self-reflecting on a time the writers was angry while exploring details and voice
This lesson was built for WritingFix after being proposed by NNWP Teacher Consultant
Karen McGee.
The intended "mentor text" to be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the picture book When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry... by Molly Bang. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author.
Washoe County teachers, click here to search for this book at the county library.
Teacher Instructions & Lesson Resources :
Step one (sharing the published model):Before reading Molly Bang’s book, ask the students to think about a time when they became very angry with someone---a sibling, a parent, a friend, a teacher. In their journals, students will list several ways that they reacted to their own anger. Discuss that they probably reacted differently to the different people in their lives. Some of the responses might be: hit, scream, curse, cry, slam doors, pout, run away, say, “I hate you.”
Using the OWL (Observe, Wonder, Learn) teaching format, students will look at five overheads of key pictures from the book and 1) Observe what the author did in her book to show us Sophie’s feelings, 2) Wonder what is happening in the story and why. Then you read the story aloud. For the final step, Learn, you will relook at the five overheads and have students tell aloud what they’ve learned about Sophie and what techniques the author used to help us understand Sophie’s feelings. At this point, you will need to discuss with the students that feelings are neither good nor bad, but that all of us need to learn ways of expressing our feelings in ways that hurt no one. “Stuffing” anger is hurtful to the person feeling the anger because anger turned inward can lead to depression.
Students will again open their journals and list several new ways that they might express their anger. You will then ask students to share some of their ideas; chart the ideas for future reference, especially to be used as a Content Word Wall. Be sure to add some ideas from your own experience. I usually share that when I was a teenager, I always knew when my mother was mad at my dad because she rearranged the living room furniture in our home to work off her anger. The chart should offer students healthy ways of feeling anger so that they can then let the anger go.
Step two (introducing models of writing):Introduce this pre-writing template. With the help of the students, fill out the template using the information from Molly Bang’s book. Pretend that Sophie is using the template to write her own story in response to the prompt: Write about a time when you became very angry. Students can then read and respond to any or all of the student models that come with this lesson. The students should certainly talk about the models' idea development, since that's the focus of this lesson, but you might prompt your students to talk about each model's voice as well.
We're looking for student samples for most grade levels for this prompt! Help us get some, and we'll send you free books for your classroom! Contact us at publish@writingfix.com for details.
Step three (thinking and pre-writing):Students will now fill out their own pre-writing template. On the back of the template, they will write three possible leads and ask at least one peer which lead acts as the best hook. On clean paper, students will start their pieces with the agreed upon lead and continue writing their stories. Remind students that they need to use showing language to help paint pictures in readers’ heads.
The interactive button game on the Student Instructions Page might just give your writers some solid ideas for anger-producing scenarios. It also provides words/phrases that might "spark" details and voice. Your students can certainly come up with original ideas not included in the interactive button game. The goal should be to choose a time to write about that allows them to really show anger.
After the students have completed and talked about their pre-write, you can have them write a rough draft on this two-page drafting sheet, which has an embedded idea development checklist on the second page. After students have written their drafts, they can self-assess their own writing, using the checklist.
Step four (revising with specific trait language): Two tools for revision are provided below. You can use one or both, depending on how much time you have to spend on this assignment.
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.
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.
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.
