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So, what CONVENTIONS lessons could you teach with this fun book?  

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So, what CONVENTIONS lessons could you teach with this fun book?  

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Dragons Love Tacos - Read Aloud Picture Book | Brightly Storytime

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Set the Stage-  "Blue Jeans" vs. "Tuxedo" 

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Set the Stage-  "Blue Jeans" vs. "Tuxedo" 

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The 6 Traits (Overview and Mini Lesson Ideas

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The 6 Traits (Overview and Mini Lesson Ideas

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Welcome, K-12 Writing Teachers: You've found WritingFix's new home. We officially ran out of funding in October of 2020, but Dena and I believe we have found a way to keep the popular website we started back in 1999 online. To do so will require a bit of patience on your parts, because we have a lot of lessons and resources to format. Our surveys and your responses from this new process to rebuild for WritingFix have helped us decide which lessons were used by teachers regularly and which were used rarely.

Our Goal for Revising WritingFix: I'm going to be honest. I stopped wanting to rebuild this website recently. After watching the awful events unfold on January 6, 2021, in the U.S. Capitol Building, I was ready to delete both WritingFix and Always Write and disappear, living quietly in a well-planned retirement. Why? Our fellow citizens too easily became an unruly and treasonous mob, and I became angry that this could even happen in the America I grew up in. My daily journal entries during this time were bitter, almost to a point of sounding vengeful, which I am absolutely not. Although I saw democracy assaulted on that day, I have had time to process many weeks later, and I believe that justice will prevail, even more lies by shameful politicians (and their sweaty lawyers) will be exposed, racist mob members will face Federal judges as convicted felons and embarrassments to their home states and communities and families, and America might just catching up on what it means to be a tolerant people.

Each lesson I revise and share from our original website is my way of showing the world I plan to be a kind and generous citizen, sharing writing lessons that build classroom unity that will hopefully translate into future world unity. That's as political as I plan to be, bu

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Welcome, K-12 Writing Teachers: You've found WritingFix's new home. We officially ran out of funding in October of 2020, but Dena and I believe we have found a way to keep the popular website we started back in 1999 online.

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Best Standards for Writing and Conventions (1)

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Think. about How READING AND WRITING connect (and teach this explicitly to students by using mentor texts)

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Think. about How READING AND WRITING connect (and teach this explicitly to students by using mentor texts)

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Webcam video from Jul 6, 2012 2:47:02 PM

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The Reflections Notebook (two sided reading and writing notebook).  You model instruction on one side, and then the students work either collaboratively or independently on the other.  It gives students a place to continually go back to their work.  It is a "portfolio" of their work throughout an entire year.  

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The Reflections Notebook (two sided reading and writing notebook).  You model instruction on one side, and then the students work either collaboratively or independently on the other.  It gives students a place to continually go back to their work.  It is a "portfolio" of their work throughout an entire year.  

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Researching: You COULD organize your research articles in this table

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Researching: You COULD organize your research articles in this table

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Wilfred Gordon (read aloud) that I always used with the ME MAP or timeline

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Wilfred Gordon (read aloud) that I always used with the ME MAP or timeline

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'Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge' read by Bradley Whitford

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Start the YEAR with an interactive parts of speech sort (open this so you can see it).  Get them interested in FUNCTIONS of words. 

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Start the YEAR with an interactive parts of speech sort (open this so you can see it).  Get them interested in FUNCTIONS of words. 

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So, do any of these ideas have you thinking about your personal narrative?  Could you make a timeline?  

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So, do any of these ideas have you thinking about your personal narrative?  Could you make a timeline?  

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Here are the answers to the PARTS of SPEECH sort. 

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Here are the answers to the PARTS of SPEECH sort. 

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This book has SO many ideas and different types of heart maps.

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Make A Decalogue (list of 10) of Items you Cherish

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Make A Decalogue (list of 10) of Items you Cherish

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 "Sketch a floor plan of house or neighborhood → As you sketch, let memories come … Where do stories live/hide?" 

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 "Sketch a floor plan of house or neighborhood → As you sketch, let memories come … Where do stories live/hide?" 

