Writers Toolbox

For Narratives

Gathering Ideas

Writing powerful stories – Gathering Ideas

First times…

Last Times…

Turning Points…

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I understand how to write powerful stories… 0 1 2 3 4 5

Teaching point: It works to write down “turning points” in your life. These might be first times or last times. They may be when you realized something important in your life. Take these moments and write something fantastic!

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My Ideas…First times1.

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Last times1.

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The first time I played softball with my dad, “He tried to kill me!”

As I shook the cobb webs out of my head and the sense of feeling slowly returned to my body parts, I suddenly realized that Dad almost killed me with a softball! The events of the day all began in an ordinary fashion. We were camping as a family at a placed called Lazy Acres. Now to be honest, lazy acres was a real dump. It was a run down campground with a old barn as an office. The campsites had also seen their better days too. They were little 8 by 12 areas composed of bare dirt, overgrown grass patches and a rusty truck rim for a fire pits.

Small Moment

Turn point

Moments when I got it

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*** If you can: add how you felt or what you were doing in one of the moments ***

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This story must be preceded by a personal disclaimer that states: All events that are about to be told can not be blamed on Ronald or the innocent author of this story… It is our parents fault! They are the ones who bought us the sling shots.

Small Moment

I realized our parent were to BLAME !

I realized…my words can really bump people around!

Henry was a just “normal kid” who wanted to get through the school day with as little drama as possible. However, deep in his heart he knew that could never happen because everyone knows at school you “just have to play dodge cars!” “Dodge cars?” You may ask. Yes…Dodge car! It’s the game everyone plays at school. You know…when you walk in the door, you look for the kids who has a new hair cut or who just got a new pair of glasses. They stick out . Kinda… like the kid on the dodge car ride who has a broken steering wheel. They are “wobbling” through life trying to get through the day without getting CRUSHED. But, “Hey that just can’t happen”… not in dodge car! It is a unspoken rule that someone has to slam the “cripple” and when the cripple get slammed the crowd cheers with glee. It’s a blast!

I Wish Tool

Don’t forget items in your “tool box”

Your worst…

Your best…

Your Funniest…

The First…

The Last…

I realized…

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Share your “STORY”!

As I climbed upon the “Diving Board of Death,” little did I realize … that I was about to become a first grade legend!

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“Input”

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Was the story presented in a way that would make you read MORE?

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Dreaming the “Dream" of the story

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I can climb inside the story…0 1 2 3 4 5

Teaching Point: "Writers of stories --- climb inside the story, walking in the shoes of thecharacter, experiencing the story as it unfolds and putting it on the page so the reader can experience it too…”

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Effective writers experience the story with the reader… they don’t tell - they show

The events of the day all unfolded in an ordinary manner. I awoke to the annoying buzzing of the alarm clock which caused me to wipe the crust from my eyes and prepare for another “lovely day” at Orchard Hollow Elementary. The only consolation that caused me to slide out beneath the covers was that today was the first day I would get to go swimming after school! I knew a plunge in the pool was reserved for me; if I could just endure a day of educational activities.

*** I pretended to be a first grader again. I put myself back into the story and let the reader relive it again with me ***

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Your Turn !

It all began

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Share your “Story”

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The Listeners “Input”

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*** Show me in the story where the reader was allowed to experience the story***

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“Sparking Ideas”

I can read other author’s great stories to spark ideas and to see techniques that can be used in my own writings…

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Teaching Point: “Writers read great stories in order to write great stories. An author’s stories and ideas will often spark the reader’s stories and ideas”

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Cartoons?“People pay more attention when they think you’re up to something.” ― Bill Watterson, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

“Reading goes faster if you don't sweat comprehension.” ― Bill Watterson, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

“It seems like once people grow up, they have no idea what’s cool.” ― Bill Watterson, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

“Calvin : There's no problem so awful, that you can't add some guilt to it and make it even worse.” ― Bill Watterson, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes L3

Literary tools up close!

A flashback is a device in a narrative that enables the writer to insert an event from the past in the current action. Writers employ this technique in their narratives to provide context or background for a current event.

“Gazing at the school gate, I remembered how, as a child, I would enter that school rather unwillingly and leave it so excitedly. Today, I was here to collect my child who, perhaps just like me, had the same unwillingness to come to school.”

