Squirrels are everywhere. That’s for sure! Most young writers have had a squirrel encounter or two. Tapping into a rich storehouse of knowledge is a great place to learn to craft a HOOK—not a topic sentence, a HOOK! The best place to begin a writing lesson is to tap into what the writer knows and to read a book.

Nuts to You by Lois Ehlert is a gorgeous and simple story of a quintessential city squirrel who, naturally, zips mischievously through life. Told in lively rhyming verse with beautiful collage illustration, the book is sure to capture the attention of students. At the back of the book the author includes some terrific facts about squirrels. We chose five facts to focus on:

Five Facts About Squirrels

1. Squirrels are rodents

2. They have front teeth—incisors—that NEVER stop growing.

3. They live in big nests or hollow trees.

4. They have five toes on their front feet, four on their back.

5. Their bushy tail is as long as its body.

Often times, when facing the blank page, students are intimidated and resort to simplistic, and, well, let’s face it, BORING solutions! Young writers resort to what they have been taught: Open your paragraph with a topic sentence. This is not technically wrong. But we can BETTER equip them!

For example these perfectly fine topic sentence are boring:

Squirrels are cute animals.

Squirrels are everywhere.

And my least favorite topic sentence of all:

I am going to write about squirrels.

So how do we teach our students to make topic sentences sparkle and shine?

We teach the to transform the topic sentence into a HOOK!

To help them get there, I gave them a BIGGER squirrel fact: Did you know that squirrels are everywhere in the world except Madagascar and Australia? We looked at a globe together and marveled at this interesting fact!

Next, I asked them what kinds of noises squirrels make. I got some very fun responses, too! I told them that we writers like to create words that represent sounds and, when we do it’s called: onomatopoeia. They liked that word! Now it was time to craft a HOOK for our paragraph about squirrels.

“Let’s imagine what it would sound like if we could hear all the squirrels all over the world.”

We generated a significant list:

Barking, Chirping Squeaking Squawking, Whistling Scampering Scratching Gnawing Grinding, Rattling, Buzzing, Crying

Next I said, “Let’s include our BIG fact via an Em Dash,” and went on to remind them that this special punctuation mark helps the reader take a long pause while adding some important information to the sentence.

Now we had our fodder and were ready to craft a HOOK! Here’s were we landed:

They are chattering, chirping,  squawking  all over the wide world—everywhere except Madagascar and Australia.

That’s the way to open a paragraph about squirrels!

~Kimberly

Staring down the blank page is a courageous endeavor.

Where to begin?

We say: Begin with a BOOK!

BIG ideas are sparked by knowledge + curiosity.

Here are four ways to compose a wonder-FULL sentence about owls.

First let’s gather information.

When faced with the blank page, first things first, press into food for thought. For this lesson, we dove into  Animalium for Kids, by Kate Scott and Jenny Broom. With over 160 specimens to explore in this wonderful biological compendium, we are narrowing our focus to Owls. We don’t need an exhaustive study here—this is a sentence writing exercise after all. We need just enough information to become curious and inspired to write. Getting ready to focus on composing even a single sentence requires gathering intriguing information.

The owl entry in this book is just enough to spark curiosity.  After reading, focusing in on the amazing illustrations, sharing what we found amazing about owls—storing new facts in our memory, adding to our growing knowledge of owls—we made a list:

1. There are two main families of owls within the order Strigiformes: Tytonidae (barn owls) and Strigidae (typical owls).
2. Huge owl eyes are stationary, fixed in their sockets—no eye rolling!
3. Owls can rotate their head 270 degrees.

Next, let’s review the four types of sentences:

Statements are declarative. Statements tell us something.

Are questions interrogative? (Yes.) Questions ask.

Commands are imperative. Commands demand action.

Exclamations are exclamatory! Exclamations roar!

Now, let’s get writing.

A our first attempt at “NOW, let’s write a statement together,” I listened and wrote the group consensus on the board:

There are two types of owls, typical and barn owls.

Here’s where writing get’s fun! Add details, rearrange, think about word choice to make the above statement a tale that will turn heads. Follow the W Rule:

WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, to WOW the reader!

For this sentence, I had a basket of blocks all different shapes but only two colors that I poured out onto the floor, asking my students to quickly sort by color. We, obviously, ended up with two colors. Then I gave them another fact about owls—there are 200 species in the world—and asked them to help me add this detail to our statement. Here’s what the group came up with:

All 2 million owls in the world (200 species) can be sorted into two BIG piles—Strigidae (typical) and Tytonidae (barn owls).

