This Lesson's Title:

A Pet's
Adventure Story

learning to punctuate direct addresses in a voice-filled story

This lesson was built for WritingFix after being proposed by NNWP Teacher Consultant Torrey Palmer at an SBC-sponsored inservice class.

The ideal "mentor text" that can be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the picture book Good Boy, Fergus! by David Shannon. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author.

Click here to view this book 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:

David Shannon’s Good Boy, Fergus! demonstrates many excellent techniques that demonstrate (with minimal words) the concept of voice: perspective, emotion, interjection, imperative commands. For this lesson, writers will focus on emotion, interjection, and imperative commands as they create an original story about a pet's adventure and an owner following their pet. Students will create an original story, using elements of voice, and punctuating direct addresses correctly. Teachers: Click here to see the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is voice; the writer will purposely add emotion through interjections and imperative commands. The support trait in this assignment is idea development; between the stories' interjections and imperative commands, students will use excellent details to keep the reader informed of what each pet is doing on its adventure.