Complete writing lessons for the middle grades

Thenthe lesson shows you, the teacher,how to help students collectandorganizeideas,writearoughdraft, criticizeandrevise writtenmaterial, work onspecific writingslulls, aikl sharethe fini

Complete Hritinfi

Lessen*:;^,.

BeforeYou UseThis Book 4

The Writing Process 6

WritinaSkills Checklist 8

1. In Pursuit ofTrivia Questions 10

2 Just ReportThe Facts .Reports 12

3 Guaranteed Cure . Paraaraphs 16

4 Blueprint ForAn Escape . Expbnations 20

5. But DoesIt Fly? . Directions 24

6. Strange Encounters . Conversations 28

7. What A Character! . CharacterStudies 32

8. Hold YourHorses! . IdiomStories 36

9 What'sUp? . Stories withMultiple Uses of Words 40

10. DetectiveThriller Mifstery Stories 44

12. EerieTales .SpookifStories 52

13. Modem Mother Goose . NewsArticlesandHeadlines 56

14. Aesop Revisited . Fables 60

15 Slightly Stretched TaUTales 64

16. WhitherThe Weather? . Myfhs 68

17. On The Track OfBigfoot Invitations 72

18. You'd BetterWatch Out . Warnings/Posters 76

19 It'sA GreatBuy Advertisements 80

20 Ghastly Giggles . Jokes 84

21 StraightTo The Future Diarif Entries 88

22 To ARoller Coaster . Odes 92

23 OfLizardsand Leprechauns . ColorPoetr^f 96

24 Opulent Opposites .Diamante Poetry 100

25 dutdoor Observations . Poetry/Weathergrams 104

26 Fm Bugged! Poetry/Comp/aints 108

27 ATicklish Matier .Poetry/Cinquains 112

28 Mc Now and Then . Poetry 116

29 So Sorry! . Poetry/ Apologies 120

30 The Up Painted Poetry 124

Cefcre Tcu Use This Deck • • •

For15 years Fvebeenlisteningtoteacherstalkaboutwriting.Fvelearnedtiiatthey're

hungryfor excitingwriting activities. They wantloads ofgreat motivatorsthatvjSihelp studentsstart writing.

However,teachers arejustasinterestedintheentire writingprocess.In fact,move

than anything else, teachers ask for help with the steps that follow the great

motivatingactivity. They want toknow:

• howtogettheirstudents to gatherrawmaterial

• howto get kidsthrough the painful"rough draff*stage

• howto getyoungwriterstoorganizeideasandgiveformto the written piece

• howto getkidstocriticizeand polish theirown (andothers') writing

• howto work ondifferentkinds of writing skills (whichonestowork on and when)

• howto evaluate finished productsand whattodowith them

I wrote IF YOUTO TRYING TO TEACH KIDS HOW TO WRITE, YOLTVE

GOTTA HAVE THIS BOOKlbecauseIbelieve thatteachersmustincludeboththefunactivitiesthat stimulate writingand tfie "heavier"skillsthat include oiganizing,refining,andediting I stillbelievethat.Now,however,teacherswant morethanideas

oranoutlineofthe writingprocess.They wantactuallessons-fromstarttofinish.

Ideasareeasytocomeby,but completedirectionsforimplementingkleasarenotaseasyto find.

COMPLETE WRITING LESSONS FOR THE MIDDLE GRADES is what

teachers have requested Each lessonbe^s with ahigh-interest activitythatwill

motivate writers. Thenthe lesson shows you, the teacher,how to help students

collectandorganizeideas,writearoughdraft, criticizeandrevise writtenmaterial,

work onspecific writingslulls, aikl sharethe finishedproduct

Theselessonsarejustthe beginning.Onceyou*veused them,youH beabletocreate

your own By choosing a topic that sparks the interestof your studentsand by

followingtheformat usedin^sBook,youcanturna topicintoacompletewriting

experience Bythe time youVefinished thisbook,youwillhavegrownasmuchasyourwritersl

Marjorie Frank

4

• licw Tc Use The Lessens

The major premise of this book is tiiis: students leam the writina process best

throuah teacher-directed writinslessons.

Thisdoesn'tmeanthatkids shouldn'twriteontheirown.Theyshouldbe writing in

diariesandjournals, inlearning centers,and onindependentprojects.However,kids

donotleamthewritingprocesseffectivelyunlesssomeoneteachesittothem,stepby

step. Once students know the process, they areable to write ontheirown more

successfully.

