away he drove a pick-up. But what do we learn about his father that is implied by lines like: ” even his dad would be proud” (5) and “Old Dad would be surprised at how strong he’d gotten in the last couple of years” (6). Later on when the familiar “baripity” can be heard coming up the road, Maybelle screams with delight. When her father opens the truck door, she climbs onto his lap, just then, Jess’s internal voice shares with us readers: “Durn luckey kid” (19). Jess longed for his father’s affection. And teaches us much about his father.
FIVE. Enlist the Built-in Teacher
What is the author doing with words?
Stylistic techniques of the author?
What do YOU discover…?
Comments on Writing Technique
Following are some notes and tabs from Chapter 1 (and beyond). Read these passages aloud and encourage your students to find similar moments in the writing that they find exceptional.
Examine the 4-sentence opening paragraph that begins with onomatopoea. The length of the sentences are short short short and then long. And it is the long, last complex sentence that launches the reader into the complexities of this marvelous story. Read this paragraph aloud!
Check out the simile describing Mama “Mad as Flies” on page 1.
Find this sentence on page 2: “When you were the only boy smashed between four sisters.”
And find this one further on down the same page: “Even if it got unhandy at times.”
This marvelous sentence on page 2 is filled with exceptional words and repetition that lends a certain tiptoe rhythm: “The place was so rattly that it screeched whenever you put your foot down, but Jess had found that if you tiptoed, that it gave only a low moan, and he could usually get outdoors without waking Momma or Ellie or Brenda or Joyce Ann.”
More onomatopoeia on page 5: “…red mud slooching…”
And, in the end, Katherine Patterson profoundly uses onomatopoeia as motif to bookend the story: “Behind him came the baripity of the pick-up but he couldnt turn around” (132).
Watch for the em dash—that wonderful mark that can replace the comma, parenthesis, or colon. This mark is always more emphatic, more intrusive. And Katherine Patterson employs it throughout the story.
SIX. Unpacking the Heart of Story
Pay attention to setting—where and when is the story taking place. This particular story takes place in a small town, Lark Creek, in rural Virginia post Vietnam in the 1970s. Follow the path of the plot, follow the sequence of events driven by the characters. This journey will lead you to the heart of the story.
And as stories go, this one is special—a bildungsroman. Don’t let anyone tell you its a simple “coming of age” story because Bridge to Terabithia is so much more. Bildungsroman is literary term. Here, bildung means “education” and roman means “formation”—loss leads to growth. Here maturity comes at a high cost.
SEVEN. Now Riff to the End
Reading a book is more like listening to music than it is comprehending with right and wrong answers. Reading a book is entering into an art form. And while it is true there are structure and scaffold we can become accustomed to, great stories are unique and lovely and full of wonder.
Eucharisteo is a Greek word that means to give thanks, to be thankful. Reverence. This is the theme that holds this great story together. This reverence begins with the creation of Terabithia. When Leslie names this secret land, “Like God in the Bible, they looked at what they had made and found it was very good” (51). And with that delicious allusion, Katherine Patterson, sets the eucharisteo into motion.
Pay close attention to Miss Edmunds and Maybelle and, ultimately Mrs. Myers who have suprisingly significant, albeit supporting roles to play on the journey through this story.
Remember that the Bridge to Terabithia is a mighty symbol. Keep in mind the idiom “building bridges” is a phrase overflowing with hope.
Then and only then will you be ready for Chapter 10, The Perfect Day, where tension builds and climax swells. Then and only then will you be able to hear Mrs. Myers: “‘Excuse me, she said, ‘this morning when I came in someone had already taken out her desk'” (159). And then this: It—it—we—I never had such a student. In all my years of teaching. I shall always be grateful—” (159).
In that moment Mrs. Myers makes herself vulnerable, sharing her devastation at the loss of her husband. Jess is suddenly in the light, able to empathize, able to replace bitterness toward Mrs. Myers for gratitude. In that moment of tragic illumination, myth-busting occurs. Revelation. Jess is able to understand Mrs. Myers and Mrs. Myers is able to understand Jess.
When it comes to learning to read and write, copy work and dictation activities offer students the terrific opportunity to practice newly introduced material and to review previously taught information. Incorporate this activity into your weekly lessons for Hatchling, Volume 1 for Kindergarten, Hatchling, Volume 2 for 1st Grade, and Earlybird for 2nd Grade.