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Writers also use this technique. Many of you have read Sarah, Plain and Tall. Patricia MacLachlan, the author, uses flashback at the beginning of this book. (Take out bookmarked copy of Sarah, Plain and Tall.) The story starts with the scene of Caleb talking to his sister Anna about the day he was born, which was also the day his mother died. Anna is kneading dough while Caleb is sitting in front of the fire. MacLachlan uses Anna’s daydreaming to flashback to the scene of her mother’s funeral. “I looked at the long dirt road that crawled across the plains, remembering the morning that Mama died, cruel and sunny. They had come for her in a wagon and taken her away.” (p.5) This flashback takes us back to a significant moment in Anna’s past. Knowing about this past event allows us to experience more fully Anna’s present situation.

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Your turn!

As I closed my eyes…

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Share

Listener’s input1.

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Show me two details revealed in flash back?L3

Telling the story through the main character's skin

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As a writer, I can put myself in the “skin” of the main character…

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Teaching Point: “It is important to put yourself inside the skin of the main character and then tell the story through the person’s eye, exactly the way he or she experienced it.”

Diving Board of Death!

As I climbed upon the “Diving Board of Death,” little did I know … that I was about to become a first grade legend! The events of the day all unfolded in an ordinary manner. I awoke to the annoying buzzing of the alarm clock which caused me to wipe the crust from my eyes and prepare for another “lovely day” at Orchard Hollow Elementary. The only consolation that caused me to slide out beneath the covers was that today was the first day I would get to go swimming after school! I knew a plunge in the pool was reserved for me; if I could just endure a day of educational activities.

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At 3:05 when the bell rang, I dashed from my seat with the rest of my fellow inmates and jumped on the school bus. The school bus was going to transport us to the local YMCA where we could drown all the memories of writing and math class. As I tore off my school clothes and squeezed into my bathing suit, I noticed that the string for my bathing suit was missing. This fact seemed totally irrelevant to my first grade mind but later it would play a very relevant role in my becoming a legend.

As I entered the pool area, I noticed that no one was occupying the diving board so I dashed up to the platform planning to make the most spectacular dive ever seen by human eyes.

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As I launch my body into the air, I was sure I was going to display a dive that my classmates would talk about for decades. Boy was I right! As I plunged into the water, the reason why manufactures put a string in your bathing suit became very apparent to me. (And…the 5000 other people who were watching us swim at the pool!) My bathing suit slipped off my legs and before I could react it was floating to the bottom of the deep end. I desperately came up for air and tried to dive into the depths before anyone notice what happened…but it was to late. You see as your head goes down in the water; your bottom goes up.

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That’s the moment I became a legend…because I effectively “flashed” the entire pool area with my tiny white bottom. Even worse was the fact that I missed the retrieval of the bathing suit on my first attempt and I had to try to retrieve it two more times. Each time I dove to the bottom, the laughter grew louder. By the time it was over…I had become a first grade legend.

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Your turn verbally!

Your task with your sharing partner… pick one of your stories and verbally retell it from “first person point of view.” ( I, ME, MY…) STAND IN THE CHARACTER’S SHOES and CAPTURE WHAT HAPPENS FROM THEIR POINT OF VEIW.

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Your turn in writing!

Find one of your writings and rewrite it in first person…THE CHARACTER’S SKIN

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Characters skin…Keep going…

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Does the author provide at least 3 details that help “suspend Disbelief?1.

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Am I Growing?

I can use a rubric to measure my own personal growth as a writer…

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Teaching point: “It helps to pause sometimes and to look back on our progress as a writer, asking,“Am I getting better? What should I work on next?What will help me keep getting better in big andimportant ways?”

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The measuring stick!

At this time…EACH WRITER WILL GET THEIR OWN RUBRIC TO BE USED AS THEY CONFERENCE WITH THEIR FELLOW WRITERS. (Peers and Teacher)

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As I climbed upon the “Diving Board of Death,” little did I know … that I was about to become a first grade legend! The events of the day all unfolded in an ordinary manner. I awoke to the annoying buzzing of the alarm clock which caused me to wipe the crust from my eyes and prepare for another “lovely day” at Orchard Hollow Elementary. The only consolation that caused me to slide out beneath the covers was that today was the first day I would get to go swimming after school! I knew a plunge in the pool was reserved for me; if I could just endure a day of educational activities.

Read the paragraph… to yourself …and use the rubric as a measuring tool.

