This Lesson's Title:

Leads for a Most
Embarrassing Moment

exploring leads in your writers notebook before writing a story

This lesson was created by Northern Nevada teacher Barbara Cuitino during an
AT & T-sponsored inservice class for teachers.

The intended "mentor text" to be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the chapter book The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author, especially chapter 1
of the book.

Check out The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 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:

Inspired by the embarrassing situation Byron finds himself in during chapter 1 of Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, students will think of their own embarrassing moments they might write about. Using the handout from this on-line lesson (which shows seven different ways to start a story), students will write seven possible leads for Byron's story; then, they will brainstorm seven leads for their own embarrassing stories, writing all seven on a decorated page in their writers notebooks. Teachers can encourage students to choose their favorite lead and write the entire story for their writing portfolio. Teachers: click here to read the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is organization; the writer's goal is to explore seven different techniques for starting a story, then choose the lead that seems to work the best.  The support trait in this assignment is idea development; as studens craft story openings, they should be encouraged to carefully choose details that will make the lead more memorable.