Thisiswhytheactivities in thisbookhavebeencreatedasteacher-directed lessons

Eachlessonoffourpages(withtheexceptionofthefirstlessonoftwopages) contains

thefollowingelements:

Pages 1&2:

Teacher Lesson Plan pages These pages explain how to guide writers

througheachstepofthewritingprocessforthespecific activity.(Thisprocess

isexplained onpages6and7.)

Pages3 &4:

StudentPages* and/orExample Pages*

In every lesson you will find one page (in some cases, two) designedfor

students to useas a partof one stage of the process These pagesare not

meanttobegivenout as independentwritingassignments,butaretobeused

asapart ofa teacher-directed lesson

Mostlessonscontcunone pageofexamples.Usetheexamplesto getanideaof

some ofthekindsof finishedproductsthatmightresultfromthelesson.The

examples canalso serveas motivatorsforstudents.Readtheexamplesaloud

togetstudents excitedaboutatopicandtoshow thempossibilities for writing.

* *Y6uhave permission to reproduce anyofthe studentorexample pagesin

quantities sufficient for yourstudents

9

fhe Writina Process

Eachlessonin thisbookincludesthese steps:

Romancing

This step describes a specific activity, discussion, piece of Kterature, or

situationthatwillgetstudentsexcitedaboutawritingformoranidea.(Be sure

tospendplenty oftimeonthis stage.)Whenkidsdon'twantto writeorcan'tthink ofanything tosay, they haven'tbeen "romanced"enough

CoUectins

Thisstepisanextensionofthe ''romancing"stage.Collectingisthemostfun

and mostcreative part of the writingprocess Eachlessonhasquestionstoask, directions to give, and suggestions to make which help writersgatherphrases,words andthoughtsforthe"rawmaterial".Thisstepgoesbyquickly,

socollectplenty ofideas.(Youdon'thavetouseall oftheideas,butyou may choose fromthe assortment.)

Writing

This step will give you precise instructions and questions which will directwritersastheychoose,organize,and combine "rawmaterial"intoawrittenpiece

Praiang

Thisisthestageinwhichgoodwritingtechniques arereinforced.Thepositive

"judging" ofa written piece should notbe omitted Eachlessonplan givesspecificsuggestionsforwhat you cansaytohelp students seethe strengths oftheir writing.Youwillteachyourwriterstosearchforexamplesofgoodwriting

skillsand tocomplimentoneanother on them Forexample:

Thephrase "shimmeringwith ^nce"seta soft, hushed mood.

You chose wonderful "wet" words for this rain poem such as slush, drizzle, slurp, andsoggy

The opening word "Crash!"rca//ygrabbed myinterest.

6

Th& iVriUna'Process

PoEshing

This stepin tiie lesson wiH tell you whattodo, say,andaskto getwriters

reorganizing,refining,andrewritingtheirpieces One ortwospecificediting

skills will be emphasized in each lesson You can also teach kkls to ask

questionsandmakesuggestionsthatarehelpfultootherwriters.For example:

litseems these twosentencessay the same thins.

"Pretty" is such an overused word Why don't you use 'lovely"

instead?

Itfiinfc tMsideamightfitbetterinthe next paragraph

You gave away the ending too soon Could you add ano^er

sentence toincrease thesuspense?

blowing Off

Yougivepurposeanddignitytoapiece of writingvA\enyouprovidea wayfor

writerstosharewhatthey'vewritten.Eachlessonsuggestsoneormore ways

to ''showofTthe students'writing.

NOTE

Be sure to instructstudents to check andcorrectgrammar, speBng,and

mechanicsat the "polishing"stage ofeachpiece

Writina Skills Checklist

Substituting strongerwords (morecolorful, morespecific)

Replacing inactiveverbswith active ones

Eliminatingredundancies

Rearran^ng words \Mthina sentence

Expandingsentences toinclude more detail

Addingsentences to givemore detail

Rearrangingsentencesfor betterclarity

Rearran^ngsentencesforbettersequence

Rearrangingsentencesforadifferent meaningorsound

Writingstrong, "catchy"tities

ChangingendingsCreatingsmashingbeginnings

Eliminatingrepetitive ideasorwords

Eliminatingunnecessaryideas or words

Eliminatinglong sentencesDecidingif the written pieceaccomplishesthe purposeAddingwordsor phrasesthat createacertzdnmood