What do you think? (Whole Group)

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Your Turn…Use the rubric to evaluate the body of my story…

At 3:05 when the bell rang, I dashed from my seat with the rest of my fellow inmates and jumped on the school bus. The school bus was going to transport us to the local YMCA where we could drown all the memories of writing and math class. As I tore off my school clothes and squeezed into my bathing suit, I noticed that the string for my bathing suit was missing. This fact seemed totally irrelevant to my first grade mind but later it would play a very relevant role in my becoming a legend.

Share you rubric evaluation

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Pick the story that you choose to developwith the rubric as your “measuring tool.” Tell the listeners 2 reasons why you choose to use it.

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Flash drafting!I can sketch together a “draft” of a story by making a movie in my head and then painting those into a draft that has a beginning, a middle, and end. 0 1 2 3 4 5

Teaching point: Writers let their minds fill up with the events of a story and the sequence in which they happened. They make a mental movie which they pour outon the paper in one fast, furious draft that occurs in one setting.

Diving Board of Death!

1.Recalling “My Movie”

2. Ordering the events

3. Adding humors

4. Living in characters shoes

5. “showing events”

6. Beginning…Middle…End

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Your turn !

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Keep writing!

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Keep writing!

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1. Does the lead of the story…”Invite you in?

2. Does the Author live the story through the character?

3. What is the character like? Prove it with details in the story.

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What am I really trying to say?

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I can revise my writing and make it have moremeaning by exploring the question, “What am I really trying to say”…

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Teaching point: “Professional writers pause and think after writing a first draft. Theyexplore how else they could have written the story. Then they rewrite…often from top to bottom. Often they rewrite asking themselves, “ What was I really trying to say?”

As I shook the cobb webs out of my head and the sense of feeling slowly returned to my body parts, I suddenly realized that Dad almost killed me with a softball! The events of the day all began in an ordinary fashion. We were camping as a family at a placed called Lazy Acres. Now to be honest, lazy acres was a real dump. It was a run down campground with a old barn as an office. The campsites had also seen their better days too. They were little 8 by 12 areas composed of bare dirt, overgrown grass patches and a rusty truck rim for a fire pits

STOP… What I really want to say is that this story is about the first time I realized that my dad wasn’t a super hero --- He was HUMAN! I should go back and spend less time talking about the camp and put more time into sharing how a 7 year old boy sees his hero…dad

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Rethink your story1.Change your character’s age2. Start story earlier3. Change the order4. Pick a new lesson to teachthe reader…

As best as you can…retell the story out loud to your partner with changes chosen from above.

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Flash write your new draft !

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Have students share with the

entire class

Some examples of how theypersonally picked a new lesson to write about…

New leads …

Awesome details…

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Story Arc ?

I can evaluate my story and see if it follows the traditional Story Arc that good writers utilize… 0 1 2 3 4 5Teaching point: “Stories have a ‘way they usuallygo…’ A powerful way to improve your story is tomake sure you follow that blue print.

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The Real Story Arc

Red riding hood

3 pigs

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Tasks…Click on Narnia

1.Watch video and draw story arc as you view the story… Does your story have these elements?

2.Draw a story arc to show how Edward changes inwardly

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Share your Story Arc with a partner

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Flash write adding Story Arc

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CSI…

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I can create a story that has “PACE” and causes the reader to focus on the details I desire… 0 1 2 3 4 5

Teaching point: “Writers elaborate on particular parts of a story to make readersslow down and pay attention to those specific scenes.” They control the story’s pace

Changing the details…and the pace

As I shook the cobb webs out of my head and the sense of feeling slowly returned to my feet, I suddenly realized that Dad almost killed me with a softball!

For a moment I allowed my mind to drift back 5 years ago when I was eight years old.At that time my dad was a super hero! He could do no wrong. He could leap small buildings with a single bound and run faster than a speeding bullet. He was my supermanand he proved it daily. One day I saw….

FLASH BACK TIME…tell when Dad openeda lid that no one else could even begin to open…

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Your turn…

Pick one spot in your story where you can enter a flash back and slow the story pace while adding details for the reader.

Add dialogue

Give details

Show actions

Add internal thinking

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Share your added flashback…

Did the flashback… 1. Slow the pace?

2. Add important details?

3. Develop the character for you ?

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Time travel ?

