Realistic
Fiction
Achievement First Elementary Writing 2009‐10
Summary
:
In
this
five
‐
week
unit,
you
will
continue
to
focus
on
the
narrative
genre,
now
looking
at
realistic
fiction
where
the
character,
setting
and
story
are
believable
and
could
be
true.
Both
personal
experience
narratives
(which
are
highly
descriptive
stories
about
an
experience
of
the
main
character)
and
character/problem/solution
narratives
(which
focus
on
the
events
and
how
the
character
changes
or
grows)
can
be
realistic
fiction
narratives.
Spend
some
time
talking
about
what
makes
something
realistic,
sort
characters,
settings
and
plots
into
realistic
and
not
realistic
categories,
and
develop
some
key
questions
your
scholars
should
always
ask
themselves
before
writing
their
stories
to
make
sure
they
are
realistic.
(Some
ideas
are
in
the
“Helpful
Resources”
section
below.)
Help
your
scholars
to
develop
realistic
story
‐
critical
characters,
settings
and
objects
through
questioning
and
imagining
themselves
as
the
main
characters.
This
unit
is
heavily
focused
on
elaborative
detail,
and
getting
it
right.
Simply
telling
your
writers
to
“add
more
detail”
to
their
story
can
lead
to
the
addition
of
irrelevant,
general,
or
off
‐
topic
details
which
take
away
from
the
story
rather
than
add
to
it.
Be
explicit
in
your
instructions
and
how
you
model
the
use
of
elaborative
detail,
and
continue
to
look
at
examples
of
powerful
elaborative
detail
in
mentor
texts.
Define
extraneous
detail,
and
work
to
remove
such
detail
from
passages
and
from
their
writing.
Focus
on
the
main
event
of
your
story,
through
the
use
of
suspense
to
lead
to
the
main
event,
and
through
using
specific
strategies
to
develop
it
fully.
Standards
Taught
to
Mastery
Assessment
I. Ideas and Content
A.3 ‐ Writing does not include extraneous details (student can find and remove information that is not relevant to the
sentence/paragraph)
B.3 ‐ Identify or include supporting details
B.4 ‐ Identify or exclude extraneous material
B.5 ‐ Find and fix repetition of exact same words/phrase B.6 ‐ Find and fix redundancy or same idea
V. Sentence Fluency
A.3 ‐ Sentence beginnings are varied
A.5 ‐ Sentence structure is varied
By the end of this unit, scholars should have worked at least 3 drafts through the revising and editing process to publication. They should have written in their writing journals frequently.
At the end of the unit, one piece of writing for each scholar
should be graded against the AF 6‐traits Rubric for GR2, which
you can find on the shared server: C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > 6 - T r a i t s R u b r i c s 2 0 0 9 - 1 0 The documents referenced below can be found within unit 2 resources on the shared server:C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g U n i t s 2 0 0 9 -1 0 > G r a d e 2 > U n i t 2 - - T h e W r i t i n g P r o c e s s > A s s e s s m e n t
Continue to think about exit tickets that might be appropriate for your writers. If your aims are focused and bite‐sized, you should be able to assess it within the lesson. Have scholars highlight or circle the part of their writing that attends to your
aim. Use a targeted observation checklist where information is
gathered during partner sharing time or through quick mini‐
conferences involving you roaming the room and asking
pertinent questions of your scholars’ writing.*
Add to your writing standards checklist from the last unit (update this one from last unit with to include the current
standards).*
If you have not begun to conference and workshop with your
scholars, this is the unit to do so! Use an intervention plan, conference notes page, workshop plan, and student profile page
for planning and record keeping.*
*These documents are the same as previous units.
Dates
to
Note
Writing IA2 is to be administered during the second week of this unit, from 12/1 to 12/3 (the week after Thanksgiving break). Please refer to the IAs tips sheet (C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > I A M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g > T i p s S h e e t , A t h e n a R e f e r e n c e G u i d e) for information regarding how to administer and grade the IAs. The prompt genre for grade 2 will be Personal Narrative.
If you use the writing units’ calendars, this unit will run from 11/23 to 12/23. (These can be found on the shared server:
C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g U n i t C a l e n d a r s .
