Reading and Writing Warm-Up
“Offerings at the Wall”
By Dan Moser
What do good readers do?
• Monitor comprehension and make
adjustments
• Infer and visualize meaning
• Determine importance
• Make connections with new
information to background knowledge
• Ask questions
• Summarize and synthesize ideas
Day 1 – Invitation to Notice
Day 1: Read and Think
In his eloquent introduction to the book, Thomas
B. Allen writes that The Wall “became a place for
wishes, for futures that could not be. Tucked into a
wreath are the things of an imagined life: new baby
shoes for a baby who never would be; the pencils
and crayons for a first day of kindergarten that never
would be; champagne glasses to toast a wedding
anniversary that never would be; ornaments for a
Christmas tree that never would be.”
Day 2: Clarifying
• Reread the text
• Circle and annotate the text for any words or
phrases that cause confusion
• Reread for meaning
• Discuss with a partner what you found
confusing, what you inferred it to mean based
upon your textual evidence (justify and
defend your conclusion)
Day 3 – Learning Target (Reading)
What the author says
What kind of tone does it
invoke
What is the effect on the
reader
Day 4 – Learning Target (Language)
But the boy’s weight and the weight of the purse
combined caused him to lose his balance so,
instead of taking off full blast as he had hoped,
the boy fell on his back on the sidewalk, and his
legs flew up.
Day 5 – Learning Target (Writing)
Analyze the use of repetition in the excerpt from “Offerings at
the Wall” by Dan Moser. What effect does this have on the
tone of the piece? How does it show the author’s purpose for
writing it? Be sure to provide textual evidence.