Copy Work places the focus on what the student actually sees. Copy work always begins with reading, decoding what is on the page before picking up the pencil to write.
Dictation places the focus on what the student hears. Listening carefully to the phonemes (sounds) being spoken, tying to encode (write) what is heard to using graphemes (symbol) on the page is no small task! But utilizing both newly taught information, while simultaneously reviewing previously taught information will help students to move toward mastery.
So how is this accomplished? At first the exercises are limited to tools available to the student. This silly sentence is for review only, utilizing short vowels, sight words the, on and to, plus consonant blends sw, tr, fr, and cl is just right for a student during the middle of Kindergarten:
Can the dog swim on the trip to the frog club?
This silly sentence reviews short vowels, blends, digraph, utilizes sight words: the, a, and to plus utilizes new material long vowel pattern a_e. Utilize a sentence like this for students at the beginning of 1st Grade:
Can the dog bake you a cake to take to the lake for the trip to the twin’s ship club?
By the time students enter the 2nd grade, they will have been introduced to the whole gambit of phonics for reading and writing, will have learned to read and write a hefty collection of sight words, and will have practiced constructing all four types of sentences with Hatchling, Volume 1 and Hatchling, Volume 2. These students are ready to tackle passages from the books they are exploring.
Move from gentle:
“One winter morning Peter woke up and looked out the window. Snow had fallen during the night. It covered everything as far as he could see.” ~from The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
To more complex:
“They made such a noise that Michael came running, waving his arms and blowing his whistle. He planted himself in the center of the road, raised one hand to stop the traffic, and then beckoned with the other, the way policemen do, for Mrs. Mallard to cross over.” ~from Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
As students get older, progressing to CORE Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and beyond, passages from books are longer, words and phrasing becomes beautifully complex:
“His sympathy made tears spring to Lina’s eyes. Doon looked startled for a moment, and then he took a step toward her and wrapped his arms around her. He gave her a squeeze so quick and tight that it made her cough, and then it made her laugh. She realized all at once that Doon—thin, dark-eyed Doon with his troublesome temper and his terrible brown jacket and his good heart—was the person that she knew better than anyone now. He was her best friend.” ~from The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau
FIVE Tips to GUIDE the Exercise
ONE. Create a Copy work/Dictation Notebook. Pre-bound composition books work great as a space to house this work. Date each entry and skip lines between entries. Dedicate a single page for longer entries.
TWO Type up what is to be copied or dictated.
THREE. READ! For copy work, the student reads the sentence or passage aloud slowly before beginning to copy. For dictation, first read the sentence or passage as a whole. Next begin reading phrases slowly, encouraging the student to repeat when necessary. Having your student read aloud before beginning copywork, or repeating dictation when necessary will help to be present in the activity and to press what is being learned into memory.
FOUR. Don’t hover over the student! Don’t interupt with corrections during copy work or dictation. Letting mistakes happen will help you to assess what the student has actually mastered.
FIVE. When the copy work or dictation exercise is complete, ask the student to re-read what has been written. If there are no mistakes—Bravo! If there are mistakes point them out and have the student re-copy, mistake free. Remind them that mistakes are opportunities to learn.
Thomas Edison once said: “I have not failed one thousand times. I have successfully discovered one thousand ways to NOT make a light bulb.”
Research writing for middle school moves from research of people to research in the field of science! Over the course of eight lessons, students will explore and research the diversity of the animal kingdom—journalling what they learn each step of the way.
Have you heard of Carolus Linnaeus?
His life’s work will inspire you.
All living things can be ordered according to their common biology. Classification allows scientists to explore levels of similarity, dissimilarity, and interconnectedness of cells, systems, and structures. The first level of classification is the Kingdoms. There are five: Protista, Monera, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia.
Here’s how this writing unit is organized:
Week 1.
SORTING IT ALL OUT
The unit begins with an introductory section for students to begin gathering information that will enable them to enter into more advanced non-fiction research writing. In this case the culminating research writing is conducted in the five kingdoms of life, from simple living things to more complex—Kingdom Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia.
Week 2.
