Writer’s Notebook
Let’s Set it Up!! 
Notebook Set Up
• 1. Never tear out a page of your
notebook. Never.
• 2. Leave a fly page up front, just like in
books.
• 3. Number pages only on the righthand side, starting after the fly page.
• 4. Write the page # on the bottom
right-hand side.
• 5. Only write on the right-hand pages
of the notebook. The left-hand side
pages are for revising, rethinking, and
tinkering with the facing numbered
page.
Numbering…
• 4 Sections
• On each Post-It Note
(opposite of the sticky side)
write….
• -Writing (pgs. 1-70)
• -The Writer’s Eye (I) (pgs. 7175)
• -Author’s Word and Phrase
Palette (pgs. 76-85)
• -Gems (pgs. 86-100)
“Writing” Section
• Always date each entry
and give it at least a oneword title
• You will free-write, respond,
pre-write, create, shape
take notes, glue materials
from our quick daily writer’s
secret work and play with
their writing here.
In Writing with Power by Peter
Elbow…..
• “Frequent free writing exercises
help you learn to simply get on
with it and not be held back by
worries about whether these
words are good words or right
words”
Free writing Class Lesson
• Autobiography of a Face by
Lucy Grealy (1994), pg. 31-32
(MI)
• What words or phrases stuck
with you?
• Free-writing will be an important
part of our writing this year.
• “Just Write. Go wherever the
writing takes you.”
Free-writing Rules!!
1. Write. Just write. Keep your hand moving.
(The only way to do free-writing wrong is to
not write or to quit early).
2. Experiment with spelling, punctuation, and
grammar.
3. Go wherever your writing takes you.
If another story comes to mind,
maybe that’s what you should
be writing about. Go for it!
4. Be specific.
5. As Natalie Goldberg says, “You are free to
write the worst junk in America” (1998)
Write “Bullying” at the top of your
page…
• Skip a line and write about
something you’ve done,
experienced or have seen
happen.
• Start with the idea of
bullying and go where the
writing takes you.
• Try to add specific details.
Bedhead MI (pgs. 32-35)
• Let’s read aloud Bedhead
• Open Writer’s Notebooks and put
today’s date and write Hair across
the top.
• “Wherever the writing takes you,
go with it. Just keep writing. The
key word is hair. “
• Let’s share.
Bedhead Excerpt
• “Shuffle-shlump. Shuffle-shlump.
• Shuffle-shlump,
• Shlumped bleary-eyed Oliver
out of bed, down the hall, and
into the bathroom.
• He yawned. He yanked.
Splashed some water. Swished
some mouthwash.
• Gave his front teeth a passable
brushing.
• And then…
• In a gunkless corner of the
soapy silver soap dish…”
What is … called?
• An Ellipse!
• What does an ellipse do in this
passage?
• Did you notice the short
sentences and fragments?
• They fly off our tongue.
• Did you notice the long
sentences?
• They roll around giving us a feel
for the action.
Let’s play around with our freewrite
• Try to imitate any of Palatini’s punctuation or
conventions
• It’s midnight. I’m nervous, and my eyebrows
suddenly look way too bushy.
• I pluck. No, that’s not going to be fast
enough. I reach for the scissors. No. I can’t
hold them that way and still cut. But then I
see them… the clippers.
• Sure I have to look great to present in front of
400 teachers and the only thing standing
between me and perfection are my….BUSY
BROWS.
• Buzz. Yes. Buzz. Yes. Buzz. Oops. No more buzz.
No more middle in my left eyebrow. I stare in
the mirror: one bushy brow and one half-n-half
brow.
Your Free-writes….
• Play around with the
punctuation in new ways.
• Take risks.
• Be bold.
• We can always play with it
more. Go!
• Let’s share.
The Writer’s Eye (I): List of Things I
can Write About (MI: pgs. 35-37)
• 1. In this section write about the
life you’ve observed with your
own eyes.
• 2. Start a collection of the
people, places, games, hobbies,
interests, and so forth that you
know well.