Varying sentence lengthand structure

Strengtheningand varyingtransitionsElinunatingoverused words,phrases, andcliches

Addingmore interestingwords

Includingwords thatconvince

Adaptingthecontentandform to fit theaudienceRearrangingideas to changeoutcomes

Examiningpiecesfor clarity

Examiningpiecesforeffectiveness

Examining readerappeal

The Writina

Lessens

• triviagameappropriate forstudents

• textbooksand resourcebooks

• index cards

Romancing

• Have the class play a triviagame

Divide the class into teamsoffiveplayers each Each team may

consultoneach answer

• After playing, let the students

examineseveralgamecardstosee

howthequestionsandanswersare

written.Pointoutthevariety inthekindsofquestionsandanswers

• Using one textbook (science, forinstance), work together to find interesting bits of infonnnation.

Havetheclassusethe informatk>n

to writetriviaquestions

CoOecting

Agreeonfiveorsixcategories (use thoseon page 11orsubstitute others)

Then let students work in pairs tocollectfactsfrom textbooksand otherresources.Studentsshouklwritetfiefactsonscrappaperandlabeleachwiththe appropriate category

Writing

• Distributetiiestudentpage"AQuestion OfTrivia"(page11).Studentsmay

usetheircollected facts to writequestionsandanswers.(You maychooseto

makechangesinthecategories.)

Praisins

• Eachpairtrades^etswith anotiier pair ofwriters.Havetiiestudentslookfor

exampleswhichask questionsclearly.

• Point out varietyin sentence structure and intheformatofquestionsand

answers

Pofishing

• Ifthereareanyquestionsthataretoo long orconfusing>haveeachpairwoxic

toshorten,clarify,oraddsufficient information

• Tellthe students torevieweachquestion,makingsureit isnottooobscure or

difficult

lowing Off

• Haveeachstudentuseindex cardstomake twotriviacards(questionson one

sideandanswersonthe other)

• Havethe studentsputthecardsinabox.Nowtheclasshasa custom-made

game!

Ju§t CepcrtThe Facts

Materials

• icecreamcones (optional)

• markers or crayons

Romancins

• Distributecopiesof thestudentpage "The ke CreamIhcidenf(page 14),and

talkaboutwliatishappeninginthe sceneson tiie page

• Have the students read the report that accompanies die picture. Work

togetherto''clean up"the report,makingitatruthfulaccount

• find anddelete incorrect information

' eliminate opinionsandconjectures

- puteventsinpropersequence

CoOectins

• Handout copiesof thestudentpage "AtTheBalloonRace"(page 15).Have

the studentsjotdownphrasesthatbrieflydescribe theeventsshown

Writins

1) Students may use their collected ideas to make rouglh outlines of the

happeningsatthe balloonrace

2) Havethe students reviewtheiroutlinestomakesure the events are inalogtealorder

3) Then,followingtheir outlines,students should begin towriteclear,accurate,

and objective reportsof thecontest

12

• Lookforphrasesandwords whichgiveaclearorcolorfuldescription ofwhatishappening.

• Pointoutvariety in the sentence structure within the reports

• Studentsmay use markers orcrayonsto color the scenes.Letthestudents

trade reports witheach otherto shareandcompare

1^

The Ice Cream Incident

Alotoficecream wasspreadalloverthesidewalkwhen a manwithabignosewasnotwatchingwhere he wasgoing.The man hadalarge stacl< ofcreampiesonhis bicycle.Mr

McCurdy, aportiymanuntha moustache, wentintotheicecreamparlorandorderedan

icecream conewithaxdips.Heshouldn'tliavebeeneatingsomuchicecream.Justthena

newsreporterpulledupinfront of theparlor.Mr.McCurdypaidfor his icecreamandleftthestore. He wasgoingaround thecomertogetinto hiscarwhenthemanwiththepies

ranintohim frombehind Thepiescrashed to theground wereruined

At The Callcen l^ace

YOO Mt£ A ^1TWES5 VPRlTE VOOR REPOPT HEI«.

I?

• collections of American folklore (optional)

• drawing paper,markers, pencils,crayons

Romancing

Read aloud some "cures" from tfie examplepage.(Youcanfindmore"cures"incdlections

of folklore in the Hbiary.)

