This Lesson's Title:
Adventurous Magic
organizing a unique story about finding a magical item
This lesson was developed for WritingFix after being proposed by NNWP Teacher Consultant Sundae Eyer during an AT&T-sponsored in-service class for teachers. |
T he intended "mentor text" to be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the chapter book Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author, especially from chapters 1 and 2 of the book.
Check out Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher at Amazon.com.
If you are a Washoe County teacher, click here to search for this book at the county library. |
Teacher Instructions & Lesson Resources :
Step one (sharing the published model): Get a copy of Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville. Read aloud chapter 1 and chapter 2. These are the chapters that explain how Jeremy ends up in Elives’ Magic Supply, how he ends up with the dragon egg and the instructions for how to hatch it.
After reading these chapters, discuss with the students the pictures the words create in their heads. Ask students to share what they saw in their mind. Point out interesting and unusual words to students that help to “paint” the picture of Jeremy’s flight from the bullies, how he stumbles across the magic store, and how he discovers the dragon egg and the “How to” instructions.
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Step two (introducing student models of writing): In small groups, have your students read and respond to any or all of the student models that come with this lesson. The groups will certainly talk about the idea development, because of the embedded discussion tool that comes with each set. You might also have your students talk about the organization in the writing too.
- We're looking for student samples for all grade levels for this prompt! Help us get some, and we'll send you a free resource for your classroom! Contact us at publish@writingfix.com for details.
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Step three (thinking and pre-writing): The interactive buttons on the Student Instruction Page will help inspire your students to begin their magical adventure.
After the discussion and review of student models, students should use the interactive buttons to help them create their own magic object. Next, they should use the graphic organizer to help them plan their scene. It requires them to brainstorm interesting and unusual words as well as their “How to” letter. Now they are ready to begin writing their adventure.
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Step four (revising with specific trait language): To promote response and revision to rough draft writing, attach WritingFix's Revision and Response Post-Its to your students' drafts. Make sure the students rank their use of the trait-specific skills on the Post-Its, which means they'll only have one "1" and one "5." Have them commit to ideas for revision based on their Post-It rankings. For more ideas on WritingFix's Revision & Response Post-Its, click here.
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Step five (editing for conventions): After students apply their revision ideas to their drafts and re-write neatly, require them to find an editor. If you've established a "Community of Editors" among your students, have each student exchange his/her paper with multiple peers. With yellow high-lighters in hand, each peer reads for and highlights suspected errors for just one item from the Editing Post-it. The "Community of Editors" idea is just one of dozens and dozens of inspiring ideas that is talked about in detail in the Northern Nevada Writing Project's Going Deep with 6 Trait Language Workbook for Teachers.
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Step six (publishing for the portfolio): When they are finished revising and have second drafts, invite your students to come back to this piece once more during an upcoming writer's workshop block. Their stories might become a longer story, a more detailed piece, or the beginning of a series of pieces about the story they started here. Students will probably enjoy creating an illustration for this story as they get ready to publish it for their portfolios.
Interested in publishing student work on-line? We invite student writers to post final drafts of their original at WritingFix's Community of Student Writers. This is a safe-to-use blog for students and teachers. No writing is posted until it is approved by the moderator. Contact us at publish@writingfix.com if you have questions about getting your students published.
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Learn more about author Bruce Coville by clicking here.
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