I only just now discovered National Day on Writing, the United States' national celebration of writing which first took place on October 20, 2009. How cool is that? The celebration invites Americans to consider the role of writing in everyday life. Here are a few witty student responses to the question: Why do we have to write today? For a more detailed list of student answers, visit Edutopia. These are brilliant!
This month in Room 17, we're currently learning how to craft spooky stories. We've been practicing "snapshots," parts of a narrative that describe characters, objects, and settings with rich sensory detail. And this afternoon, we delved into how to craft an engaging lead, or beginning that can hook an audience into reading the rest of the story. Here were a few examples from my students, followed by the specific writing technique they used: "My eyes opened. It was a gooey, squishy, smooth jello monster." (snapshot) "'Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" screamed Nicole. "Help!"' (dialogue) "Shablaam!! Show dashed through the ice outside and cracked my window." (sound effect) "In the dark I saw a one-eyed monster." (snapshot) "Ding, dong. 'Who is it?' I asked. 'It's me,' someone said in a scratchy old voice." (dialogue) "My heart was about to pop out of my chest!" (feeling) These story leads are quite a dramatic improvement from "One day . . ." or "Once upon a time . . . ." We had Author's Chair after our writer's workshop and many of my children were so enthusiastic about sharing the different writing techniques they used, it was impossible to squeeze them all in. Can't wait to see what else these young writers create with their imaginations.
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