Letthe students share other "cures"orhome

remedies with which they are familiar.

CoQectins

• Work as a group to make the following two

lists. (The student page "AbsolutelyGuaranteed,Money-BackCure"(page 18) vmOI

help you.)1) ailments or problems tiiat may bonierpeople

2) crazy or unusual kieas for cures or

Solutions

Wrttins

Praising

Writersmaychoosetouse the collected Ideas

to write oned thefollowing:

• aparagraph ortwoexpkdninghowtocure

one ailment

• several short paragrai^about different

cures

Comment on unusual, originalcures

Point out interesting and varied sentence

structure

16

GUA?.Ay^f THAT TVllS

VvJ\LL CA;^^ 90E^ AlLKAtMT

KNO^A]^i 1^ - AMP

BJBJ 5DI^t THAT HA\}^WT

BEEM PISCOMEREP net,

• Askthestudentsthe following questions.Haveyoutoldthereaderwhat

ttheremedyis? Have yourelatedhowtopreparetheremedy,howtouse

it,and whentoexpectresults? Instructthestudentstoadd moredetails, if

necessary

ShowingOff

• Studentscan usedrawingpaperandartsupplies toillustrate^eircures

• Compile the written pieces and illustrations to make a class mediaJ

Absolutely Guaranteed^ Hcney-Eack Cure

Hereare some examples ofailments orconditions Tryadding more

freckles measles . indecision

curly hair oldage hiccups

chicken pox

Here are some remedies for various ailments

Add yourownideas

Spreada mixture ofmud on yourface.

Wrap a wet sockaround yourneck

Stand on yourheadfacinga greenwallfor

twohours

Rub cooked oatmeal on your stomach

Wear yourclothes insideout

Swallowa live goldfish.

Wash yourhairin wallpaperpaste

Walk backward on yourknees

ffyour earis ringing,checktoseeifthe doorbellor

phoneis ringing Ifnot, yourears aretellingyouthat

someone is talking about you Stickafinger in your

ear.ThisvMcausethegosaptobite hisor her tongue

ffyousufferfromheadaches,here'swhat you mustdo Cover

yourheadwithcoolyogurtandrestbesidearipplingstream.After

an hour,wash your headin the stream Ifthatdoesn'thelp,ask

someoneto give youa hardkickintheshins. Thiswillmake you

forget thatyour headhurts!

ffnosebleedstrouble you, one ofthese remediesissure tohelp.Haveagorillapinch

your nosefor10 minutes,or standonyourheadandsing"YankeeDoodle".Youcanalsotry puttinganicecubeonthe big toeofyourright foot Ifnoneoftheseremedies work,fry

someonionsandholdyourheadoverthepan.Sniffingthefumesshouldcausethebloodto

hardenimmediately

tfyou wanttogetridofacne,thisadvicewill

help.Rest20minuteseachdaywithwetlettuceleaves on your forehead, or spread cream

cheeseon yourface.You mayalsowash your

face each morningwithprunejuice Ifyoustill

have trouble, glue a chocolate chip to each

blemishonyourfacesothatnoonewillnotice

acnel

1,^^^'^^ \ • Readaloud"How To GetBubbleGum Out Of Your

• Next, read "QuitMonkeyingAround** (page 23),and

letthe students suggestwaysthatSusan maygetout

oiherpredicament The studentsmayinvent serious

oroutrageouslysilly solutions.

Collecting

• Brainstorm togethertocreatealistofprecarious predicaments

• Generatealistofwords andphrases(see theexamplesbelow)thataregood

for describing confusion,danger, or seemingly unsolvable problems

peril impossible hopeless

fretfullyclose time's runningout exhausted

Writing

1) Have each studentchoose oneofthe collected kleas(oranewidea) foraprecariousatuation

2) Instruct each student to write a description of a

predicament, explaining how the persons involved

may remedythe situation.

3) Each student shouldchoose atitle forthe description

u^ch gives the reader an immediate "feel** forthe

urgency ofthe situation.

Help the students keep their descriptions from

being too long by instructing them to eliminate

unnecessaryinformation

Instructthestudentstoadd wordsor phrasesto

make the situations funnier, scarier, more

ridiculous,ormore surprising.

Showing Of!

• Have each student recopy his or her polisheddescriptiononthestudentpage"IsThereA WayOut?"(page22),andaddanillustrationin thespot

provided

G)mpilethe pagestomakea volumeof'liow to

escape ** tales.Studentscanbrainstormtofind

anappropriate titleforthe collectionoftales.