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Many ideas for future stories tucked away in my childhood hometown. I am proud of this little sketch and think I will revisit it when I need a bit of inspiration. I took this piece and started writing a personal essay about playing basketball with my dad. Here is a excerpt: "Rainbow!" Dad shouts as a reminder, sending a crisp pass cross court. Right foot slightly forward (but still well behind the three point arch), elbow in (at a cool 90 degree angle), guiding hand to the left (lightly touching), right hand pressed against the bottom half of the ball (but not fully - a little bit of light must shine through), square hips (to the basket), slight knee bend (power comes from the legs, not your arms), and launch ---- high, with an almost perfect follow through (fingertips pointed downward as if falling into the braided net). Clunk. The ball back rims and bounces off to the left side. "Adjust," Dad hollers tracking down the rebound.

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OR....how about using a creative way to organize it? Use something similar to this?  It is YOUR call. We had one creative student do a one-pager.  Several who did webs.  MAKE IT EASY FOR YOU.

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OR....how about using a creative way to organize it? Use something similar to this?  It is YOUR call. We had one creative student do a one-pager.  Several who did webs.  MAKE IT EASY FOR YOU.

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Article:  So, what do YOU think about this?  Informally respond in Discussion 2.

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Article:  So, what do YOU think about this?  Informally respond in Discussion 2.

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EXPLICIT instruction using PATTERNS of POWER (see how reading and writing are paired for POWER?)

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EXPLICIT instruction using PATTERNS of POWER (see how reading and writing are paired for POWER?)

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Dumpster Diving-  Nonfiction Mentor Text for older kids.

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Dumpster Diving-  Nonfiction Mentor Text for older kids.

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This is a powerful way to teach WORD CHOICE.  As you read, start finding good examples in books that kids LOVE.

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This is a powerful way to teach WORD CHOICE.  As you read, start finding good examples in books that kids LOVE.

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Don't forget BLACKOUT POETRY- also, consider how this can help kids come up with main idea or theme.

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Don't forget BLACKOUT POETRY- also, consider how this can help kids come up with main idea or theme.

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First, allow students to fill the rooms.
Then, have them use the words to rearrange and create a poem!

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Now, for the POEM.  This can also be done in pairs. 

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Now, for the POEM.  This can also be done in pairs. 

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to products. As Amazon Associates, we may earn from qualifying purchases. However, we never recommend a product, service, etc., that we wouldn't recommend in lieu of the very minor fee we may receive. To keep this from happening and make sure that Amazon receives all of the profit, simply search for the product directly on Amazon's site without using the link. Or better yet, find it a small business, local bookstore, etc. Read more about our policy here.
What if we told you that there is an entire genre of novels that promise to pique the interest of students who don't like to read? Of students who struggle with reading? Of students who have rejected the classics featured so often on middle and high school ELA syllabi? Of students who don't know what they like to read because they've never read a book they've enjoyed?

Enter: novels in verse.

How Is Verse Different From Prose?

An unsuspecting reader might not be able to discern a novel written in verse from a novel written in prose. Once you open the pages to a novel written in verse, the difference becomes apparent.

Prose novels are typically written with longer paragraphs or blocks of text, while novels in verse look more like poetry. Sometimes, they are made up of poetry! However, they don't necessarily have to rhyme, nor do they have to follow any strict meter or pattern. Novels in verse read more like a text conversation. Some pages may be full of text and dialogue, while other pages may house a single sentence or phrase. While a student may take several days or weeks to read a 300+ page novel written in prose, they might devour a novel in verse within hours or days.

Why Do Students Enjoy Novels Written In Verse?

One of the reasons students are attracted to novels in verse is due to their novel format. Typically, when young adult readers open a book, they expect to see hundreds of words filling up the pages. This can be intimidating for many readers who have trouble paying attention, lose their place frequently, or struggle with difficult vocabulary. While novels written in verse are certainly not synonymous with lower-level vocabulary, their unique structure and conservatism when it comes to filling up the page make them more approachable to readers overwhelmed by longer texts and denser pages.

YA readers may also flock to novels written in verse because they look similar to other mediums they enjoy: text messages, social media messages, song lyrics, etc. The unpredictability of how each page will be structured provides a sense of surprise and anticipation for students who get bored easily. Many novels in verse also incorporate multimedia elements like pictures, comics, and symbols.

