This Lesson's Title:

Scary
Somethings

writing an original story where a personified fear is conquered

This lesson was built for WritingFix after being proposed by Nevada teacher Shari Ashby at an SBC-sponsored inservice class.

The ideal "mentor text" that can be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the picture book Harry and the Terrible Whatzit by Dick Gackenbach. 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:

Dick Gackenbach’s classic picture book, Harry and The Terrible Whatzit, is a wonderful story about a child and his fear of the Whatzit that he is sure lives in his cellar.  The story shows how through determination and the desire to save his mother, he conquers his fear in the end.  This writing activity will challenge the writer into using interesting details to describe a personified fear and where it lives.  Teachers: Click here to see the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is idea development; strong details that use action verbs and interesting adjectives should be encouraged.  The support trait in this assignment is organization; the graphic organizer that comes with the lesson has students pre-plan a story that has three distinct parts.