Unit Overview
Content Area: English Language Arts
Unit Title: Writing Realistic Fiction
Target Course/Grade Level: 3rd Grade
Timeline: 4-6 weeks
Unit Summary: Students will write fictional narratives with realistic settings and characters using clear
descriptive language. Students will explore realistic fiction by others to identify key components of
narrative writing such as characters, setting, plot, conflict, and solution. Students will write narratives
which include these elements and are clear, organized, sequential, engaging and appropriate for the
intended audience.
Primary interdisciplinary connections: Character Education, Science, Social Studies, Math, Health,
Technology
21st century themes and skills: Creative Thinking and Problem Solving, Communication and
Collaboration, Life and Career Skills: -flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social skills,
productivity and accountability, leadership and responsibility.
Anchor Standards for Writing:
Text Types and Purposes
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, wellchosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
Production and Distribution of Writing
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new
approach.
Range of Writing
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening:
Comprehension and Collaboration
3. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of
reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal
English when indicated or appropriate.
Anchor Standards for Language:
Conventions of Standard English
1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling
when writing.
6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal
English when indicated or appropriate.
Learning Targets/Activities
Domain: Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language
Cluster: Text Types and Purposes, Production and Distribution of Writing, Range of Writing,
Comprehension and Collaboration, Knowledge and Ideas, Conventions of Standard English
Standard #
Standards
W.3.3a-d
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
a.
Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event
sequence that unfolds naturally.
b.
Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop
experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.
c.
Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.
d.
Provide a sense of closure.
W.3.4
With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and
organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing
types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)
W.3.5
With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as
needed by planning, revising, and editing.
W.3.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and
shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences.
SL.3.3
Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate
elaboration and detail.
SL.3.4
Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and
relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
SL.3.6
Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide
requested detail or clarification.
L.3.1.i
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when
writing or speaking.
i.
Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences.
L3.2.a,b,e,g
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation,
and spelling when writing.
a.
Capitalize appropriate words in titles.
b.
Use commas in addresses.
e.
Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for
adding suffixes to base words (e.g., sitting, smiled, cries, happiness).
g.
Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check
and correct spellings.
L.3.6
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and
domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal
relationships (e.g., After dinner that night we went looking for them.)
Unit Essential Questions
 How do fictional writers engage their audience
Unit Enduring Understandings
 Writers can generate fiction ideas from their own
in a real or imagined event?
lives or reading mentor texts.
 How do writers use their own experiences to
 Realistic fiction writing includes story elements
generate ideas for fiction?
such as characters, setting, problem and solution.
 How do writers develop a believable realistic
 Writers use specific strategies to plan, write and
fictions story using the writing process?
revise realistic stories.
Unit Learning Targets
Students will ...
 Establish and focus on a moment/part of a real or imagined experience/event. (W.3.3, W.3.8)
 Use prewriting strategies (such as: brainstorming, graphic organizers, oral storytelling, freewriting, notes
and/or logs). (W.3.3)
 Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters. (W.3.3.a)
 Organize events into a natural sequence. (W.3.3.a)
 Use transition words to show sequence of events. (W.3.3.c)
 Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts and feelings to develop experiences. (W.3.3.b)
 Use dialogue to develop experiences and show character’s feelings and emotions to situations. (W.3.3.b,
L.3.6)
 Appropriately use commas and quotation marks in dialogue. (L.3.2.c)
 Show the response of characters to situations. (W.3.3.b)
 Provide a concluding statement or section. (W.3.3.d)
 Produce an organized narratve piece that provides clarity and cohesiveness and is appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience. (W.3.4)
 Plan, revise, and edit writing with guidance and support of peers and adults in order to strengthen
writing. (W.3.5)
 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two). (W.3.10)
 Identify and produce simple, compound, and complex. (L.3.1, L.3.1.i)
 Capitalize appropriate words in a title. (L.3.2.a)
 Use conventional spelling for high-frequency words. (L.3.2.e)
 Use spelling patterns to assist in spelling words. (L.3.2.f)
 Consult references to determine and/or confirm spelling of words. (L.3.2.g)
 Orally share realistic fiction writing with an audience. (SL.3.3, SL.3.4, SL. 3.6)
Learning Activities
 Mini-lessons
 Reading Response Journals and/or prompts
 Modeling
 One on one editing w/ teacher
 Shared, guided and independent reading
 Writing prompts
 Flexible groups
 Small and Large Group Discussions
 Mentor texts/read alouds
 Independent writing
 Teacher/peer conferencing/editing
 Leveled readers
 Think alouds
 Reading journal
 Writer's Workshop
 Whole class writing
Evidence of Learning
Formative Assessments




Graphic organizers
Drafts
Conferences
Self Editing
 Peer Editing
 Adult Editing
 Rubric Analysis of Independent writing samples
Summative Assessments
 Published Realistic fiction piece
 Sharing realistic fiction piece
RESOURCES/TECHNOLOGY
Teacher Instructional Resources:
 Teacher chosen resources
 Guided Reading Leveled Books (Stone Fox, Frindle, Donovan's Word Jar, Clementine, etc.)
 Units of Study - Lucy Calkins
 6 + 1 Write Traits
 Various Realistic Fiction books such as “Amelia and Elenor Go for a Ride” by Pam Munoz Ryan and
Brian Selznick, A Picnic in October by Eve Bunting, etc.
 Websites
 Read Alouds/Mentor Texts  Leveled readers
 Calkins Units of Study/Curricular Plans
 Strategies That Work, Harvey and Goudvis
 Reading With Meaning, Debbie Miller
 Lessons in Comprehension, Frank Serafini
 Growing Readers, Kathy Collings
 7 Keys to Comprehension; Susan Zimmermann
 Mosaic of Thought; Susan Zimmerman
 Conferring: The Keystone of Readers Workshop; Patrick Allen
 Guided Reading, Fountas and Pinnell
 Guided Comprehension in the Primary Grades, Maureen McLaughin
 The Big Book of Graphic Organizers; Jennifer Jacobson & Dottie Raymer
 Reading Passages that Build Comprehension; Linda Ward Beech
 Reading Rockets
Integration of Technology:
 SmartBoard during instruction
 Computers (Classroom and Library)
 Online resources
 Computer lab
Technology Resources:
Click the links below to access additional resources used to design this unit:
www.storylineonline.net
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/ Multiple articles and lessons to teach various skills related to
different styles of writing.
www.readingrockets.com
Opportunities for Differentiation:
 Mentor Text Choices (Level, Character, Setting, Topics, etc.)
 Writing Lengths
 Degree of support/scaffolding by teacher
 Paired vs. group vs. independent writing
 Technology use
Teacher Notes: