Sparkling
Voice
Created by Amanda Billingsley
4th Grade Teacher
What is Voice?
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Voice is YOU coming through the writing. It’s
what gives your writing personality, flavor, and
style– a sound all its own.
It is when the personality, thoughts, and
feelings of the writer show through the words
we read.
Voice is when you hear the author or writing
speaking to you.
Think about it!
“Voice is the imprint of the person on the
piece…As writers compose, they leave their
fingerprints all over their work.”
-Donald Graves and Virginia Stuart
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“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what
you are, what you believe shine through every
sentence you write, every piece you finish.”
-John Jakes
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To Achieve Sparkling Voice:
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Write honestly and from the heart
Use language that brings the topic to life for the
reader
Care about what you have written
Use expression
Connect with the reader
Give the reader a sense of the person behind
the words
Be yourself!
Examples of Voice
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The Spider and the Fly
by Tony DiTerlizzi
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Diary of a Worm
by Doreen Cronin
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Voices in the Park
by Anthony Browne
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Who is Melvin Bubble?
by Nick Bruel
Activity #1: Who left that message?
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Each set of partners will be assigned a
character.
 Characters sheet
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You and your partner will come up with a skit
pretending to be your character. You can act
out your skit or read aloud a “voicemail” that
your character could have recorded.
The class will try to guess who you are
pretending to be by paying attention to what you
say and how you say it.
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Activity #2: Tone of Voice
Every piece of writing should have a tone
or “flavor.”
 The tone should be appropriate for the
audience and purpose of the piece of
writing.
 Read The Spider and the Fly by Tony
DiTerlizzi and complete the Tone of Voice
Word Web.
 Discuss as a class.
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Activity #3
Part One: Giving Objects Voice
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In the story, Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin, you learn
about life from the point of view of a worm.
With the class, brainstorm other objects or creatures that
you could give a “voice” to. Think about each object and
discuss what its attitude, personality, and opinions would
be. What are its likes and dislikes? Pair-Share with the
person next to you.
Choose your own object to write a story about. Tell about
the life of your object in the form of a journal/diary or
newsletter.
Keep your object a secret and see if the class can guess!
Activity #3
Part Two: Audience
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The audience is who is reading the piece of writing and who
the author is writing to.
The voice of a piece of writing will change when the
audience changes.
Using “voiceless” objects, write a short story following this
prompt:
 You are a _________. Tell _________ about your life.
Use any of the following examples or come up with your
own:
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Pencil ↔ paper
Pencil ↔ pencil sharpener
Computer ↔ student
Sock ↔ shoe
Shoe ↔ shoelaces
Baseball ↔ bat
Bone ↔ dog
Cat ↔ mouse
Scissors ↔ paper
Activity #4: Introduce Point of View
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Divide the class into two groups. Explain that they are going to be
reading a short piece of text and their task is to remember as many
details as possible from the text.
Tell one half of the class that they are burglars and the other half of the
class that they are real estate agents, without divulging the roles to the
opposite groups.
Pull up the document called “The House” on an overhead or Smart
board and read it aloud to the students. While you are reading, the
students should not be taking notes.
Once the reading is complete, turn off the overhead and ask students to
list as many details as they can remember about the house from the text
(e.g., descriptions of rooms, items located in the house, layout of house).
This part of the activity should be limited to 2-3 minutes.
Students then share their lists within their group and create a list on
chart paper.
Hang both sheets of chart paper on the front wall of the classroom.
Discuss the similarities and differences between the two lists, and allow
students to guess the viewpoint of the other group.
Discuss whether the lists would be different from another viewpoint (e.g.,
child, interior decorator, pet dog).
Activity #5: Point of View
Part One:
 Listen to a piece of writing about a rip in the pants that
lacks voice. What is the point of view? How would the
story change if it were written from different points of
view? As a class, identify different points of view for the
writing (teacher, principal, student, the pants, etc.).
 In small groups, discuss how the voice of the writing
would change according to your assigned point of view.
Rewrite the piece to add voice.
Part Two:
 A story changes with different points of view. Read
Voices in the Park, by Anthony Browne.
 Discuss each of the four narrators in the book. Describe
each using character traits by completing the character
analysis chart.
Activity #6: Point of View
Listen to the story Who is Melvin Bubble?
 Identify the different points of view in the
story.
 What would people say about you if
someone were to write a “Who is
________ ________?” What would you
write about yourself?
 Discuss with your Turn & Talk partner and
share with the class.
 Write your own “Who is ____?” story and
add illustrations.
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Time to Assess!
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Introduce the rubric for Voice.
Read sample texts.
Identify exemplar examples of voice and
discuss ways to fix examples that lack voice.
Assess samples.
 Open
Scoring
 Example of Sparkling Voice
 Scoring Practice: Voice
Time to Write!
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It’s time to put your skills to the test! Demonstrate your
knowledge of voice by designing a R.A.F.T.S. writing
assignment.
R = Role of the writer
 A = Audience
 F = Format
 T = Topic
 S = Strong Verb
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Time to Write!
1.
Explore R.A.F.T.S.
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Interactive R.A.F.T.S.
Create your own R.A.F.T.S.
Choose a role, audience, format, topic, and strong
verb from the R.A.F.T.S. Ideas page.
Complete the R.A.F.T.S. graphic organizer.
Write your rough draft.
Record yourself reading your story aloud. Listen for
sparkling voice!
Assess your writing using the voice rubric.
Make revisions and turn in!
Resources
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Creative Teaching Press, Traits of Good Writing Reproducible Activities
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Culham, Ruth, 6 + 1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide
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Culham, Ruth, Using Picture Books to Teach Writing with the Traits
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Sloan, Megan S., Trait-Based Mini-Lessons for Teaching Writing
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Kim’s Korner for Teacher Talkhttp://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/writing/sixtrait/voice/menu.html
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Writing Fixhttp://writingfix.com/6_traits/voice.htm
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http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/tnl/langarts/pdf/6traits/voice.pdf
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http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=167
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http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=23