2t

Is There A Way Cut?

SfudHctToji-tiow To eet Cubble Gum

Cut Cf Tour Armpit

When you fall asleep with gum in your mouth and

wake up with gum in yourarmpit, you've gottrouble!

This advicemighthelp.Rubicecubes onthegum,or use

anerasertorub out^ gum.Turpentinemighthelp to

diseolvetiie stickymessi If allelsefails,you canalways

cut outthegum. tfyoufind that solution too extreme,

however,justwear aslingandpretendthatyouhavea

brokenaim!

Cuit Menkeyina Around

Susan shoukln'tliave beensocloseto the cage

All the signs at thezoo warnedhernottofeed theanimals and not to go beyond the railing,but shefound the gorillas so fascinating. They pounded

rhythmically on their bristled chests, swung from

branches, wiggled their backsides at the visitors,

and shookalloverwithexcitementwhenIhecrowd

cheered The big gorilla, Gonzola, seemed to

beckon Susancloser.She wassureheliked her.She

never considered thathemightbeinterestedinthe

giantboxofcaramelcominher hand

Susandidn't mean to break the rules. She only

wantedtoedge alittlecloser toGonzolabystepping

aroundtheendof therail,biaflashhehadcrammed

liis hand into her caramel com When he pulled

back,hisfingersgot stuckinherlonghair. Before

shecouldfigureoutwhatwashappening,Gonzola'sliarkisandherhairwere tangledinamess dtoggycaramel com As his struggle to be free became

wikler, Susan'shairbecame more tangled

How can Susangetoutofthismess?

2?

5 Cut Dees It riy ?

Materials

• wWte typing paper

• scissors, pens,and markers

• assorted books on paperairplaneconstruction(optional)

• Distribute copies of the studentpage "^Super Glider**(page26),andasktfie

studentsto followthe directionstomake gliders.

• Whenthe glidershavebeen made and tested,focusagainonthedirections.

Discussthekindsofinstructionsthatneedtobe ^ven whentellingsomeone

howtomake something

• Havethestudentsunfoldtheiroriginalairplanecreations,andaskthestudent8

tojotdownideas,phrases,and steps thatareimportanttotheconstruction

phase

• Lookfor directions thatare understandableandconcise.

• Comment oncreative, unique names

Polishins

• Have the students exchange directions to see if the

directions are complete, students find the directionsconfusing, theyshouldadddetails or rearrangesteps forbettersequence

• Have the studentseliminate unnecessary words

ShovringOff

• Instructthestudentsto unfoldtheirairplanesandto writepolished directionsonthem

• Each studentcanname anddecorate hisorher plane

• Let the studentsfly their planes at the same time Each

student shouldtrytocatch one plane

• Each student then follows the directions written on theplane tomake a copyof the plane

Extial Extra!

• To extend this activity, have the students create

metaphorsor phrasesabout theirplanes For example:

soars through theair likea pop-fly softball swiftasa rocket

^ streakinglike aspeeding train

crashingwithacrunch

• F^ve-the students write the phrases on their planes

Suspendthe planesfrom theceiling withstringorfishing

line.

25"

Super Glider Directions

6 Stranfie Enccu titers

Materials

• large drawing orcutoutoftwo orthree strange creatures (seestudent

pages 30and 31for ideas)

• poster board, markers, scissors,glue

Romancing

• Place the''aliens'*you've made infront of theroom

• Talk with theclassaboutthe placesfrom where thealiensmighthave

1) Gveeachstudentcopiesofthetwostudentpages"StrangeEncounters"

(page30),and ''More Strange Encounters" (page31).

2) Foreach encounterpictured,thestudents shouldwriteadialogueinside

theballoons

3) Eachstudentshouldchooseonec onversationfrom each pageandwritea

paragraph below the picture which includes the dialogue, properly

- whatthe creaturesmight

wanttoknowabouthumans

Writing

Ptaising

• Comment oninterestingand clever conversations

• Lookforvariety in tlie sentence structure of the dialogue

Polishing

• Have the students rearrange words and change punctuation, if

necessary, until alldialogue iswrittencorrectiy.