Novels written in verse are almost always written for pre-teen and teenaged readers, which might create a sense of belonging for readers who feel isolated from denser texts. Novels written in verse typically rely heavily on dialogue, emotion, and themes of identity-the latter of which are particularly relevant to YA readers in the middle of a developmental phase where they are establishing their own identities.

Many of the books on this list of novels written in verse contain challenging themes that are relevant to teens' lives: addiction, loss, love, heartbreak, illness, changing friendships, sexuality, leaving home, immigration, violence, sexual assault, and bullying. Whether fiction or nonfiction, we can promise that your most reluctant and disillusioned readers will find a book on this list. Let us know if we've missed any gems, and be sure to check out our post on The 28 Best Graphic Novels For Reluctant High School Readers for more text suggestions.

35 Novels Written In Verse For Middle & High School Readers

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What Are The Best Novels In Verse For Middle & High School Readers?

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to products. As Amazon Associates, we may earn from qualifying purchases. However, we never recommend a product, service, etc., that we wouldn't recommend in lieu of the very minor fee we may receive.

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VERDI- Cover up verbs.  Have kids come up with what verb would work best.  Then show them what the author used.

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VERDI- Cover up verbs.  Have kids come up with what verb would work best.  Then show them what the author used.

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Excellent for strong word choice. My advice? As you are reading (it is very, very important students see you reading so they buy in), have a pile of post its to tag the 6 traits.

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Read 15.4k reviews from the world's largest community for readers. In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New ...

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I need to offer an apology.  You are ONLY in need of ONE mini lesson per trait.  I obviously missed changing the "2" to a "1" this week somewhere.  There are so many little places to look. I thought I had it covered.  From now on, just ONE.  I figured if you can do one, you can do 1,000,000, right?  Hugs.

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I need to offer an apology.  You are ONLY in need of ONE mini lesson per trait.  I obviously missed changing the "2" to a "1" this week somewhere.  There are so many little places to look. I thought I had it covered.  From now on, just ONE.  I figured if you can do one, you can do 1,000,000, right?  Hugs.

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In response to your amazingly stated discussion Module 3, I wanted to share with you what Lucy Calkins had to say about the article written.  I think it will enlighten you as it did me. 

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In response to your amazingly stated discussion Module 3, I wanted to share with you what Lucy Calkins had to say about the article written.  I think it will enlighten you as it did me. 

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Module Discussion 3:  This is one of my favorite articles about reading and writing. I think we need to look at these two as a GIFT.  Please read and select ONE line to share in the discussion that means the most to YOU.

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Module Discussion 3:  This is one of my favorite articles about reading and writing. I think we need to look at these two as a GIFT.  Please read and select ONE line to share in the discussion that means the most to YOU.

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Best way to teach it?  Read to them DAILY. The VOICE in this writing is UNREAL.

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Best way to teach it?  Read to them DAILY. The VOICE in this writing is UNREAL.

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So, it is time to think about your personal narrative.  You have learned a lot about ideas and organization.  So, I want you to take a look at some additional ideas for writing.  First, remember talking about a decalogue?  See how it works in authentic text?  This is Because of Winn Dixie.  Read Chapter 4. 

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So, it is time to think about your personal narrative.  You have learned a lot about ideas and organization.  So, I want you to take a look at some additional ideas for writing.  First, remember talking about a decalogue?  See how it works in authentic text?  This is Because of Winn Dixie.  Read Chapter 4. 

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Why not use an A-Z List.  Think of a place that is special to YOU.  Then, read from children's YA lit or other genres that model how the authors write about a place. A new book I just read that had a great description of a boy packing his room in order to move to another neighborhood is The Boy's Gift by Kimberly Willis Holt.

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Why not use an A-Z List.  Think of a place that is special to YOU.  Then, read from children's YA lit or other genres that model how the authors write about a place. A new book I just read that had a great description of a boy packing his room in order to move to another neighborhood is The Boy's Gift by Kimberly Willis Holt.

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For those of you reading the middle/high text, there is an idea called SCARS that is used for generating IDEAS, but I believe it can be useful for voice, too.  Use when you read together and analyze text evidence.  Then have them re-create voice using their own text. 

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For those of you reading the middle/high text, there is an idea called SCARS that is used for generating IDEAS, but I believe it can be useful for voice, too.  Use when you read together and analyze text evidence.  Then have them re-create voice using their own text. 

