This Lesson's Title:

You're on a Gigantic Roll

using quality details and strong verbs like Roald Dahl

This lesson was built for WritingFix after being proposed by Nevada teacher Kaycee Goman 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 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author, especially from chapter 16 of the book.

Check out James and the Giant Peach 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:

The writer will imagine and compose a descriptive paragraph that focuses on a gigantic object moving through a specific setting and leaving destruction in its wake.  The writer will choose an object and a setting in which the catastrophe will take place.  Using high-quality details and strong verbs will help the writer create a showing paragraph.  Teachers: click here to read the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is idea development specifically describing important settings and objects. The support trait in this assignment is word choice; using strong verbs as well as inventing words or sounds should be encouraged of the writers.

Recipient of the NNWP's
Excellent Writing Lesson Award:

Because of the quality of its resources and ideas, this WritingFix lesson was selected by the Northern Nevada Writing Project as January 2008's Writing Lesson of the Month. It was e-mailed to thousands of teachers who are members of the NNWP's Writing Lesson of the Month Teacher Network.

To quickly access all the WritingFix lessons that have been chosen as "Lesson of the Month," click here to visit the NNWP's archive. You can have a link to a high-quality writing lesson sent to you every month.