This narrative writing course explores the exciting topic of animal defense mechanisms to teach students how to tell a story that will interest the reader. Students will tap into both their analytical and creative sides as they research information about the wild animal of their choice and then tell a “Wild Animal Tale.”
Prewriting
Often overlooked as important to the writing process, the more time a writer spends in the prewriting stage, the smoother the rest of the process will go. Your student will start by learning the elements of a narrative. Then, they will choose a wild animal to focus their narrative on. As they research their animal, they will gain valuable skills in note taking and using graphic organizers to prepare for the actual drafting of the narrative.
Planning
Now that their research is complete, students will learn how to use character development maps to fully develop their chosen animals and understand how they affect and are affected by the plot of their narrative. The next planning tool students will explore is a story map, which they will use to identify their story’s plot, setting, problem, and solution.
Drafting
As students draft the beginning, middle, and endings of their narrative, they will gain valuable skills in a number of key writing areas. They will learn how temporal words and phrases help transition between people and places in a story. They will discover how sensory details make a narrative more engaging. And they will grasp how dialogue moves a story forward.
Revising
Once drafting is complete, the next accomplishment in narrative writing is learning how to revise what you’ve written. Students will pay close attention to the words and sentences they’ve created to see if precise verbs, internal dialogue, and word choice might improve their finished product.
Editing
Although it gets a bad rap as the “least enjoyable” aspect of writing, the ability to find one’s own errors and omissions is every bit as key as the writing itself. Students will get tips on how to spot these issues and how to correct them.
Question 1
Write a report on a fictional book you read
1.
Title:
2.
Author:
3.
Setting:
4.
Main Characters: name and a short description
5. Main events: what happened in the story.
6. Conclusion: the ending of the story.
Question 2
Fill in the story organizer below with
information about the experience that you plan to write about.
Event _________________
When? _________________
Where? _________________
Details
1. _________________
2. _________________
3. _________________
4. _________________
How it ended _________________
Question 3
Using the picture below as a guide, write a story about what might be happening.
Here is a checklist for you to follow to help you do your best writing:
- Keep the central idea or topic in mind.
- Keep your audience in mind.
- Support your ideas with details, explanations, and examples.
- State your ideas in a clear sequence.
- Include an opening and a closing.
- Use a variety of words and vary your sentence structure.
- State your opinion or conclusion clearly.
- Capitalize, spell, and use punctuation correctly.
- Write neatly.
After you write your story, read what you have written. Use the checklist to make certain that your writing is the best it can be.
Question 4
?
What I know
about rabbits is that ________________
Question 5
Imagine if
cows gave green juice instead of milk! What would the world look like?
Question 6
Describe
your best day ever?
Question 7
Describe,
in details, one thing that you do really well.
Question 8
Look at this picture. Write a story about Christmas.
Question 9
The City Where I Live
Question 10
Life on the Frontier
Question 11
If I lived on the African savanna...
Question 12
Life in the Middle Ages
Question 13
Fill-in-the-Blanks below to create your note about the Witches.
In fairy-tales, witches always wear silly __________ hats and black cloaks, and they ride on ___________________. But this is not a fairy-tale. This is about real witches.
The most important thing you should know about ______________ witches is this. Listen very _____________. Never forget what is coming next.
REAL WITCHES dress in _________________ clothes and look very much like ordinary women. They live in ordinary _____________________ and they ______________ in ORDINARY JOBS. That is why they are so __________________ to catch.
A real witch hates children with a red-hot ____________________________ hatred that is more sizzling and red-hot than any ___________ you could possibly imagine. A real witch spends all her time plotting to get rid of the children in her particular ____________. Her passion is to do away with them, one by _______________. It is all she thinks about the whole day long.
Even if she is working as a __________ in a supermarket or ____________________________ letters for a businessman or driving round in a fancy car (and she could be doing any of these things), her mind will always be ____________________________ and scheming and ___________________________ and burning and whizzing and phizzing with murderous bloodthirsty __________________.
Question 14
Image you war walking in a rain shower. Look at the picture closely. Pretend you are there. Write sentences describing what you would see, feel, smell, and hear. Be sure each idea is written in a complete sentence. Remember that each sentence must begin with a capital letter and end with a period.
Question 15
You see two firefighters - a man and a woman in the picture
below. Write a creative a story to go along with the picture.