Suggested
Skills
Differentiate between personal experience narrative and character/problem/solution narrative and Recognize that character/problem/solution narrative stories focus on the character and how they struggle, grow and change:
Your scholars are very familiar with writing personal experience narratives which are based on their own experiences. In this unit
you will expand their knowledge of the narrative genre to include personal experience narratives and character/problem/solution
Realistic
Fiction
experience narrative is one which describes the experience or adventure of the main character, not necessarily the author, and is
filled with sensory details and descriptions. A character/ problem/solution narrative describes the character and how they grow,
struggle or change, focusing on a problem and how they solve it for themselves. Explore mentor texts in both of these sub‐genres, and allow your scholars to expand their writing within the narrative genre to both of these. You can read about the genres on the shared server: C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g U n i t s 2 0 0 9 - 1 0 > G r a d e 2 > U n i t 4 - - R e a l i s t i c F i c t i o n > R e s o u r c e s, or refer to the Empowering Writers’ book, The
Comprehensive Narrative Writing Guide, from page 9 for more information on the genres and some activities to compare and
contrast the narrative sub‐genres.
Use the narrative writing diamond (tool): If you have not done so already, you should introduce your scholars to the narrative writing diamond. It serves as a great visual anchor for scholars as they compose a narrative story, reminding them of the various elements they need to include in each section of their story. Find a copy of it and some explanatory notes on the shared server:
C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g U n i t s 2 0 0 9 - 1 0 > G r a d e 2 > U n i t 4 - - R e a l i s t i c F i c t i o n > R e s o u r c e s .
Develop believable characters with struggles and motivations and Imagine stories and write “discovery drafts” in which we imagine ourselves in the character’s skin: This unit calls for a shift in thinking, from personal stories being the basis for writing to creating stories that are not true, but believable. Time for idea generation, thinking and talking through ideas before writing is still very important. Help your scholars to really flesh out their characters, thinking through every aspect of them from their appearance to their relationships and motivations. Scaffold this learning with character profiles, or allow writing partners to interview one another about their characters, asking questions to help the writer develop the character fully. Once the character takes shape, you need to think about scenes for a story which show these character traits. Although this book is for grades 3‐5, Lucy Calkins
addresses fiction writing in her book Writing Fiction: Big Dreams, Tall Ambitions, and sessions 1 through 7 are focused on generating ideas for fiction stories, character development, using “show, don’t tell”, and drafting a story. There are many great ideas that would be appropriate for your grade 2 writers.
Focus on asking detail generating questions relating to story critical characters, setting and objects to generate elaborative detail: The majority of your standards for this unit relate to the inclusion of relevant details, and the first step to adding details that truly add to a piece is to identify the elements of the story that deserve elaboration. For example, students can often add a list of adjectives in front of a noun, or tell about something that is not important to the story, but these details ultimately take away from the story. Focus on story critical characters, setting and objects, and ask detail‐generating questions about them with a writing
partner to help to flesh them out. Utilize planning time, and create character, setting or object templates which help to develop
details and ideas they could use in their writing. Read some more about such questions, and find example templates, on the shared server: C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g U n i t s 2 0 0 9 - 1 0 > G r a d e 2 > U n i t 4 - - R e a l i s t i c F i c t i o n > R e s o u r c e s .
Increase sentence variety by flipping the sentence subject when adding elaborative detail: The other focus in this unit from a standards perspective is on sentence fluency. A simple, but very effective technique for increasing sentence fluency and variety is flipping the sentence subject. Your scholars should be familiar with the components of a sentence, namely subject and predicate, and be able to identify each within a sentence. Flipping the sentence subject means just that: take the subject and flip it to the other side of the sentence. This avoids the “broken record” style of writing which can result from adding elaborative detail to a character, setting or object. For example, a scholar might write: She had long, black, curly hair. She had sparkling green eyes. She had a white fur coat. By taking the subject and flipping it to the front of the sentence, the writing transforms into something like this: Long, black, curly hair fell over her shoulders. Sparking green eyes twinkled at me. A white fur coat hung from her petite
shoulders. Read more about this concept, and find some resources to practice with in class, in the Empowering Writers Complete
Narrative Guide, from page 194.