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This I Believe:  So many great narratives to use as Mentor Texts!

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This I Believe:  So many great narratives to use as Mentor Texts!

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This I Believe:  Middle and High School Strategies

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This I Believe:  Middle and High School Strategies

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1.  Have them read from the book.  You could even pull SEVERAL stories to differentiate and group accordingly.
2.  Have them annotate (use those hashmark strategies)
3. Have them plan to write their own.

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Sketch a floor plan of house or neighborhood → As you sketch, let memories come … Where do stories live/hide?" 

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Sketch a floor plan of house or neighborhood → As you sketch, let memories come … Where do stories live/hide?" 

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Many ideas for future stories tucked away in my childhood hometown. I am proud of this little sketch and think I will revisit it when I need a bit of inspiration. I took this piece and started writing a personal essay about playing basketball with my dad. Here is a excerpt: "Rainbow!" Dad shouts as a reminder, sending a crisp pass cross court. Right foot slightly forward (but still well behind the three point arch), elbow in (at a cool 90 degree angle), guiding hand to the left (lightly touching), right hand pressed against the bottom half of the ball (but not fully - a little bit of light must shine through), square hips (to the basket), slight knee bend (power comes from the legs, not your arms), and launch ---- high, with an almost perfect follow through (fingertips pointed downward as if falling into the braided net). Clunk. The ball back rims and bounces off to the left side. "Adjust," Dad hollers tracking down the rebound.

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  Mentor Text for Floor Plan: Many-Storied House

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  Mentor Text for Floor Plan: Many-Storied House

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This is a great book of poetry you can use with the floor plan.

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Many-Storied House book. Read 22 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Born in the small, eastern Kentucky coal-mining town of Harlan, ...

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Again, teacher as writer, as I share my work that came from the floor plan AND then me listing objects in the rooms of my first house.   See how you combine strategies?

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Again, teacher as writer, as I share my work that came from the floor plan AND then me listing objects in the rooms of my first house.   See how you combine strategies?

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Assignment #1

ONE Voice lesson.

Read: Writing Strategies p. 212-256.

Assignment #2

Work on a draft for your personal narrative (not due until Module 5).

Assignment #3

Continue your research work by looking for articles in the areas of

1. conferencing,

2. editing and revising,

3. tech tools for teaching writing.

If you find articles that you will use, load them to the discussion (6 are required this semester).  Gang, I am, asking you to share ONLY the article.  Then, people can start making themselves a library of articles they want to keep (excellent idea for someone going on for PhD or EdD).

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Read-Aloud Guest:  To Dr. Suz, this man is Mr. Ideal Author and Person.  Absolutely love him.  Jason is a talent.  And his books are amazing.  I think you could do an author study with students and really take a look at sentence fluency.  Sentence fluency works so tightly with VOICE.

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Read-Aloud Guest:  To Dr. Suz, this man is Mr. Ideal Author and Person.  Absolutely love him.  Jason is a talent.  And his books are amazing.  I think you could do an author study with students and really take a look at sentence fluency.  Sentence fluency works so tightly with VOICE.

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Jason Reynolds

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Finally, sometimes you have kids that need frameworks. 

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Finally, sometimes you have kids that need frameworks. 

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Smooth and Expressive Sentence Fluency

Sometimes ya just gotta go with the flow - at least that's the situation most readers find themselves in.

When we write, we write in sentences. Beginning with a capital letter, we wind our way over words and phrases until we've expressed a complete thought, and then we mark the endpoint with a period, question mark, or exclamation mark.

Readers read the same way: they follow the shape of each sentence from beginning to end trying to understand the single complete thought the writer is expressing. In order for readers to do that, your writing needs to flow smoothly from word to word, phrase to phrase, and sentence to sentence. The term "sentence fluency" refers to the way individual words and phrases sound together within a sentence, and how groups of sentences sound when read one after the other.

Variety in Sentence Beginnings

We can't start every sentence the same way. We can't expect people to read our writing if we do. We can't keep using the same words over and over at the beginning. We can't do this because it drives readers crazy! It also makes the writing hard to understand. Why? Because readers start paying more attention to the repetition of the sounds than they do to the meaning of the words.

In Chores, the writer does a pretty good job of varying the beginnings of her sentences. Almost every sentence begins differently than the one before it.

