Writers Read Better: Narrative

50+ Paired Lessons That Turn Writing Craft Work Into Powerful Genre Reading

M. Colleen Cruz

• Publisher: Corwin
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781544385693
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Teaching Languages

When It Comes to Reading, Writers Have an Advantage We know that writing skills reinforce reading skills, but what’s the best way to capitalize on this relationship? By flipping the traditional “reading lesson first, writing lesson second” sequence, Colleen Cruz helps you make the most of the writing-to-reading connection with 50 carefully matched lesson pairs centered around narrative texts. Lessons can be implemented either as a complete curriculum or as a supplement to an existing program. Complete with suggestions on adapting the lessons to suit the needs of your classroom and individual students, Writers Reader Better: Narrative offers a solid foundation for giving your students the advantage of transferable literacy skills.

Part 1 Lessons for Generating Story Envisioning Characters and Settings

Whether rereading books or rewatching movies, most of us have a reason we feel compelled to revisit a story whose plot we already know. When I go back to reread or rewatch something, it is almost always because of the deep relationships I developed with the characters and the lushness of settings. These are what draw many children to read stories in the first place: Zélie’s bravery, Junie’s sass, the smell of sweat and the sound of the crowd on the basketball court, the magic of Hogwarts.

However, I’ve often found that students get a quick picture of characters and settings in their heads, a rough sketch if you will, but are unsure of the type of reading work they can do to help make this enjoyment richer and more meaningful—the type of reading work that brings about a more Technicolor, 3-D experience of the story world.

One of the most successful strategies I have used to help students learn these reading moves is to show them how to develop their own characters and settings in their narratives. Whether the students craft these stories from their real lives or they are purely fictional, as they work to bring these characters to life, they begin to understand the techniques a writer can use to accomplish these goals. When they carry those writer selves into their narrative reading, they are more poised to identify these feats in the novels and stories they read and are more open to fully imagining the poignant details of people and place. It’s through the physical details that readers comprehend the emotional landscape the author paints.

What You Will Find in This Section

This section begins with idea generation, split between strategies for students writing fiction and for those writing nonfiction narrative. The focus is on considering, exploring, and creating. The section ends with a couple of strategies that focus on drawing together plots and making the shape of the story match the meaning the young writer is after.

Paired alongside each of the idea-generating sessions, students will have an opportunity to apply the skills they learned as writers to their experiences as readers. Students will learn how paired and mirror strategies can help them envision tricky setting descriptions and infer complex characters.

The last few sessions can be applied to either fiction or nonfiction narratives for both writing and reading. This includes the digital lessons at the end.

When to Use These Lessons

As mentioned in the introduction, these sessions are designed to either be taught as an addendum to an existing curriculum, as a full unit on narrative reading and writing, or as a bridge across a content area, such as studying history or people in social studies. You might use lessons in this section to open a unit on narrative writing or to supplement your current reading or writing narrative units. Additionally, you might decide to pick and choose from these story-gathering and development sessions as you move from one type of narrative to another. For example, you might choose to use a fictional character development lesson when teaching students how to read and write historical fiction. Then later in the year, you could choose to teach the lesson on crafting story structure at the outset of a springtime memoir unit.

Preparing to Use the Writing Lessons

For the writing lessons, you’ll want to do the following:

• Choose a genre to focus on and then flag the lessons that support it. The lessons in this book support fiction and nonfiction narratives. Some lessons apply to both; others only apply to one. Familiarize yourself with the lessons that match your plans and mark them accordingly.
• Start thinking of possible stories you might want to write. Hands down, student writers love it when their teachers model strategies with their own thinking and drafting. I’ve included some readymade excerpts you can adapt, but it usually works best if you develop a few story ideas ahead of time.
• Gather possible mentor texts. Select a few mentor or anchor texts that you will study and refer to throughout the unit. Mentor texts, as described by Katie Wood Ray, Francine Prose, and countless other teachers of writing, refer to texts that model the writing style a writer would like to emulate. Often in classrooms, these texts are from professional writers, although it is not uncommon for there to be some kid-written mentor texts in the mix. Ideally these are short texts, like short stories or picture books that can be read in one sitting and would take 10 minutes or less to read, which will mimic the length of the pieces your students can write.
• Plan when you will read aloud. Some teachers assume they have to read aloud an anchor text immediately before the lesson, but it works fine to read aloud a few days in advance or during another part of the day.
• Create mentor and anchor text baskets. For those of you who teach older students or students who can read higher-level texts, you might fill baskets with a variety of mentor or anchor texts for students to sort through and explore to get a sense of the genre your class is studying. So, for example, if you are teaching fantasy fiction, you might mix in some traditional fiction, historical fiction, and biography and ask students to sort through the stacks, deciding what stories fit with what they believe makes a fantasy story. Alternately, you might decide to engage the students in an inquiry where you give them samples of the type of narrative you will be studying and have them chart what they believe are characteristics of that genre.