Recognize and ask questions to elaborate on the components of a main event: action, description, dialogue/exclamation and thoughts/feelings (sound effect) and Begin to stretch out main event using these strategies: You have slowly been building skills in the area of elaboration pertaining to the main event, firstly by focusing on small moment writing and finding the most important
part of your story. Next, you compared fully elaborated main events with summaries, and worked to create elaboration through
revealing the feelings of a character. The next step is to work through some other specific strategies you can use to fully elaborate the main event of a narrative story. The main event in a personal narrative story can, at first, seem to be rather ordinary, because young writers tend to write from their own experience. Therefore, the task of the writer is to take the ordinary and make it extraordinary by looking at it closely, stretching it out and adding the thoughts and feelings of the main character. And in realistic fiction, they can embellish the truth, and add entertaining elements to their story. The main event in a character/problem/solution narrative focuses around one question: What could possibly go wrong? This can be hard for young writers, as adults often solve
Realistic
Fiction
Achievement First Elementary Writing 2009‐10
stories are made up of a balance of these elements: action (ask, “What did you do?”. Tell it in slow motion and stretch it out),
description (ask, “What did you see, hear, feel?”), thoughts/feelings (ask, “What were you wondering, worrying, feeling?”),
dialogue/exclamation (ask, “What did you say or exclaim?”), and just for fun, a sound effect (ask, “What did you hear?”). Read
more about the main event in the Empowering Writers Complete Narrative Guide from page 255.
From unit 3: Begin to stretch the main idea/event by adding elaborative detail: In the previous unit, you worked on small moment writing. This unit, focus on the concept that this small moment is the main event in their story – the most important part – and they should work hard on making it the biggest section of their story. Change your planning templates to illustrate this point, with
the beginning and conclusion sections being smaller than the middle (think about the narrative diamond). Further, you want to
teach your scholars that the beginning and end of their story should be close to the main event, and support its content. You will be working on elaborative detail, and much of the focus in this area will be around the main event of the story. You can further help scholars to plan their writing using a pre‐writing summarizing framework and show them how to make sure these areas are connected. See the mentor texts section for some books which illustrate this concept of the main idea being the most important part of the story. Looking more at elaboration, build on the important pre‐work you did last unit for including elaborative detail through identifying story critical characters, setting and objects which deserve detail, what feelings look like (show, don’t tell), and exploring general details as opposed to specific details. This unit you will build on that knowledge base and add elaborative detail to the all‐important main event. If you haven’t done so already, you can begin by listening to comparing summary main events with fully elaborated versions, and helping scholars to use their senses to identify the details they include. Next, model how to create detailed main events , starting with a summary and adding elaborative detail. You can then teach your scholars some specific ways to elaborate their stories by teaching them how to show what character is feeling, and asking specific detail‐generating questions. There is an explanation and group of activities related to elaborative detail, (which was included in the last unit overview also), as well as the above linked resources, on the shared server: C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g U n i t s 2 0 0 9 - 1 0 > G r a d e 2 > U n i t 3 - - E d i t i n g a n d R e v i s i n g w i t h N a r r a t i v e S t o r i e s > R e s o u r c e s . Lucy Calkins also addresses “show, don’t tell” in sessions 8 and 9 of The Craft of Revision, “Showing, Not
Telling” and “Learning More About Showing Not Telling”.
Study suspense and the tools author’s use to create it: story questions, word referents, the magic of 3 and red flag words: A sense of anticipation and suspense is what hooks the reader and moves the story into the main event. Suspense raises questions in the readers mind, and creates worry or wonder for both the character and the reader. Suspense can be frightening, but it can also be the tension or sense of anticipation in a story. Explore some ways that authors create suspense such as the following:
Story Questions: These can be raises directly (have the main character raise the question, to worry or to wonder) or indirectly (telling the reader only part of what is going on, or hinting at something, and raising questions in their mind). For example: Jayden couldn’t believe his eyes. What on earth could be in the huge, wrapped package that Grandma held in her arms?
Word Referents: This method teases the reader by not revealing what “it” is, and describing a story critical character, setting, or object without naming it. For example, instead of writing, “I saw a dragon in the cave”, use word referents to create a text such as this, “The creature was huge and dark as night. It made a soft rumbling sound. I could feel the beast’s hot breath on my face.” The Magic of 3: This involves using a series of 3 sensory hints (involving any of the senses), with the third leading to a revelation. For example: 1. You hear a noise. You look. Nothing. You dismiss it. 2. You see a fleeting shadow. You try to work out what it could be. You start to worry. 3. You feel something brush past you. You turn and look. There it is!
