Being A Writer: Week 2 – “Fiction”
Week of
December 17
Common Core
Language
Objective
Materials
Link to Prior
Learning
Writing
Day 1
Writing
Day 2
Writing
Day 3
RI.4.1, SL.4.1, SL.4.1a,
SL.4.1b, SL.4.1c, W.4.3,
SW.4.3b, W.4.3d, W.4.3e,
W.4.4, W.4.5, W.4.7, W.4.10
RI.4.1, SL.4.1, SL.4.1a, SL.4.1b,
SL.4.1c, W.4.3, SW.4.3b,
W.4.3d, W.4.3e, W.4.4, W.4.5,
W.4.7, W.4.10
RI.4.1, SL.4.1, SL.4.1a, SL.4.1b,
SL.4.1c, W.4.3, SW.4.3b,
W.4.3d, W.4.3e, W.4.4, W.4.5,
W.4.7, W.4.10
RI.4.1, SL.4.1, SL.4.1a, SL.4.1b,
SL.4.1c, W.4.3, SW.4.3b, W.4.3d,
W.4.3e, W.4.4, W.4.5, W.4.7,
W.4.10
TSW write and/or participate in
writing behaviors, hearing,
discussing, and drafting fiction
writing.
“Being a Writer” TM-Volume 1
Week 2: Day 1 (pgs. 250-254)
Drafting Fiction
TSW write and/or participate in
writing behaviors, hearing,
discussing, and drafting fiction
writing.
“Being a Writer” TM-Volume 1
Week 2: Day 2 (pgs. 255-258)
Drafting Fiction
TSW write and/or participate in
writing behaviors, hearing,
discussing, and drafting fiction
writing.
“Being a Writer” TM-Volume 1
Week 2: Day 3 (pgs. 259-262)
Drafting Fiction
TSW write and/or participate in
writing behaviors, hearing,
discussing, and drafting fiction
writing.
“Being a Writer” TM-Volume 1
Week 4: Day 4 (pgs. 263-266)
Drafting Fiction and Pair
Conferring
Owl Moon
“Notes About Fiction” from
week 1
Owl Moon
Roxaboxen
Owl Moon
TW facilitate a discussion about
last week’s fiction stories heard
and review the “Notes About
Fiction” chart.
TW review the fiction, Owl Moon
read yesterday. Facilitate a
discussion about the way the
author describes the setting
using sights, sounds, and
feelings. Read the following
lines:
TW review how the author of
Owl Moon used different ways to
describe the settings.
Writing
Day 4
Roxaboxen
“Notes About Fiction” chart
Student Writing Handbook page 11
“Conference notes” record sheet
for each student (BLM1)
TW review the story Roxboxen.
Discuss how to describe settings
using sights, sounds, smells,
tastes, and feelings.
Add describing what you see, hear,
smell, taste, and feel to the “Notes
About Fiction” chart.
Pg. 6 “They sang out, trains and
dogs, for a real long time.”
Pg. 12 “Pa shrugged and I
shrugged. I was not
disappointed.”
Pg. 21 “…an echo came
threading its way through the
trees.”
Pg. 29 “For one minute, three
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Being A Writer: Week 2 – “Fiction”
minutes, maybe even a hundred
minutes, we stared at one
another.”
Lesson
Input/Modeling
TW facilitate a discussion about
plot, character, and setting.
Explain that these terms are
used to describe the different
features of the story.
TW add something happens
(plot) to someone (character),
somewhere in time (setting) to
the chart.
Ask: What can be hard about
starting to write or continuing to
write for the whole time?
TW facilitate learning by
explaining how the author, Jane
Yolen writes about places in a
way that helps readers imagine
being there.
TSW think of a place they like to
be and write down the name of
the place they are thinking of.
TW display the cover of
“Roxaboxen” and read the title
and names of the author, and
illustrator aloud.
TW facilitate instruction by
exploring the following passages:
TW read the story aloud,
clarifying the following
vocabulary:
Ask: What did you imagine? Turn
to your partner.
