The Writer's Craft
short description
New News:
If you have something new and interesting you would like to share...
Send your writing news, stories, contests, even jokes to: Author@prodigy.net
What's Happening:
Be the first to know...
Janie Panagopoulos now offers a FREE 30 minute Skype test to your classroom.
For more information contact Janie at: Author@prodigy.net
What's Going On?:
Starting Over
After having moved to Richmond, Virginia this last year Janie has had to reorganize her whole life and that includes her writing life. This year, Janie is working on a new book, blogs, newsletters, and research. If you have any classroom or student questions you would like to ask, just contact me at: Author@prodigy.net
Also, if you need to order books you can contact Karis Distributing at KLKaris@comcast.net
The Writer's Craft
Using literacy as a tool to direct students in the craft of writing: For classroom use.
Understanding the importance of making instructional links throughout all components of balanced literacy instruction, I have provided this lesson. Feel free to copy and paste.
Author's Craft
Topic:
- Where do you think an author gets their ideas for a story? Perhaps from imagination, experience, research? Why did you reach that conclusion?
- Author's often include personal experiences in their writing. What personal experiences do you think the author used?
- How does the author develop the topic?
Components:
- What did you learn by looking at the book's cover?
- How did the illustrator help you understand the story?
- Do you think this is a good title for the book? How does the title help you as a reader?
- What do you learn when you read the dedication page, copyright date, publishing location?
Words:
- What words grab your attention?
- What words made you connect with your senses?
- What words (dates, colors, size, shape, names) help the author be specific?
- What comparisons (simile, metaphor, personification) do you recognize in the text?
- How does the author use transitional words (next, later, first, second) to help you understand transition and movement of time?
Fictional elements:
- How does the author help you learn about the characters in the story?
- How does the main character act towards others in the story?
- How does the main character change in the story? What evidence does the author include?
- How does the author help you learn from the setting?
- How do the characters in the story fit with the setting?
- How does the setting change throughout the story? How do you know?
- What is the genre of the story?
- What evidence of research do you find in the text of the story?
- What happens in the beginning of the story? The middle? The end?
- How does the author show the emotions of the characters?
- How did the author's writing help you feel emotions?
- Why did the author write this book? How do you know?
- How does the use of dialogue help the author develop the characters?
- How does the dialogue of the story help you understand the interaction between the characters?
Author's elements:
- What is the author's purpose for writing this story? Why do you think that?
- What is the author's point of view? How do you know?
- Do you think the author enjoyed writing this story? Why or why not?
- What part of the story do you think the author enjoyed the most when (s)he wrote the story?
Signals:
- How does the author's use of signals (exclamation marks, dots, dashes, italics, boldface) help you as a reader?
- How does the boldface text help you to understand vocabulary?