Red Flag Words: These are words which authors use to grab the readers attention (particularly to introduce each hint within the magic of 3 technique, but also with story questions and word referents), such as: Suddenly, Just then, All of a sudden, A moment later, In the blink of an eye, Without warning, Instantly, The next thing I knew, To my surprise. Read more about suspense and find
some great resources to use with your class in the Empowering Writers Comprehensive Narrative Guide, from page 215.
Find and remove extraneous detail from passages: You have looked into general and specific details, and have explored how the elements of a story should link (with the beginning happening close to the main event of the story, and the conclusion being a brief summary). Work with your scholars now to find and remove detail that does not add to a passage or a story, or is extraneous. This detail could be the type which elaborates on something that is not important to the story, or detail which is just random and takes the story off topic for a moment. Find some example passages which illustrate powerful vs. general or extraneous detail in the
Empowering Writers Comprehensive Narrative Writing Guide from page 82. Work on simple editing skills which look for repetition
of words, phrases or ideas also, as these are extraneous details which distract the reader from the importance of the story.
Build Stamina: Continue to work on building writing stamina, making sure your scholars have a clear picture of what independent writing should look, sound and feel like in your classroom. Stamina should be slowly built up, and by the end of the year your scholars should be writing independently for at least 25 minutes at a time. (Lucy Calkins speaks about “when you’re done, you’ve
Realistic
Fiction
Mentor
Texts
The best mentor texts are those which the teacher knows and loves, and can share with scholars again and again. These
repeated readings will give scholars familiarity with the details of a story, and will give them the opportunity to enjoy reading it first as a reader, then see it again with the eyes of a writer. Select examples of your favorite age‐appropriate texts from your classroom library to share with the class. Do not feel obliged to use the books on this list if you have your own favorites.
Personal Experience Narratives (same as those presented in unit 1)
Don’t Mention Pirates by Sarah McConnell
Scarecrow by Cynthia Rylant
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems
Barn Dance by Bill Martin Jr.
How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long and David Shannon
I’m Gonna Like Me: Letting of a Little Self‐Esteem by Jamie Lee Curtis Night Noises by Mem Fox
Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
We’re going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan
Roxaboxen by Barbara Cooney
A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams Cherries and Cherry Pits by Vera B. Williams Something Special for Me by Vera B. Williams Peter’s Chair by Ezra Jack Keats
The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola
Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs by Tomie dePaola (be warned: one nana dies)
Fireflies by Julie Brincklow
The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
Character/Problem/Solution Narratives A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson
Bedhead by Maggie Palatini
Brave Irene by William Steig
Carla’s Sandwich by Debbie Herman
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andrea and Guy Parker Rees Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini
The Snow Bear by Miriam Moss
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
The Egg by M.P. Robertson
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Noble
Elaborative Detail
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen (appeals to the senses to build content) Fireflies! by Julie Brickloe (very small moment focused)
The Witches, or The BFG, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory…or any number of books by Roald Dahl contain wonderful, rich descriptive segments, often of the character, illustrating “show, don’t tell”
Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes (use of descriptions and details using the “power of three)
Crab Moon by Ruth Horowitz (stretching out a small moment, slowing the action and adding more detail; show, don’t tell) Aunt Flossie’s Hats (and Crab Cakes Later) by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard (rich descriptions which appeal to the senses) The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant (rich descriptions which appeal to the senses)
Painting the Wind by Patricia Maclachlan and Emily Maclachlan (descriptions of objects to build content)
Realistic
Fiction
Achievement First Elementary Writing 2009‐10
Night Noises by Mem Fox
Scarecrow by Cynthia Rylant
Snow by Uri Shulevitz
The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco
The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow
There are lists of mentor texts on the shared server which outline various features of texts which you might find useful. Both the Elementary Grade Literature Connections and Multicultural Book List come from the Empowering Writers website
(http://www.empoweringwriters.com/literature‐connection.html). You can find both of these on the shared server: C u r r i c u l u m >
S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > M e n t o r T e x t L i s t s .
