Spivey Writing
Harold W. Smith Elementary School
Agenda
• Characteristics of Effective Writing
• Main Sentence Trunk
• Precise Nouns and Vivid Verbs
• Action Expander
Characteristics of
Effective Writing
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Word Choice
Conventions
Grammatically Correct
Sentence Fluency
Ideas
Varied Sentence Length
Voice
Main
Sentence
Trunk
who
what
action
The dog ran .
The 5 Criteria of Main
Sentence Trunk
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Capital letter
Subject (noun)
Predicate (verb)
Ending mark
Complete thought
Your Turn!
1. Write a Main Sentence Trunk.
2. Code it to reflect the five
criteria.
Precise Nouns
The animal moved.
What kind of animal?
Vivid Verbs
The kangaroo moved.
How did the kangaroo move?
How can you make it more vivid
without adding an adverb?
What verb relates to a kangaroo?
Human Sentences
The
old
man
slept.
Action Expanders
The kangaroo hopped.
When?
Where?
Why?
How?
Action Expanders
Where?
Prepositional Phrases
across the field
over the grass
by the river
between the rocks
among the mountains
beside the fence
under the trees
Action Expanders
(with where)
By the river, the kangaroo hopped.
The kangaroo hopped
by the river.
Action Expanders
When?
at night
early in the morning
late in the evening
at sunrise
yesterday
five days ago
before sunset
Action Expanders
(with when)
By the river, the kangaroo hopped
at sunrise.
At sunrise the kangaroo hopped
by the river.
Action Expanders
How?
-ly
with
without
by
like
as
unlike
different than
Adverbs
slowly
silently
quickly
clumsily
timidly
sadly
happily
Action Expanders
(with how)
By the river,
the kangaroo silently hopped
at sunrise.
At sunrise the kangaroo hopped
by the river.
silently
Action Expanders
Why?
Conjunctions*
because*
so that
since
to + action
Action Expanders
(with why)
By the river,
at sunrise
the kangaroo silently hopped
because she was looking for food.
At sunrise the kangaroo hopped
by the river
silently
because she was looking for food.
Action Expanders
Text Structure
Noun Expanders
Noun Expanders
1. Describers
2. With and That Phrases
3. Renamers and Repeaters
4. -ing and -ed
Noun Expanders
Describers
Adjectives
color words
size words
shape words
nice
Watch out for boring adjectives!
pretty
Noun Expanders
(with describer)
At sunrise the large kangaroo
silently
hopped
by the river because she was looking for food.
Noun Expanders
With & That
Phrases
nice
with a shaggy coat
with a bow in her hair
with blue eyes
that walked with a limp
that laughed at everything
that sang like a bird
Watch out for boring adjectives!
pretty
Noun Expanders
(with “with” phrase)
At sunrise the large kangaroo with the brown fur
silently hopped by the river because she was
looking for food.
Noun Expanders
At sunrise the large kangaroo with the brown fur
silently hopped by the river because she was
looking for food.
“Surround the Noun”
What do Students Need to Know to
Transfer the MST to the Paragraph Level?
•
•
•
•
Types of Text Structures
Definitions
Reformatting maps/organizers
Questions
STRUCTURE
DEFINITION
GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
QUESTIONS
For example
Characteristics are
Such as
Looks like
Consists of
For instance
Most important
*Look for topic word (or synonym) to be repeated
throughout the text.
What specific person, place, thing, event, or concept
is being described?
How is the topic described? (How does it work?
What does it do? What does it look like? Etc.)
What are the most important attributes or
characteristics?
How can the topic be classified? (For example, a
robin can be classified as a type of bird.)
The author lists items or events in
numerical or chronological order.
Describes the order of events or how
to do or make something.
First, second, third
Next
Then, after
Before, prior to
Not long after
While, meanwhile
Simultaneously
At the same time
Following
Finally
At last
In the end
On (date)
At (time)
Directions
What sequence of events is being described?
What are the major events or incidents that occur?
What are the steps, directions, or procedures to
follow? (What must be done first, second, etc.?)
What is the beginning event?
What other events or steps are included?
What is the final outcome, event, or step?
The author explains how two or more
things are alike and/or how they are
different.
Differs from
Similar to
In contrast
Alike
Same as
As well as
On the other hand
Both
Either, or
Not only, but also
Yet, although, but
However
*Also look for “-est” words: best, fewest, tallest,
etc.
What items are being compared?
What is it about them that is being compared?
What characteristics of items form the basis of the
comparison?
What characteristics do they have in common; how
are these items alike?
In what ways are these items different?
Definition Description
Sequence
Compare and Contrast
SIGNAL WORDS
The author explains a topic, idea,
person, place, or thing by listing
characteristics, features, and
examples.
Focus is on one thing and its
components.
Transfer MST with Action Expander
to Narrative Genre
The girl swam.
+
to entertain
While on vacation in Hawaii, the little
girl swam in the ocean beside her big
brother.
Transfer MST with Action Expander
to Expository Genre
The girl swam.
+
to explain
Upon receiving scuba certification,
the girl swam along the coastline of
California to catalog the types of
indigenous water plants.
Taking the Action Expander to the
Paragraph Level
The child cried hysterically because she couldn’t find her
dog. Sniffle. When she settled down she began to look
for Skeeter. Her eyes scanned the area. She looked all
around the yard hoping that Skeeter was there. She got
up from the swing. Walking to the front of the house
she looked down the street quickly. Wait! Out of the
corner of her eye she saw a small shape zip into the
street. It was Skeeter.