The Writer’s Eye (I)
• You have two choices on how
to decorate this page with
words.
• I will draw them both on the
board
“When I Was Little” by Jamie Lee
Curtis (MI: pgs 37-39)
• Let’s read it aloud.
• Take out your writer’s
notebooks and turn to the
“Writer’s Eye” section. On the
first page after your first Writer’s
Eye (I) list, write the date and
then skip a line and write
“When I was Little List”. (A list of
memories)
• Now share your list with
someone near you. (5 min.)
• Add more (3 min.)
• Commas and periods at the
end. Go! (3 min.)
• Draw lines to the connected
items.
• Circle 1 sentence or a group of
connected sentences.
• Free-write! (in the next clean
page in “Writing” section)
Why do we use a comma after
“When I was little, “?
• The comma told me to
pause.
• “There are several words
that, when they are
located at the beginning
of a sentence, signal you
to use a comma to
separate the introductory
phrase from the rest of the
sentence. They are
comma causers.”
AAA-WWU-BBIS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
As
Although
After
While
When
Unless
Because
Before
If
Since
AAAWWUBBIS
• If you stat a sentence with an
AAAWWUBBIS, you are almost
guaranteed to have a comma
in the sentence.
• Reminder: The comma never
immediately follows the
AAAWWUBBIS.
• Let’s practice with a sentence
using an AAAWWUBBIS.
Author’s Word and Phrase Palette
• This will be a
“collection”.
• You will record
words or phrases
that “strike you”
for different
reasons.
• Words have
POWER!!!
• You can create a
piece of writing
using the palette.
You can also use
the palette to
help you with
word choice.
Author’s Word and Phrase Palette
• What type of words should I collect?
• Active Verbs: Writing snaps and sizzles when active,
lively verbs are used.
• I.E. “skitter” and “crackle”
• “Cool” words
• Phrases or combinations that work. (Like alliteration
or phrases that “dance” on the page
• Contrasts/comparisons: similes, metaphors, sensory
images and others. Look for something fresh!
• “Her open eye was like nearly black balsamic
vinegar beading on white china. “
Author’s Word and Phrase Palette
• We might categorize words..
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Awesome Adjectives
Frigid
Meaty
Affluent
Grainy
Sprawling house
Paper-thin layer of muscle
Gems: Sentences and Paragraphs
that Work
• Gems are
always full
sentences or
MORE!
• Instead of just
words or
phrases, hunt
down
sentences,
string of
sentences and
paragraphs that
work!
More on gems….
• “These sentences should make
the reader stop, bend over,
pick up the gem and see it
sparkle in the light.”
• In your Gems section please
dedicate 3 pages for the
following:
• 1 page “Introductory Phrases”
• 1 page “Sentences with
interrupting phrases”
• 1 page “Closing Phrases”
What if my sentence fits into more
than one category?
• That’s great! Just write the
sentence in both
categories and highlight
the section that makes it fit.
• I will be giving you some
inserts to glue into your
notebooks as we go
through the lessons.
Editor’s Checklist
• We are getting ready for
Middle School so let’s learn
some “writer’s secrets”
• Why do we have
punctuation? Or better
yet, why do we have laws
and rules everywhere we
go? (5 min.)
Editor’s Checklist
• Who do you think invented
conventions or rules for
writing?
• It was writers! They wanted
to be understood. Don’t
you want to be understood
too?
• Grammar and mechanics
are conventions.
Conventions
• Convention meant agreement
in its original Latin form.
• Writer’s wanted people to
understand what they said,
even when they weren’t
around.
• A period means stop this
thought; a capital letter signals
that a new sentence is
beginning or that a word is a
name.
Power of conventions!
• “Are you tired of nobody
hearing you? Writing gives
you that power, and part of
writing’s power is in its
passion, its details, but all
of that is lost if the
grammar and mechanics
can’t hold the message
together.”
“Punctuation Takes a Vacation”
• Let’s enjoy the book!