TW display the cover of “Owl
Moon” and read the title and
names of the author, and
illustrator aloud.
ford (p. 5)
mayor (p.12)
desert glass (p.14)
amber (p. 14)
amethyst (p. 14)
raids (p. 23)
ocotillo (p. 23)
TW read the story aloud,
clarifying the following
vocabulary:
TW stop after p. 17 “(In
Roxaboxen you can eat all the
ice cream you want)”
clearing (pg. 18)
Ask:
Pg. 10
Repeat with the following
passages on
Pg. 14
Pg. 27
What are you imagining about
Roxaboxen? Turn to your
partner?
Key Question(s)
What is this story about? What
happens? When and where
does it happen?
Imagine looking around your
favorite place. What do you see?
What is In front of you, behind
you, above and below you?
What are you imagining about
Roxaboxen?
Where does Roxaboxen take
place?
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Being A Writer: Week 2 – “Fiction”
Guided Practice
TW model step 4, page 251
“Visualizing the Setting of Owl
Moon.”
TW model step 2, page 256:
“Guided Visualization and QuickWrite: A Favorite Place.”
SW close their eyes and
imagine as they listen to the
following:
SW quick-write what they
imagined when you read the
following questions:
What did you imagine seeing in
Roxaboxen as you listened?
What did you imagine feeling?
Smelling or tasting?
Reread Pg. 5
Imagine looking around your
favorite place. What do you see?
What is In front of you, behind
you, above and below you?
If you were going to write about
an imaginary place, what might it
be like? [pause] Turn to your
partner.
What do you hear in your
favorite place? Are the sounds
quiet or loud?
On the “Notes About Fiction”
chart add, creating an imaginary
place.
Repeat with P. 16 and p.18.
TW facilitate a class discussion
using the following questions:
TW facilitate the reading of page 9
in their Student Writing Handbook.
Partners will reread the passages
together and underline words or
phrases that helped them imagine
this place.
Ask: What words or phrases did
you underline? How does that help
you imagine Roxaboxen?
Is this a place outside or inside?
How does your body feel in this
place? Is it cold? Warm? Hot?
What does it smell like in this
place? Do the smells remind you
of anything?
Independent
Practice
TSW write silently about one of
the following:
TSW write silently about one of
the following:
TSW write silently about the
following:
TSW write silently about the
following:
Work on a story you started
earlier.
Work on a story you began
during the quick-write.
Write about an imaginary place
using details.
Work on a story you started earlier.
Start a new story
Work on a story you started
earlier.
Work on a story you started
earlier.
Start a new story.
Start a new story.
Try to include details to help
readers imagine the setting.
TW join the students in writing
for a few minutes; then confer
with individual students using the
“Conference Notes” record
Start a new story.
Try to include details to help a
reader imagine the setting.
TW join the students in writing
for a few minutes; then confer
with individual students using
the “Conference Notes” record
Try to include details to help
Continue to include details to help
a reader imagine the setting.
TW join the students in writing for a
few minutes; then begin conferring
with individual students.
SW read partner’s draft and confer
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Being A Writer: Week 2 – “Fiction”
sheets (BLM1).
readers imagine the setting.
sheets (BLM1).
TW join the students in writing
for a few minutes; then confer
with individual students using the
“Conference Notes” record
sheets (BLM1).
Summary/Closure
What would you like to ask your
partner to listen for as you read
your story today>
Sharing and Reflecting
Sharing and Reflecting
Sharing and Reflecting
TW ask and briefly discuss:
TW ask and briefly discuss:
TW ask and briefly discuss:
What ideas came out of your
imagination in your writing
today?
What sentence did you hear that
got you interested in someone
else’s writing?
What sentence did you hear that
got you interested in someone
else’s writing?
Did you use details to describe
a setting? If so, tell us about it.
What questions do you want to
ask a classmate about his or her
writing?
What questions do you want to
ask a classmate about his or her
writing?
How did you feel as you wrote
today? If you got stuck, what
happened? What do you want
to try tomorrow to help you in
your writing?
Differentiation
Extension Exercise, pg. 254:
Describe a Photo
about it.
Sharing and Reflecting
TW ask and briefly discuss the
following:
What questions did you ask your
partner about your story? What did
your partner say?
What did you do to show interest in
your partner’s writing?
Why is it important that we ask
other people questions about our
own writing?
Read aloud. S partners, graphic
organizers for struggling
scholars.
Read aloud. S partners, graphic
organizers for struggling
scholars.
Read aloud. S partners, graphic
organizers for struggling scholars.
Read aloud. S partners, graphic
organizers for struggling
scholars.
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