This Lesson's Title:

Turning
Point Poems

telling a story of a lesson
learned through someone
else's perspective

This lesson was built for WritingFix after being proposed by NNWP Consultant Jamie Priddy at during our Chapter Books as Mentor Texts Workshop for Teachers.

The intended "mentor text" to be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the chapter book Crank by Ellen Hopkins. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author, especially from chapter 1 of the book.

Check out Crank at Amazon.com.

If you are a Washoe County teacher, click here to search for this book at the county library.

Three-Sentence Overview of this Lesson:

Kristina Georgia Snow is on the brink of becoming someone else – someone who will take the risks Kristina would never think of and someone who will walk with the “monster” Kristina would have never dared meet. This someone else is Bree, and she is the girl Kristina becomes when she walks with the “monster”: crank. Students will read a few excerpts from Ellen Hopkins’ Crank, a uniquely written poetic novel, and analyze the writing style and descriptions of Kristina’s choices, as well as the turning points Kristina encounters as she is making these choices. The students will then create a story of choice and turning points through the perspective of someone else, just as Ellen Hopkins’ has written through the perspective of her daughter. The students’ final product will be a series of short poems telling the character’s story. Teachers: click here to read the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this assignment is idea development; the writer will use important, high quality details and a unique approach in telling the character’s story. The support trait in this assignment is voice; the writer will convey the emotion related to the character’s choices through poetry.