Preparing to Use the Reading Lessons

A majority of our students’ reading diet has likely been in narrative texts. Many students will likely have a decent working notion of the ways stories go across genre, and you should build on that. To prepare for the reading lessons in this section I recommend the following:

• Gather and organize books. If you are planning to teach this as an independent reading unit, be sure there are enough books at accessible levels to offer students choices as well as ensure they are able to read at least a book per week for the duration of the unit. If this is a club unit, you will want to do the same, except with club books. Each book club set would ideally have at least four copies per title.
• Consider reading access. If you have students who are not yet reading at grade level, you might want to gather several series books. Series offer built-in supports because once students can read a book in the series, they have a successful experience under their belts and can apply those skills to the next books in a series. You might also consider digital and audio texts for students who might not yet be able to access higher-level texts of interest to them.

Lesson 1 Writing Write Our Truest Selves

Purpose

Students learn that fiction writers often begin by thinking about and developing characters.

Lesson Intended for

• Writing realistic fiction short stories
• Writing historical fiction short stories
• Writing fantasy short stories
• Writing fiction picture books
• Students at a wide range of levels

Materials Needed

• A piece of chart paper or document camera
• Students’ writing notebooks (optional)

Lesson Steps

1. Tell a brief story about imaginative play and connect it to fiction writing.
2. Explain that many fiction writers begin their stories by developing characters.
3. Discuss how writers can use themselves as inspiration for characters.
4. Demonstrate crafting a character using your own personal traits.
5. Ask students to try studying themselves and others to begin creating possible characters.

What I Say to Students

When I was young, I used to love to play with characters. Sometimes these were dolls. But a lot of times these were anything I had available: salt and pepper shakers, pencils from my pencil box, even popsicle sticks. I would make them talk and walk and act and think, just like people did. And almost all of them were more than a little bit like me.

This got me to thinking about us creating fiction stories and how one of the ways authors like to begin fiction writing is by creating characters. And much like I did when I was little, creating characters out of pencils and popsicle sticks, writers often base characters, at least a few of them, on pieces of themselves and their personalities. Let me show you what I mean . . .

[Turn to your demonstration notebook and make it clear that you’re about to write in front of the students. Think out loud as you write.]

I’m the kind of person who gets lost in my own world and would rather be by myself. Sometimes, because of that, I come off as sort of cold and not friendly. I could create a character like that. I could make her a really well-meaning person but one who prefers to be alone, and sometimes, when she’s thinking, if someone interrupts her, she comes off as snotty . . .

When I was writing, I was thinking about one quality about myself—the way I like to be by myself. Then I started to think about the downsides of that, because I know the best stories involve good characters having at least a little trouble. Then I jotted down a few tricky situations the character could get into or a few problems she might have. I don’t have a name or anything, but I feel like she is already very different from me.

Before you head off to write today, if you don’t already have a character or story idea rolling around in your head, please take a minute to brainstorm with a partner about a possible character. You might decide to try thinking about yourself as a starting point and then try developing a character from there. You might make a T-chart where you put yourself on one side and then your imagined character on the other. Or you could make an identity web of yourself and then study it and make another one, inspired by your own, for your character. Or just write long like I did.

One last thought: don’t stop at just one character or one story idea. Try to make today a brainstorming day. Try to get as many possible ideas as possible down in your notebook so you’ll have a ton to choose from later.

Lesson 1 Reading Characters Offer Clues to Authors’ Selves

Purpose

Students learn that sometimes book characters can give them insight about the author of the book.

Lesson Intended for

• Reading realistic fiction
• Reading genre fiction (e.g., historical, fantasy, mystery, science fiction)
• Reading short stories from an anthology
• Listening to a read-aloud
• Students reading at a guided reading Level L or above

