CONNECTING MODES AND TRAITS
REVISE FOR WORD CHOICE: Selecting Striking Words and Phrases • Ask students to work in peer groups of 3 or 4 and share which words in each other’s writing helped to focus the reader on the message of the writer. • After students finish sharing, have them go back to their thought bubbles and revise their word choice for the use of striking words and phrases. EDIT FOR CONVENTIONS: Singular and Plural Possessives • Tell students to go back to their stories and find any words that are possessive and to check their correct use of the apostrophe. • If they don’t have any examples, ask them to revise the text so they can show this skill in action in at least one place. Example: Change “the orchestra that Mac joined” to “Mac’s orchestra.” ASSESSMENT Use the Teacher-Friendly Scoring Guide to assess the writing for the mode. If you wish, use the Teacher-Friendly Traits Scoring Guides to give students feedback on the traits as well. You can assess all the traits or just those you focused on in this lesson. For more guidance on assessment, refer to Teach Writing Well , Part I: Read the Writing. WRAP-UP Discuss how thinking about the mentor text helped students understand how the plot works in narrative writing. Discuss the use of a problem and a solution, and how a plotline helps readers and writers see how the story develops.
Grades 3 & Up Teacher-Friendly Scoring Guide for Narrative Writing
Narrative writing captures a real or imagined experience. It usually contains three primary elements: characters, setting, and plot. The writer grabs and holds the reader’s attention by developing believable characters and putting them in interesting situations, establishing a clear sense of time and place, weaving in vivid details and plot twists, and creating a central conflict or problem that is resolved in a compelling way. To accomplish that, the writer must apply the key qualities of the mode with skill and confidence.
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EXCEPTIONAL
A. Plot : The writer moves the story forward with fresh, original, and logically sequenced events. There is a compelling conflict or problem that is solved thoughtfully and credibly. The writer intrigues, delights, surprises, entertains, and/or informs the reader. B. Characters : The writer creates believable real or imagined characters who are fresh and original. The writer provides direct evidence throughout the piece of how the characters grow, change, and learn. C. Setting : The writer makes time and place work in harmony. He or she creates a visual setting for the reader by establishing the mood or atmosphere using unique and rich details.
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STRONG
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REFINING
A. Plot : The writer mingles significant events with trivial ones, and sometimes strays from the main story line, distracting the reader from the major conflict or problem and its solution. B. Characters : The writer uses predictable and ordinary details and anecdotes that don’t bring the characters to life in a memorable way. There is little attention to how their thinking changes or grows. C. Setting : The writer describes time and place but without much imagination or clarity. The details do not stand out as original.
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DEVELOPING
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EMERGING
A. Plot : The writer offers simple, incomplete events that don’t relate to one another and/or add up to much. The writer creates no clear conflict or problem to be solved. B. Characters : The writer creates characters that don’t feel real or possible; they are stereotypes or cardboard cutouts. The writer has not developed the characters. C. Setting : The writer does not clearly describe the setting or completely omits it.
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RUDIMENTARY
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