Writing:  

Writing Unit 1: Crafting True Stories (Personal Narratives)

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

1. How can I generate personal narratives and set goals for my writing?

2. How can I select a seed idea and develop that seed idea into a story?

3. How can I use what I have learned about narrative writing to write a new piece with greater independence?

4. How can I revise and edit my writing to improve its quality?

SKILLS:

• Writers generate personal narratives and set writing goals by:

  • Thinking of a person who matters and brainstorming small moments spent with that person

  • Thinking of a place, listing small moments that happened in that place and writing about one of those moments

  • Telling their stories in scenes rather than summaries

  • Reflecting on their writing and determining how it can be improved

  • Editing as they write

• Writers select and develop a seed idea into a story by:

  • Telling their story over and over, trying out different leads

  • Writing a draft quickly, capturing the mental movie on the page

  • Revising by studying mentor texts and trying another author's techniques in their own writing

  • Developing the most important part of the story

  • Writing paragraphs that support sequencing, dialogue, and elaboration

• Writers write a new piece with greater independence by:

  • Drawing on all that they learned while writing their first piece to start a new one on their own

  • Revising for clarity as they write

  • Balancing the kinds of details they add to their writing

  • Punctuating dialogue correctly

• Writers revise and edit to improve their writing by:

  • Rereading their writing to see if it needs parts to be added or removed to make it as clear as possible to readers

  • Studying the endings of mentor texts and using those techniques to improve their own endings

  • Using editing checklists