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Fiction
Stories ~ Lesson Ideas
Here
are some lesson ideas to support your creativity as a teacher.
You, of course, know your own class's learning styles, needs
and interests better than anyone, so please use what is helpful
and modify or disregard the rest. Depending on your teaching
style and your students' pace of learning, each lesson step
could last one or several days. In "Download
Options" you can find a downloadable version of this
unit and sample student handouts.
Part
I: Reading as Writers
You may wish to modify these lesson ideas according to the writing concepts you have already investigated, and integrate into your writer's workshop conversations ideas from stories you and your class have read together. Regardless of how much time we, as readers, have studied fiction, it is still very useful for my class to spend a week of writer's workshop time to study, from a writer's point of view, a set of carefully chosen books. I have listed some titles that have worked well for me. These selections should be readily available to other teachers. You have your own favorites that you would prefer to use.
Step #1 |
Read
or re-read the story Stelaluna by Jannel Cannon, from
a writer's point of view together as a class.
Model how to think about the main character's general goal
or desire (to belong or feel loved). Demonstrate how this
story can be mapped out in the story plot plan. Discuss
the scientific information the author included. (Other suggestions:
Tacky the Penguin, by Helen Lester, or other Tacky books) |
Step #2 |
Repeat
the lesson with the book Clickity-Clack
Moo by Doreen Cronin (fight for fairness or justice).
The chart you did together for Stelaluna should
be in a prominent place where students can refer to it.
This time, model less and place more responsibility on
your students to fill in the chart. (Other suggestion: The
Gnats of Knotty Pine, by Bill Peet) |
Step #3 |
Read
aloud the book Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey, as
an
example of the general goal of going on a quest to
find or do something special. After
a class discussion, guide the class in filling the plot
chart only up to the box "wants." Then, send
them back to their seats in pairs to finish the plot plan.
Share
as a class at end of lesson. (Other suggestions:
Corduroy, by Don Freeman, or Peter Rabbit by
Beatrix Potter.) |
Step #4 |
Read
aloud the book Cyrus the Unsinkable Serpent by
Bill Peet, as an example of the general goal of feeling
a sense
of
achievement. This time, after a class discussion, have
the students do all of the outlining of the plot together
in partners. Guide the class in sharing their ideas at
the end. (Other suggestion: Koala Lou, by Mex Fox) |
Step #5 |
Read
aloud the book Amos and Boris by William Steig,
as an example of the general goal of developing an important
friendship. This time, after a quick class discussion,
have students outline the plot independently. Share ideas
at the end. (Other suggestions: Frog and Toad are Friends, by
Arnold Lobel, Toot and Puddle, by Holly Hobbie) |
2nd
Grade Adaptation |
Follow
the same pattern of a gentle release of responsibility
for being able to outline the
main plot events, but focus on just one general character
goal. Choose the goal you think would be most interesting
or easy for your students to study, and read several examples
with this focus. |
3rd
Grade Adaptation |
Follow
the same pattern of a gentle release of responsibility
for being able to outline the
main plot events, but focus on just two general character
goals. Spend the first 2-3 days on examples of the first
general goal. Then spend the next 2-3 days reading examples
of the next type of general character goal. |
Part
II: Developing Plot Outlines
Now
that students have studied many different exemplary models
of fiction stories and explored basic
plot structure, they
are ready to take on the challenge of creating their own fiction
story plots. During the first several days, students are supported
in their process of learning to make up their own plot plans.
As they generate these plot plans, I encourage you to
collect them, read them over and support your students'
learning with your constructive comments. Spending several days on just generating plot plans may seem excessive; however, this investment of time pays off later. Creating a
good plot is not easy. As with any other new skill, students
get better with supported practice. Trying to pull a student
through the writing process with a weak plot can be frustrating
to both you and the student. Being able to choose from several
different plot plans instead of just one ensures that students
will at least be working with a good initial idea as they learn
the craft of writing fiction.
Step #1 |
Ask
students to list as many animals that live at Hidden
Villa as they can remember (whole class, pairs
or individual). As an extension, you could ask them to add
one or two scientific facts next to each animal. Together
as a class, choose one animal for the main character of the
plot plan you will create together. Discuss what scientific
facts about this animal could be used in a story. Then choose
one of the five general character goals (see intro) for your
class plot. Think-Pair-Share ideas for your plot plan. |
Step
#2 |
As
a class, decide on one plot outline for your class story
and finish filling in the plot outline chart together.