Materials Needed

• A screen to project author websites, or slides...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Acknowledgements
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Videos
• Solutions at a Glance
• Acknowledgments
• Title
• Part 1 Lessons for Generating Story Envisioning Characters and Settings
• Lesson 1 Writing Write Our Truest Selves
• Lesson 1 Reading Characters Offer Clues to Authors’ Selves
• Lesson 2 Writing Flaws and Quirks for Character Development
• Lesson 2 Reading Studying Flaws to Seek Deeper Meaning
• Lesson 3 Writing Finding Freedom in Familiar Character Types
• Lesson 3 Reading Identifying Archetypes to Develop Depth of Understanding
• Lesson 4 Writing Maps, Photographs, and Songs as Tools for Setting Creation
• Lesson 4 Reading Connecting Setting to Meaning
• Lesson 5 Writing Letting Characters and Settings Lead Us to Story
• Lesson 5 Reading Following the Path of a Story to Understand Other Elements
• Lesson 6 Writing Finding Important Ideas in the Most Personal Piece of Our Lives
• Lesson 6 Reading Focusing on the Details of a Text to Uncover Bigger Notions
• Lesson 7 Writing Studying Places for Stories to Explore
• Lesson 7 Reading Making the Connection Between Place and an Author’s Message
• Lesson 8 Writing Revising the Arc to Match the Meaning
• Lesson 8 Reading Connecting the Shape of the Plot to the Theme
• For Digital Classrooms Writing Apps and Tools to Help Keep Track of Story Ideas
• For Digital Classrooms Reading Reading Stories Digitally Requires Readers to Purposefully Set Themselves up to Reread
• Part 2 Lessons for Drafting a Narrative, Following Plot, and Finding Significance
• Lesson 9 Writing Draft Fast to Create Energy
• Lesson 9 Reading Reading Voluminously to Build Momentum
• Lesson 10 Writing Drafting Stand-Alone Scenes
• Lesson 10 Reading Studying One Scene for Larger Understanding
• Lesson 11 Writing Deciding When to Summarize
• Lesson 11 Reading Summarizing Text to Check for Comprehension
• Lesson 12 Writing Research for Personal Writing
• Lesson 12 Reading Noting When a Writer Uses Research or Artifacts
• Lesson 13 Writing Drafting With Truth in Mind, Leaving Space for Facts
• Lesson 13 Reading Deciphering an Author’s Truth and Perspective
• Lesson 14 Writing Drafting With Perspective in Mind
• Lesson 14 Reading Considering the Author’s Choice of Perspective and Its Effects
• Lesson 15 Writing Research Makes Fiction Believable
• Lesson 15 Reading Researching Outside a Text Can Open New Interpretations
• For Digital Classrooms Writing Choosing the Best Platform for Your Story
• For Digital Classrooms Reading The Platform Affects the Way You Interact With a Story
• Part 3 Lessons for Revising for Meaning and Significance Analysis and Critique
• Lesson 16 Writing Exploring Deeper Meaning in Drafts to Begin Revision
• Lesson 16 Reading Identifying an Author’s Deeper Meaning Through Rereading and Writing
• Lesson 17 Writing Compelling Stories Thrive on Conflict
• Lesson 17 Reading Identifying the Scenes That Point to Conflict in a Story
• Lesson 18 Writing Craft Settings That Connect With Characters’ Emotions
• Lesson 18 Reading Noticing a Relationship Between Setting and Character
• Lesson 19 Writing Stories Extend and Elaborate on Larger Ideas
• Lesson 19 Reading Tracking the Weight of a Story
• Lesson 20 Writing Increasing Suspense Through Revision
• Lesson 20 Reading Spotting Moves Authors Use to Build Suspense Helps Readers Make Predictions
• Lesson 21 Writing Craft Dialogue to Match Character Personality and Uniqueness
• Lesson 21 Reading Dialogue Gives Insights Into Characters
• Lesson 22 Writing The Narrator’s Voice Makes Perspective Clear
• Lesson 22 Reading The Narrator’s Voice Sets up a Reader’s Inferences and Interpretations
• Lesson 23 Writing Knowing the Significance of a Personal Story Can Help Writers to Foreshadow
• Lesson 23 Reading Identifying Foreshadowing in a Story to Help Discover Theme
• For Digital Classrooms Writing Revising Digitally Allows for Powerful Peer Feedback
• For Digital Classrooms Reading Other Readers Can Give New Perspectivesn
• Part 4 Lessons for Perfecting the Prose and Purpose Deep Interpretation
• Lesson 24 Writing Designing Beginnings and Endings That Entice and Linger
• Lesson 24 Reading Savoring Beginnings and Endings
• Lesson 25 Writing Fewer Words Can Make More Impact
• Lesson 25 Reading Considering Words Used and Not Used When Interpreting
• Lesson 26 Writing Using Symbolism to Give Readers Direction
• Lesson 26 Reading Interpreting Symbols in Stories—When Everything Can Have Meaning
• Lesson 27 Writing Choosing and Smoothing Tense
• Lesson 27 Reading Looking to Tense for Meaning
• Lesson 28 Writing The Many Purposes of Narrative Paragraphs
• Lesson 28 Reading Reading Narrative Paragraphs on Surface and Inferential Levels
• Lesson 29 Writing Using Tools to Make Smart Spelling Decisions
• Lesson 29 Reading Knowing an Author Carefully Chooses Words Helps Readers Develop Deeper Understanding
• Lesson 30 Writing Making Publishing Decisions Based on the Intended Audience
• Lesson 30 Reading Judging the Effectiveness of an Author’s Decisions
• For Digital Classrooms Writing Using Digital Tools to Call Attention to Theme
• For Digital Classrooms Reading Looking Across Highlights, Bookmarks, and Notes to Help Identify Unifying Themes
• Resources
• References
• Index
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