Unit of Study: Literary Essays: Writing About Reading________________________ Date: _______________________
Title of Minilesson: Session 9: Using Stories as Evidence (pg. 123-136)
Intention: Collect and angle ministories as evidence to support a claim
Connection: (pg. 124)
• When we were studying the memoir unit, you collected personal narrative small moment stories that centered on
a theme.
• In this literary essay unit, you will also collect support in the form of small moments from the text to support your
thesis statement.
Teaching: (pg. 124-126)
• Today I want to remind you that when you are telling a story in the service of an idea, you need to angle that
story to highlight the idea you want to convey.
• Before a literary essayist can tell a story to illustrate a topic sentence, the writer must reread the text and identify
bits that could make the point.
It was evening and people sat outside, talking quietly among themselves. On the stoop of a tall building of crumbling
bricks and rotting wood sat a boy. His name was Gabriel and he wished for some company.
Gabriel was thinking about things. He remembered being the only boy in class with the right answer that day, and he
remembered the butter sandwich he had had for lunch.
I could tell a tiny story about Gabriel sitting alone on the stoop. From later in the story, I could tell a tiny story about how
he didn’t hear the meow at first, then did, and wondered if someone was calling for him. (see pg. 124-126 for more
detail)
Active Engagement: (pg. 126-128)
1. Find an episode,
2. Extract a sequence of events,
3. Recalling the main idea,
4. Telling the story
5. Weaving your big idea in and out of the story.
6. Write
Take out your copy of “Spaghetti” and locate the episode when Gabriel is sitting on the stoop and there is a meow.
Partner 1 story tell this episode across your fingers. Start at the beginning, “Gabriel sat alone on the stoop imagining
sleeping outside all alone…”
Most of you retold a sequence that goes like this:
• Gabriel sat alone on the stoop, imagining sleeping outside alone.
• There was a meow.
• Gabriel almost didn’t hear it because he was lost in his thoughts.
• Meow again
• “Is someone calling me?”
• Looked
• Heard again
• Excited, looked more
Partner 2 would you storytell this to partner 1? Remember, after every dot or two, you’ll want to highlight ways this story
shows that Gabriel was lonely and longing for company.
Now I’ll storytell and I’ll pause after every dot or two. I’ll invite you to help me highlight the theme of loneliness.
One day Gabriel sat on the stoop outside his building, imagining sleeping outside. (Who will bring out the message about
Gabriel being lonely?)
There was a meow. (Who will add an idea about loneliness?)
There was another meow. (Who can add on?)
Writing Workshop:
• Today you will collect several stories. You might collect several stories for each bullet.
• The challenge will be to angle those stories to highlight the idea you are advancing.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Find an episode,
Extract a sequence of events,
Recalling the main idea,
Telling the story
Weaving your big idea in and out of the story.
Write
Link: (pg. 128)
Essayists collect ministories to advance their point.
Share: (pg. 132-133)
Share sections of student writing that have specific detail and angle the story to highlight the point you want to make.