• Studentsmay add moredialogue totheirparagraphsinordertomakethe

conversations complete

• Help them rearrange words arxl phrases to make the sentences

interestinganddifferent.Makesureevery sentencedoesnotbeginorend

with **he said"or "shesaid".

SliowingOff

• Theclassmayuse posterboardandotherartsuppliestocreatestrange

creatures

• Studentsmayusetheircraftedcreaturestodevelop shortdramasbased

on theirwritten conversations,or theymayusethe creaturestomakea

bulletin board display showing their strange encounters (with written

dialogue)

Stranae Enceu titers

7 What A Character!

Materials

• drawing paperandfine-pointmarkers

• scissorsand slue

Romancing

• Give eachstudenta copy d &estudentpage''ACase OfNfistakenIdentity"

(page34).

• Give^estudentsplentyoftime tochoosethe faceparts,todrawthefaces of

the suspects,andtoadd an originalfaceanddescription.

• Let the students shareand compare their finished faces.

• Pirovidethe class withpapersothatthestudentsmay make uptheirown

Ident-I-Kits.

• When the studentsfinish makingtheir Ident-I-Kits, tiieyshouldeachchoose

oneface partfromeachcolumntouseincreatingacharacteronlargedrawing

paper

Cdlecting

• Guide the students through each step on tfie studentpage "What's h AFace?" (page 35), and help them gather raw material for a character

description(of thecharacterthey*ve justdrawn)

• As they write character descriptions on individual papers, make a fist ofcharacteristics onthe chalkboard This willhelpthestiidentsgeneratetheir

own ideas.

Charachr SiudCes

Writing

1) Guidetiiestudentsinchoodngideas(fromthenumberedcategoriesonpage

35)for outlinesof theircharacter studies.

2) Have the students work from their outlines to create descriptions of the

persons whose facestheydrew (The above topicsmay bearrangedinany

order AU need not be included.) Encourage the students to worka short

anecdote or story into their descriptions to give readers a flavor for the

characters

3) Eachstudentmay add atitle to the description

• Lookforwords andphrases thatgiveaclearpicture ofthe person

• Pointoutsentencesthatmakethecharacterseeminteresting,outlandish,or

believable.

• Instructthe studentsto delete unnecessary oruninterestingdetails.

• Studentsmay addactive veibs tohelpdescnbe their characters

• Have the studentsaddorsubstitute vivid descriptive words andphrasesto

build clearerportraitsof theircharacters

• Let the studentsdisplaytheir finisheddescriptionswith theirdrawings

• Youmightwant to have the studentsdisplaytheir finisheddescriptionsand

drawings separately. Let the students tryto match the characterswiththe

m MKS.MORKy p£SC^B£0 IPA yn^Pie, THB IWUe- girl who HEWEP TUE OlQ.'n.

its MR ViMViBi^ J>escKj8ep AtR SHofnr, THE \}icr?K/\.

Kilii TRMBSiettTVescaBBP -Bl^cKte BUJE, TUB KEAL T^/cKPGCfCer

4 55

A Case €f Histaken Identity

AfterleavingthebarbershopMondaynight,Mr Shortt'svualletwas stolen.He

caughta shadowyglimpse of the fleeing culprit. A little girl with curly hair and

glasses offered tocallthe police. Thepolicequestioned theentireneighborhood

andfound three witnesses

Use the Ident-I-Kit and the witnesses*descriptionstodrawthesuspect.Can

youidentic thereal pickpocket?

THE CULPRIT HAP AM mi

FACE WITH E^ES,

5qi;are face ^acrevo

TlNY.Limfi EVE^ AfJPA

N05E WITH URGE NOJIRItS

HIS MOUTH WAS SET IN

jp0OT-I-icrr

74

Whars In A Face?

**-TDl2M KAE OFSJOEDOUJN. VOHAT POVOO ME,TOO.^

Lookcarefullyattheface you'vedrawn

1. Write phrases orwords thatdescribeeach part ofthe faceyou've drawn

2. Write ideasand phrasestodescribe the bodyappearance, size, interesting

mannerisms,and dressof the character

3. Jot down things the charactermightdo -work,activities,hobbies, habits,

placeshe/she mightvisit, etc.

4. Write phrasesabout thecharacter's familyanchor friends.

5. Think aboutthe character'spersonality.Jotdownphrases,words,andideas

to describe the character'stemperament, moods,outlook onlife, etc.

6. Writeseveral possiblenamesforthe character

J

^-8 field Tcur licrses!