Finally, let’s translate the statement to a question, command, and an exclamation:

Statement:

All the owls in the world (all 200 species) can be sorted into two BIG piles—Strigidae (typical) and Tytonidae (barn owls).

Question:

Isn’t it amazing that all 2 million owls in the world (all 200 species) can be sorted into two BIG piles—Strigidae (typical) and Tytonidae (barn owls)?

Command:

Please sort the 2 million owls, all the owls in the world (all 200 species) into two BIG piles—Strigidae (typical) and Tytonidae (barn owls).

Exclamation:

All 2 million the owls in the world (all 200 species) can be sorted into two BIG piles—Strigidae (typical) and Tytonidae (barn owls)—Wow!

There you have it, all four sentence types in one fell swoop! Once you’ve tackled this exercise a few times as a group, it’s easy-peasy to make it an independent activity—from gathering information to four TRUE sentences!  Ernest Hemingway would be proud.

~Kimberly

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” ~Ernest Hemingway

Writing meaningful, true sentences should always be the place to start, take it from Hemingway.

Beginning in the 5th grade, students will embark on an exploration of rhetorical style. A rhetorical device is a tool of style—sound, imagery, rhythm, repetition—that evokes a reaction from the reader. The purpose of this journey is to provide students in grades 5 though 8 opportunities to learn from great writers, tricks of the trade—rhetoric that make sentences soar.

A sentence is simply a collection of words that conveys an idea. When well-crafted sentences are connected wisely, one after another, meaning flows, carrying that idea forward in a clear and concise manner. When students understand the tools that will enable them to construct well-formed sentences, they will be equipped to confidently write their ideas.

One True Sentence: Tools of Style is an ongoing opportunity for students to write concisely. Students who know how to combine, elaborate, and vary sentences, will fearlessly arrange words and phrases to craft well-formed syntax. Over the course of 20 weeks, as they practice the art of constructing sentences, students will acquire tools within the context of actively writing.

Pick up a copy today! Better yet, pick up all four…

~Kimberly

When  you learn to write “one true sentence” (in the words of Hemingway) the rest will follow.

A sentence is simply a collection of words that convey an idea. When well-crafted sentences are connected wisely, one after another, ideas grow wider and deeper. But without the basic tools of construction, the parts of speech + punctuation, meaning and communication are lost.

Students in 3rd and 4th grade will begin by reviewing the four types of sentences—Statement, Command, Exclamation, & Question—before moving into the construction zone!

The purpose of learning the parts of speech and the marks of punctuation is to produce well-formed sentences that communicate clearly. And the best way to learn these is to provide opportunities for students to construct their own sentences within a framework.

Your students will not only have fun constructing their ideas using One True Sentence: Parts of Speech & One True Sentence: Punctuation,  but they will enter the zone where writing thrives!

~Kimberly

“I have an IDEA!”

Putting that idea to paper with pencil is not always a simple process.

Great writing begins with an IDEA!. And ideas on paper are always introduced by a first sentence. But sometimes the stress of crafting that first sentence stalls the writer, especially younger student writers.

We’ve all been drilled on the concept of “topic sentence”— that first sentence that sets the stage for the idea at hand. But when the crafting of the topic sentence becomes formalized, it can crush creativity that leads to fluid writing and the development of voice.

We, instead teach our students to craft the HOOK!

The HOOK is simply 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 help students in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade craft a HOOK with three thematic options: Farm Tales, Fairy Tales, and Fun Tales.

Journal writing is an indispensable part of Language Arts. Beyond its academic significance, this activity provides the opportunity to develop important skills. Storymaker is an ongoing opportunity for students to write for real and for creativity to flourish. Each week, students use Story Starters, Setting & Character cards, plus fun objects to create an exciting story HOOK. From there it’s fun and easy to develop that HOOK into an engaging story. Students using Storymaker, during the edit week, learn that having a clear purpose and maintaining focus is achieved by deleting extraneous information and having the courage to rearrange words and sentences to improve meaning, focus, and clarity.

As students practice the art of constructing the HOOK and building a story upon it, they will develop writing skills, confidence, and creativity which will carryover into all other school work.

With Storymaker, students will learn to write in the words of Hemingway, “One true sentence…,” and the rest will follow. Click through to learn more about the crafting of the HOOK.

~Kimberly

“…

I just finished reading a wonderful little novel translated from Korean to English.