(This
could
become a short interactive writing project.) In pairs, students
now come up with plot outlines together. Instruct them to
use the same general character goal as chosen by the class.
Share ideas
at the end in a class discussion. |
Step #3 |
Focus
on character development. Discuss personality traits
that would go with the plot you have outlined. Make or
refer
to a chart of character traits that can be posted in the class. Additional notes can be added to this chart during your fiction study. Demonstrate how to use a web
to help organize the class's ideas about the character they
are creating (personality, scientific facts, life facts.)
Each student should choose an animal for their main character.
Then, practice developing this character individually or
with the support of a partner.
|
Step #4 |
Focus
on development of actions (BUT, SO). Go back to the class
plot outline. Do the events in the "but" and "so" boxes
go with the character you have developed? (For example, it
wouldn't make sense for a lizard to make a home in the
pond.) Encourage students to extend their ideas
or think of new events.
Students finish
the plot outline they were working on during previous step.
Extension Idea: For homework, write an entirely different plot outline
based on the same character. |
Part
III: Writing the Rough Draft
Before proceeding to this stage, look through all of your students' plot outlines and write constructive comments on them. This
will help students make any needed changes in their plot
before they start writing. For students with more than one
plot outline, this will greatly help them choose with plot outlines they are going to use for their final story.
Step
#1
(Intro
to Good Beginnings)
|
Individual: Students re-read their plot outlines (along with teacher commentary). They choose the plot outline they are going to develop into a story and focus on making necessary revisions. Orientation: Review the three interesting ways to start a story (dialog, description, or action). Hand out the student worksheet examples of good fiction story beginnings (see
Download Details). Support: Students
work in pairs to identify what type of beginning each
example represents.
Share ideas
as a class. |
Step
#2
(Good
Beginnings)
|
Orientation: Review
the 3 types of good fiction beginnings. As a class, come
up with engaging ways to start the story of the class's
plot outline. Guide your students' thinking and write down
one exemplary idea for each type of beginning. Individual: Students
think of three different, engaging
ways to start
their own story - one of each beginning type. (In the lower
grades, one good beginning would be a sufficient goal.) Discussion: Share ideas as class. |
|
Orientation: Focus
on the story setting. For the plot outline developed
by the class, discuss the exact setting of the central action. What are the main features of this setting? Maybe
make a web of these ideas. (Younger students could draw a
picture.) Review descriptive language. Make a list of interesting
adjectives. Discuss how a writer might use the description
of the setting in the story. Individual: Back
in their seats, students copy down the good beginning they
chose from
the previous
lesson and start writing their rough drafts with a focus
on integrating the setting. Discussion: Share ideas at the
end. |
|
Orientation: Focus
on dialog. Talk about how writers need to really get
into the roles of their main characters to figure out
what they might say in a situation. Choos two characters from a story and, with a student, role play a situation from the story action which requires conversation. At the end of several role plays, ask
the class to decide what parts of the improvised dialog they
think could be included in the actual story. Individual: Students can continue with their rough drafts with a
focus on including dialog. Extension: After
modeling, break students into pairs to practice role playing
characters from their stories and improvising dialog. |
|
Orientation: Focus
on mechanics of writing dialog. Review or introduce
how to use quotation marks. You could use the improvised
conversation from the previous day as model. This could also
become a short class interactive writing piece. Individual: Students continue writing their rough drafts. |
Part
IV: Revision, Editing and Publishing
Finishing
the rough draft of their story could take students just another
day or two, or several, depending on the length of
their story and the pace at which they write. During this time you may notice your students struggling with various writing issues. Jot down these challenges and develop other mini-lessons to address them. You may wish to dedicate all of the writing
workshop time to rough drafts with one-on-one teacher-student conferences. I recommend checking in at least once with
each student in the early phases of rough draft writing to support
the development of their ideas. Guiding a students at this point is much easier than waiting until s/he has completed the rough draft, and then discovering the draft does not make any sense.
As students approach completion of their rough drafts, review with your class the procedure of student revision conferences. Each teacher has his or her own way to conduct this process, so I will not go through all the steps. However, I do recommend using a check list specific to the writing genre studied. Being
a revision advisor is challenging. I believe strongly
in holding students accountable for doing a good job. I particularly
want students to demonstrate the ability to revise and refine
the specific elements we focused on in my mini-lessons.
I
separate the steps of revision and
editing, since students should focus on different aspects
of their writing in each step. You may want to devise a checklist
for your students' editing conferences as well. In this
way they can be held accountable for particular grammar rules,
sight words or vocabulary words they have been studying.
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