POTD Yay! It’s back again
Title : “Colors”
Poet: Shel Silverstein
Response: What color are you feeling inside today? Why?
“Colors” by Shel Silverstein
My skin is kind of sort of brownish Pinkish yellowish white. My eyes are grayish blueish green, But I’m told they look orange in the night. My hair is reddish blondish brown, But it’s silver when it’s wet. And all the colors I am inside Have not been invented yet.
Today’s Goals To use active reading strategies in order to
comprehend the excerpt from the text Little by Little: A Writer’s Education by Jean Little.
To compare the text to the characteristics of personal narratives and memoirs to determine if it is an appropriate mentor text for our class’s memoir writing.
To notice what choices the writer makes to engage her reader in order to model those choices in our own writing.
Previewing Reading Pages 51-53 ( “Well, I was all ready...” to “Take your seat”
Jean Little “explodes a moment” by telling her elaborate lie about the dying girl. What sensory details does she include in this story-within-the-story to keep her classmates so interested in her tale? Record at least three below with the page #.
Record at least 4 vivid verbs below that Jean Little uses in her story. Include the page #.
Record a piece of dialogue that Jean Little uses that you particularly liked. Include the page #.
During Reading: 15 min
You will read today’s section INDEPENDENTLY
By the end of your reading today, you need to have 6-9 active reading strategy annotations on your notebook paper
You need to answer questions 4-6 on the BACK of the WS
If you finish before the timer stops, work on your memoir draft
Grammar Review Which of the following are correct, parallel sentences?
A. I opened the door, said a private prayer for help, and entered the grade five classroom.
B. I knew I should not go back to answer it, but you know my mother and father are both doctors, and I was afraid it might be an emergency.
C. I had to get to shore, go home and bandage my knee and put on dry clothes.
Mentor Structure Paragraphs divided sequentially
When I reached the street... As I passed St. John’s school... Then I stood stock still...
Vary your sentences Some sentences should be long and others short. Some sentences should begin differently. Some sentences should start with a part of
speech other than a noun or pronoun.
MiddleYour story needs to build to something exciting, the climax.
Write about a simple conflict, a task that must be completed, a question that must be answered, or a barrier that must be overcome.
Rising Action
Climax
Beginning
Resolution
Middle
Include Actions Dialogue Sensory Details Thoughts and Feelings Suspense (Remember to build to a
climax.)
WW goal and checklist Goal: Draft parts of your rising action; divide ideas into paragraphs
Indented paragraphs
First person POV
Past tense language
Chronological order
Parallel sentence
Conflict
Dialogue
Sensory Details
Closure
On your exit ticket, write the CONFLICT, CLIMAX, and RESOLUTION of your memoir
HW reminder: Answer Comprehension questions 4-6
Mentor Grammar Parallelism (Add these notes to your writing/literary terms section
on pg. 10)
Observe: “I was gobbling toast and honey, gulping down milk, and hating my cheerful little sister who was the cause of all the trouble...”
In my free time I like to read, skate, and watch TV.
X On Friday I went to the mall, bought a bag, and I was taking my puppy to the park. How would I fix this?
Note: The repetition of similar grammatical structures in a sentence
Imitate: Use parallelism to connect ideas into a series in one sentence.
Topic Consideration Questions
Can I write descriptively about the topic? (your recollection of the sensory details does not have to be 100% accurate)
Is there a place for dialogue?
Is there something more to the story than just talking about an interesting or fun or exciting moment in my life?
In addition to answering these questions, I mentally reviewed my Writing Territories, the places I’ve traveled, Penn State stories, losing grandparents, and things that make me happy
Choosing My Topic: What Should I Write?
Penn State memories
Ice skating class
Learning how to shoot the duck
Final Performance (hard work, practice, pride, accomplishment, realizing childhood
dream)