TAXONOMY THROUGH THE AGES
In this section, students will continue to gather information that will enable them to understand the history of classification which will, in turn enable the student to, beginning in Week 4, conduct more advanced research and write an expanded, information packed paragraph tied to one of the Five Kingdoms of Life. This week culminating research writing is biographical. This assignment can, of course, be differentiated—from simple paragraph to expanded paragraph to essay.
Sample Prompt:
RESEARCH PROJECT
Read: Classifying Living Things » Page 27 – Linnaeus and His System
After reading the above assignment, use books or the internet to do your own additional research on Carolus Linnaeus.
Use what you learn to write a paragraph about him on the following page.
Week 3.
THE FIVE KINGDOMS
Week 3 provides the final informational notes that will set students, geared up, to write about living things through the Five Kingdoms of Life.
Weeks 4, 5, 6 7, and 8.
Weeks 4 through 8 provides the scaffolding to enable students to conduct research in each of the five kingdoms—Monera, Protista, Fungi, Animalia, Plantae. While this unit is topical, the goal is not necessarily teach biology but to help students acquire the vital skill of note-taking and the knowledge necessary to write a non-fictional idea. Simply think of the student workbook filled with the student’s new knowledge (“the notes”) as a springboard to the writing. Each week the writing can be differentiated—simple paragraph to expanded paragraph. Expand the research two more weeks, compiling one paragraph for each week (4 through 8), add an introductory paragraph, plus a concluding paragraph and, voilà, at the end of week 10 your student has completed an essay entitled: The Five Kingdoms of Life.
Storymaker teaches student writers to craft an amazing HOOK!
The HOOK is a topic sentence that inspires writers to write their ideas and encourages readers to read on. The subtle distinction we are making between the topic sentence and the HOOK is this: Think of a literal fishhook that catches the reader and makes them want to read on. A great HOOK might be charged with sensory details or concrete examples. It may be full of imagery and action!
Storymaker is designed to HOOK 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade students into the art of narrative journal writing. With three terrific thematic options to choose from—Farm Tales, Fairy Tales, and Fun Tales—the possibilities are endless.
Each week the primary goal is to craft a HOOK by combining:
One HOOK starter: “Everyone agreed except…”
One Character in Situation card: “carrot writing a story”
One Setting card: “in a treehouse”
There are a myriad of possibility with these three parts! Encourage your students to play around with the phrases and to add, subtract or change connecting words. Here are a few possibilities:
1. Everyone agreed except the carrot writing a story in a treehouse.
OR
2. Everyone in the treehouse agreed except the carrot writing a story.
OR
3. Except for the carrot writing a story, everyone in the treehouse agreed.
OR
4. Except for the carrot writing a story aboutthe treehouse, everyone agreed.
OR
5. Once upon a time, except the carrot writing a story in a treehouse, everyone agreed.
Remember to help your students think about the last sentence being just as important as the first. Remind them that the goal is for readers to be surprised, for readers to want to keep thinking about the story they just read. We call this the TWIST at the end. Here are a few endings that might hold up to the above HOOK:
In the end, as the carrot finished reading the story written in the treehouse aloud to all the other vegetables, there was a moment of collective silence and then a roar of whistles and clapping!
OR
Everyone agreed that Carrot writing the treehouse story was not a good idea, but in the end they all agreed they were wrong.
Sometimes, once the HOOK is composed, offering a TWIST for students to write toward helps them bring shape to an idea with a beginning, middle, and end.
Following are some ideas to be creative with story-making.
Create a Collaborative Story
Here the teacher begins collaborating on HOOK crafting as above on a whiteboard. This is the HOOK demonstration. Once the HOOK is settled upon, students copy it into the journal and the fun begins—What happens next? Continue gathering ideas up to 5 story details composed together into sentences. Create one sentence to end—the TWIST.
Student creates the HOOK + 3 Story Detail Sentences & the Teacher Writes the TWIST at the end
Sometimes knowing that a treat is waiting at the end of the journey is all the motivation our student writers need!
Round Robin
Students each create an original HOOK in their journal. Journals are passed around. Classmates reads what is written so far and adds a sentence in the friend’s journal. Keep passing until there are 6 sentences including the Hook. Journals are then returned to the student to read and create a closing TWIST.
Everyone has stories to tell. Help your students tell them well the fun way with Storymaker.