Along the way I discovered several little jeweled takeaways about life and language.

The protagonist, Yeongju, abandons the corporate world to follow her dream of opening a neighborhood bookshop. Right up my alley.

In the midst of this adventure she realizes that owning a bookshop involves the art of writing. Again, right up my alley. In time, her blog and social media catches the attention of a newspaper editor who invites her to write a regular column. After writing the first draft of the first installment, she asks a writer friend to proofread. What follows is an absolutely wonderful writing lesson.

Before getting in to it, let’s begin with a refresher:

The definition of a sentence is a set of words that communicates a complete idea, is completely self-contained. A single sentence contains a subject and a predicate and can tell, command, ask, or exclaim. There you have it. Simple, right?  Well, yes, and then again NO.

Student writers should never (not ever) focus on learning all the rules before trying to compose sentences. No, no, no!  But along the way, via both direct instruction and editing, students will learn grammar the meaningful way.

Form follows function. Ideas are what make sentences come to life. Polishing form is a detail that follows idea making.

So in the story, Yeongju is writing that first article about how it feels waiting for customers to fill up her bookstore. She writes the sentence:

The customers were awaited. Awkward, right?

Her writer friend explains why this is grammatically awkward to Yeongju:

“‘Sonnim gidareyeojyeotda—the customers were awaited. The phrasing is awkward.”

“We use the passive form when the subject undergoes an action. So eat becomes eaten. But using the passive form with the verb to wait makes it seem like the the subject, the customers, was undergoing the action of waiting and this is odd” (213).

But what intrigues me is that Yeongju has the tenacity to explain her why she chose this awkward verbiage:

“Sonnim gidaryeotda—I waited for the customers,” doesn’t seem to adequately express the feeling of awaiting customers.  She wanted desperately to convey  the emotion of waiting that she experienced as owner of the bookshop.  Ultimately, it was suggested that she had indeed communicated this in her progression of sentences:

“‘Try reading the essay from the beginning. Your sentences clearly bring across the feeling you hope to express. You’re thinking that you have to put the emphasis in this sentence, right? There’s no need to. Those emotions have been sufficiently conveyed throughout the text. In fact, it’s better to keep this sentence plain'” (214).

This is what I love about books, the unexpected lessons!

Three takeaways from this little passage of reading:

1)  Each sentence we write is a self-contained unit.

2) Each sentence we write exists in community.

3) Always re-read what you write.

~Kimberly

“Before I discovered the miracles of science, magic ruled the world.”

In a single sentence,  the first sentence of chapter one, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William KamKwamba draws us in to the world of his small farming village in Malawi.

One day, William was approached by boys who told him that, while tending the herd animals, they discovered a random sack in the road—a giant sack filled with bubble gum! So begins the drama. The boys shared a handful of gumballs, which William, naturally, devours. When the trader realizes, however, that the bag of gumballs had slipped off his bicycle, he retraced his path. That trader was so upset, he went to the local sing’anga for help. When William got wind of this, he was terrified!

“Now the sweet, lingering memory of it soured into poison on my tongue. I began to sweat; my heart was beating fast. … I began crying so hard I couldn’t move my legs. The tears ran hot down my face, and as they did, the smell of poison filled my nose. It was everywhere inside me. I fled the forest as fast as possible, trying to get away from the giant magic eye. I ran all the way home to where my father sat against the house, plucking a pile of maize. I wanted to throw my body under his, so he could protect me from the devil” (page 4).

What comes next? Well, William’s father to the rescue. He walks 8 kilometers to pay the trader for the entire bag of gumballs which, by the way, amounts to a full week’s pay. No magic involved.

William’s father did not fear magic.

The sentence that begins this wonderful true story of how, when William’s family’s crops fail due to drought, William devises a plan—an idea that would not only benefit his village, but would set him on a journey to Dartmouth.

I know this because because the very first wonderful sentence drew me into the story.

“Before I discovered the miracles of science, magic ruled the world.”

Let’s unpack the sentence:

Before: Well, this word is a preposition (so is “of” by the way).

So the sentence begins with a complex prepositional phrase: Before I discovered the miracles of science, (which is also a dependent clause because it cannot stand alone as a sentence).

The independent clause, magic ruled the world, could actually stand alone as a sentence, though it would be way less intriguing.

Add the dependent clause, to the independent clause and now you have not only contrasting subjects (magic and science), but you have introduced a character and a significant revelation.

Hemingway reminds us: “All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”

One true sentence. Simple. 

~Kimberly