This Lesson's Title:

"Voicing" a Believable Account

How would it feel to really wear someone else's skin?

This lesson was created by NNWP Teacher Consultant Denylle McDowell and then presented at an AT&T-sponsored in-service class for teachers.

The intended "mentor text" to be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the chapter book The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers. 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 The Glory Field 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:

After discussing a light-hearted story about prejudice by Dr. Seuss ("The Sneetches"), student writers will read and discuss a more serious narrative about a boy being brought to early America by slave ship.  The voice in Walter Dean Myers' first chapter of The Glory Field makes his story a much more believable account than Seuss' charming story.  Inspired by Myers' writing techniques, student writers will then attempt to create believable accounts of characters and situations they will create with the interactive word game below. Teachers: click here to read the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is voice; the writer's goal is to create a short, narrative account that sounds like it believably comes from another person.  The support trait in this assignment is word choice; strong imagery-filled words will help students create a more powerful piece of writing.