• Gveeachstudenta copyof the studentpage"IsThere ASkeleton la

YourQoset?" (page38),andhave the class read the story together

• Talkto the classaboutidioms, (kiiom •agroup of wordsthathavean

"understood" meaning which is different fromthe meaning the words

appearto have.)

• Have thestudentsidentifyand"translate**the idiomsInthe story.

• Givethestudentstimetoillustiateoneoftheidiomsfromthestoryon^

space providedonthe student page

Collecting

• Asaclassorinsmallgroups,havethestudents brainstormtomake afist

of idioms

• Students may take turns writing the idioms on the idiom muralwith

markers orcrayons The idioms shouldbewritten largeenoughtobe

seen from anyspotinthe room

?6

Stories Q/id:aincn^ idUms

Writing

1)

2)

Praising

Letthestudentsworkasagroup,individually,orinpairsto

composestories whichcontain severalidioms

Guide the writingbymakingthese suggestions

• Qioose one idiomas the "theme** of the story. (For

example, write a story explaining how and why someoneis "in the doghouse'*.)

• Choose five or more idioms from the mural which

mightfit into the story.

• Start writingthe storyand add the idiomsas^yfit

intothe plot.

• Trytouseanidiominthe finalsentence

• Use anidiomin the title of the story, if possible.

Lookfor cleverand interesting usesof idioms

Pointouteffectivebeginningsandendings

Comment oninteresting titles.

Polishing

• Havethestudentsexaminetheir storiesforclarity.Instruct

them to rearrangeorreplace sentences untilthe storyis

clear.

SliowingOff

• Students may drawcleverillustrationsfor their stories.

• Providea timeand placeforthestudentstouse thetape

recordertorecordtheir stories.Compileallthedrawingsto

makeabooklet.Place thebookletbythetaperecorderso

the studentscanlookfortheappropriatedrawingsas they

list^toeachstory. (Label thetapesanddrawingssothat

tiie studentswill beable tomatch them.)

jftVt

m

Is There A Skeleton In Tour Closet?

EveryonethinksFmthebigcheeseinmath.TherealtruthisthatIhavetobeatmy

brainsoutto setgoodshades.Todaythecatgot outofthebag -everyonesawright

through me.

Todayvuasaterribleday.Iwas downinthedumpsfromtheminuteIgotoutofbed

Thefirstthing thatIthoughtaboutwasthemathtestthatIwouldhavetotakeat1:00.

Mystudyinglastnightwasn'tworthahillofbeans,andIknewI'dbeinapretty pickle

vA)£nIgottomathclass, ffthatwasn'tbadenough,mylittlebrotherkeptgettinginmy

hairduringbreakfast Mom was madderthanawethen when mylittlebrotherarxl I

gotintoabigfight.Shealmostbitour headsoff 1WhenI leftforschoolitwasraining

catsarxldogs Mybikeslippedoutfrom underme and I bit the dust!

WhenI finallygot toschool,themathteacherwasprettyburnedupbecausenone

of usturned inour homework When he handed outthe test, I vn&sshakinginmy

boots.(IknowIblewit! ) Ikeptastiffupperlipat school,butIneededtoblowoffsome

steam.Iheldmytongueuntil Imadeittomy roomwhereIcouldscreammyheadoff

andthrowthings.Oneofmyshoeswentthrough thewindow,and now Fmreally in

the doghouse!

How manyidiomscan youfind inthe story? Underlinethem

Usethisspace todraw apicture of the literal meaningofone ofthe idioms

IK) HoOfl 500TS

UFPBH

UP

• large pieces of poster board or muial paper

(preferably in bright colors) with one of the

following wordswritteninthe centerofeach:

OUT SET BACK DOWN TIME FOOT

Romancing

• Distributecopiesofthestudentpage''What'sUp, Doc?" (page 42).

• Readthestory together.Give^estudentsafew

minutes to underline and/or countthedifferent

usesof the word"up"

• Brainstorm together to add other uses of Hie

word"up"

CoUecting

Havethe classworktogether togatherasmany

usesas they can for the word "out" Write^e

useson the OUTposter

Have the class create a short paragraph whichusesseveral of the collected phrases

Have the students break into small groups to

collect usesforeach of the otherwordson tiie

posters The studentsshould write the usesfor

thewords ontheappropriate posters.They may add uses to the OUTposter, too

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