I can use traveling forward in time or going backwards in time as a tool to develop my story line or to enhance my characters 0 1 2 3 4 5

Teaching point: Authors can make characters travel through and place to highlight the meaning they most want to show. They use future event or past events (time travel) to Enrich the story and to strengthen what the story is really about.

Linking it all together…

C S Lewis wrote the book to share his faith with his grand children…

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Who is Aslan?

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Who do the children represent?

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Story Arch…

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Your turn…

What was the Author trying to tell us?1. Who created the park? Why?2. What were the concerns of the park?3. What was the lesson of the park?

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Class collaborate…

1. What was the author’s main reason for writing the story?2. What details did he give as clues and to enrich the story? (Lets look

at the characters) Why the different ones?3. Did he achieve his purpose?4. Do any of your stories flash forwards or flash backwards.

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The Last Bite!

I can write a ending to my story that leaves the reader with the final “flavor(s)” that I want them to remember. 0 1 2 3 4 5

Teaching point: Writer make a big statement at the ending of a story. They think back to what they “most wanted to say” and then they write story endings that reflect thatidea.

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The final images I want the reader to remember…avoid the “cliff”

Writer reflect on the ending of the story as much as they do the lead… they don’t just drop you off the “cliff”

Revising my ending…I want to “focus” on paying attention

to the small voice in my head.

That’s the moment I became a legend…because I effectively “flashed” the entire pool area with my tiny white bottom. Even worse was the fact that I missed the retrieval of the bathing suit on my first attempt and I had to try to retrieve it two more times. Each time I dove to the bottom, the laughter grew louder. By the time it was over…I had become a first grade legend

I am going to add how if I listened to the voice in “my head” (the one thatnoticed the string to my bathing suit was missing) I would have avoided becoming a FIRST GRADE LEGEND…

“Don’t just end stories!”

“Resolve problems , teach lessons, make changes that tie back to the most important idea of the story.”

Your turn…

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Share…

After hearing the ending…What was the main lesson of the story? Prove it to the author by pointing out the “key words” that showed you this concept.

Looking to the stars…

I can look at the works of other authors and incorporate their techniques into my writing. 0 1 2 3 4 5

Teaching point: Writers look at other author’s writing to see the “tools and techniques” they used to move and affect the readers who interact with their writing. They then try to use those techniques in their own personal works.

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Conflicts that “snare” the reader3 types of conflict…1. Character versus self2. Character versus character3. Character versus nature

Review The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe with and partner to find forms of conflict.

Your turn…

Develop a writing that is based around one of the 3 conflict types. Day 1

Day 2…

Day 3

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Share…

As a reader… Could you tell the type of conflict that was being developed? Prove it with evidence from the entry.

Taking a “seed” conflict andS T R E T C H I T O U T !!!

I can take a basic conflict and stretch it out by adding details and “twist and turns” 0 1 2 3 4 5

Teaching point: Writers don’t just tell a story as it happened. They add structure and tell it bit by bit to draw out the tension and make the story more compelling.

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What could I add to my , “Diving Board of Death?

Troubles along the way…1. 2.3.

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Your turn…

Pick one of your three conflicts and add structure…

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Keep going…

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Share

Does the story display a story ARC ? Draw it.

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Do your characters have a niche?

My story has at least one secondary character who adds to the depth or meaningto my narrative.

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Teaching point: Authors ensure that every character, main or secondary, play a role in forwarding the larger meaning of the story.

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Adding Mrs. Murphy to, “The Diving Board of Death”

Mrs. Murphy was like broccoli. She was not my most favorite vegetable in the salad bar of Orchard Hollow teaching staff.

She always made you say please and thank you.

She was very formal. She called me “Charles”

She really did not like me but she was bound and determined to change me into a proper gentlemen.

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Your turn…

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Share

Does the “new” character add depth to the story?

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The power of the pause…

I can use commas in my writing to create slow the reader’s pace and to convey the deeper meaning of my story.

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Teaching point: To learn the power of the comma and to use it as a tool in your writing; you must explore how other author’s have used it in their writings. It is only then can you use it to its full potential.

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Examining C S Lewis comma use

Explore pages through and chart how it was used.

Example of Commas What does it do Example of it in my writing1. 1. 1.

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Example of Commas What does it do Example of it in my writing2. 2. 2.

3. 3. 3.

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Share our finding

Example of Commas What does it do Example of it in my writing1. 1. 1. 1

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Create the Chronicles of Room 105