I designed this document yesterday for intermediate level teachers who are leading their students through a narrative writing unit. It includes the best of what we all know about adding great detail to this particular type of writing, and it was inspired by another document that always fabulous Amy Ludwig Vanderwater designed specifically for teachers. This is a kid-friendly version, and it includes guidance, slices of mentor text, and prompts to support young writers. Once printed, it also enables kids to tinker with the strategies a bit.
What do I mean by tinkering?
I mean letting kids PLAY with the strategies one small move at a time, and letting them create multiple versions of their descriptions before they choose the ones that will live in their drafts.This makes writing less overwhelming, it encourages experimentation, and it helps kids think critically about the words they will use.
Sticky notes enable this work well, and the photos above demonstrate what I mean. If writers choose to try any one of those approaches multiple times, they can stack their stickies on top of each other too.
If you are a classroom teacher and you’d like the Word document, just contact me. I will send it to you directly, and you can adapt to suit your needs. You can also print the pdf from the ISSUU file below. If you can’t see it, click right here.
