Module 2:

Word Play

How can wordplay create confusion and humor?

How can writers use wordplay to develop a story’s settings and characters?

How can writers use wordplay to develop a story’s plot?

How is The Phantom Tollbooth a story of transformation?

In this second module, Word Play, we will study the way we use words to define and organize our world. We will read playful stories to investigate wordplay and answer the question, How and why do writers play with words?

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet
A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet
Noah Webster: Weaver of Words, Pegi Deitz Shea
The Dreamer, Pam Muñoz Ryan and Peter Sis
Rain Reign, Ann M. Martin
Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word, Bob Raczka
Cbd!, William Steig

*End with Narrative Writing Performance Task

Develop interesting plots that make sense
Informally explore conflict in plot
Use descriptive, sensory details to convey character and setting
Develop character through dialogue
Explore verb tenses and first and third person points of view (apply consistently)

The Wreck of Zephyr

Moira's Birthday

Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street

Sweet Music in Harlem

The Sweetest Fig

Uncle Jed's Barbershop

The Lotus Seed

Just a Dream

The Summer My Father Was Ten

About Chris Van Allsburg

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