Ideas
for
First
Five
Lesson
Aims
Suggested
Vocab/Definitions
1. SWBAT compare and contrast the features of personal
experience narratives with character/problem/solution
narratives (Venn Diagram).
SWBAT sort realistic fiction stories from other stories based on the character, setting and plot.
SWBAT sort realistic fiction stories into character/problem/
solution narratives and personal experience narratives.
2. SWBAT identify the essential elements of a narrative story
based on the narrative diamond.
SWBAT plan a realistic fiction narrative.
3. SWBAT share their plan with their writing partners, and use a summarizing framework to identify the story critical character, setting or object.
SWBAT ask their partners detail generating questions
about their story character, setting or object.
4. SWBAT begin to draft their realistic fiction narrative story. 5. SWBAT finish the draft of their realistic fiction narrative.
(Go on to focus on the main event of their story, teaching specific skills relating to elaboration in this area.)
Narrative: Stories that are written to entertain others, and focus on a character or an experience. The story has a beginning, middle and end.
Realistic fiction: a made up story about things that could actually
happen.
Some events, people, and places may be real.
Extraneous: Not essential or unrelated to the topic.
Character: Who the story is about.
Setting: Where and when the story happens.
Experience: The focus (what happens) in a personal experience
narrative.
Details: Information that tells us more about something; they
help us to create a picture in our minds.
Story Critical: the most important parts of the story (character, setting and object).
Main Event: the most important part of the story, which is detailed and described fully.
Realistic
Fiction
Links
to
Resources
and
AF
Materials
Teacher Use/Recommended Reading
• Lucy Calkins and M. Colleen Cruz, Writing Fiction: Big Dreams, Tall Ambitions (from the grades 3‐5 bundle)
• Barbara Mariconda and Dea Paoletta Auray, The Comprehensive Narrative Writing Guide, from the Empowering Writers
series (www.empoweringwriters.com)
Helpful Resources:
Find a list of characters, settings and plots that you can sort into realistic or not realistic with your scholars as you come to define realistic fiction on the shared server:C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g U n i t s 2 0 0 9 - 1 0 > G r a d e 2 > U n i t 4 - - R e a l i s t i c F i c t i o n > R e s o u r c e s
Co‐create (ideally) a poster which outlines realistic fiction questions your scholars can ask themselves when they are writing in this genre to be sure that their stories are realistic fiction. An example is on the shared server: C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g U n i t s 2 0 0 9 - 1 0 > G r a d e 2 > U n i t 4 - - R e a l i s t i c F i c t i o n > R e s o u r c e s
Create some visual anchors that can help scholars to generate character questions, setting questions, and object questions when
working with their writing partners, such as these on the shared server: C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g U n i t s 2 0 0 9 - 1 0 > G r a d e 2 > U n i t 4 - - R e a l i s t i c F i c t i o n > R e s o u r c e s .
From the previous unit: Use some basic summarizing frameworks to explore the idea of organization and structure of narrative
stories (for Beginning/Middle/End and Narrative Stories), which can be found on the shared server: C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g U n i t s 2 0 0 9 - 1 0 > G r a d e 2 > U n i t 3 - - E d i t i n g a n d R e v i s i n g w i t h N a r r a t i v e S t o r i e s > R e s o u r c e s
An explanation of the six essential elements every writing lesson should have (among other useful and important information) can
be found on the AF Elementary Writing Excellence Document on the shared server: C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > S c o p e a n d S e q u e n c e s , E x c e l l e n c e D o c u m e n t
Writing A‐Z (www.writinga‐z.com) is filled with resources for this unit (and many others) this year. Within the “Tools” section, there are posters, author interviews, (word) lists and much more. There are also “Writing Skills” and “Lesson Plan” sections. AF has a number of username/passwords purchased, which can be found on the shared server: C u r r i c u l u m > S h a r e d D o c u m e n t s > E l e m e n t a r y S c h o o l > W r i t i n g E d i t i n g R e v i s i n g > W r i t i n g U n i t M a t e r i a l s > W r i t i n g U n i t s 2 0 0 9 - 1 0 > G r a d e 1 > U n i t 1 - - W e A r e W r i t e r s ! > O t h e r. There is a link to the Writing A‐Z site from our AF homepage (http://www.achievementfirst.org/af/welcome/).