Variety in Sentence Length and Structure

Just as using sentences with different beginnings helps make your writing easier to read and understand, using sentences of different lengths and different structures helps, too.

Take a look at the fourth paragraph of Chores: "Bathtubs, ever washed one? They are big, they are deep, and it is hard to get up around the sides. The bathtub is the hardest, I think, to wash in the bathroom." The first sentence is short. It consists of two tiny parts separated by a comma. The second sentence is longer and is made of three parts that add to the meaning one right after another like a list. The last sentence has three parts, too, but it is constructed differently than the previous sentence because the second part interrupts the first and third parts instead of adding to them; to me, it sounds like a one-part sentence with a break in the middle. So, the writer varies the lengths of her sentences by starting with a short one and finishing with two longer ones. And she uses three different sentence constructions. That's good sentence fluency.

You can measure the length of a sentence simply by counting the words. Short sentences in student writing tend to have 3-6 words in them. The average sentence has approximately 8-15 words. Long sentences may be as long as 20 words or more. Most of the sentences in Chores are of average length for this age of writer, but occasionally we find a long or a short one, and this is what makes it work.

You can analyze the structure of a sentence by looking at how many parts it contains and what kinds of parts those are . Most of the sentences in Chores have two parts but here and there you'll find a sentence with one part or three. As with sentence length, the writer doesn't vary her sentence structures very much, but it's just enough to get the job done.

Easy to Read Expressively; Sounds Great When Read Aloud

To understand and enjoy your writing, people need to read it expressively. Expressive reading involves reading a text with the appropriate changes in pitch, rhythm, volume, and tone that we hear in normal speech. Good readers do this because it improves their comprehension. Reading expressively is also fun because it adds to the feelings we have about the text. When writing flows smoothly from word to word, phrase to phrase, and sentence to sentence, we can easily match our expression to the writer's meaning. This is very satisfying because it makes us feel like we're understanding things well.

When I read Chores, I find it fairly easy to read expressively. The sentences are relatively smooth and simple, and as I read I feel that I have no problem matching my expression to the writer's feelings which come through loud and clear.

Rhythm, Rhyme, Alliteration, and Other "Sound" Effects

In certain situations, sequences of similar speech sounds sometimes surprise us. Depending on how you count them, the English language has 40+ sounds, and you can't help noticing at times how writers put them together in interesting and unusual ways. In the first sentence of this paragraph, I'm using two techniques: (1) Alliteration. This is when several words in a sentence begin with the same sound. (2) Consonance. This involves using the same consonant sound in several words, often at the ends. Used sparingly, these kinds of "sound" effects make writing fun to read. But don't overdo it - like I did in the first sentence. Sentences with similar sounding words can be hard to understand.

Chores doesn't really take advantage of any specific sound effects. However, the writer doesn't make any mistakes in this category either. These types of effects are used quite sparingly in most prose writing. They come up more frequently in poetry and song.

Sentences are Structured so They're Easy to Understand

One of the interesting properties of sentences in most languages is that their parts can often be rearranged without their meaning being changed. In most languages, one of the interesting properties of sentences is that they can often be rearranged without changing their meaning. Without changing their meaning, sentences, in most languages, can often be rearranged - an interesting property. I've just said the same thing three times, three different ways; the only difference was the sentence structure. You can tell that the first and second sentences have a fairly simple structure. The third sentence is especially complicated and, therefore, harder to understand. It's fine to have long, complex sentences. But they must be structured in ways that make them easy for the reader to deal with.

As I've noted before, the sentences in Chores are fairly simple and that makes them easy to understand. If this piece were significantly longer, the simple constructions the writer uses might become tiresome. But in a very short essay, they are not.

A Short Note on Sentence Structure

Sentence structure is incredibly important. But it's also incredibly hard to understand and analyze. Most of us don't think about the structure of our sentences when we speak and write; we construct them unconsciously. But if we want to improve our sentence structure and learn from other writers, we have to become conscious of how sentences are put together. Unfortunately, the traditional pedagogy of sentential analysis is fraught with arcane terminology, abstruse constructs, and preternatural techniques. In other words, it's about as easy to understand as that last sentence.

So, to make it possible for everyone to study sentence structure, I came up with an easy way of describing sentences. This is not an "official" approach; it's just something I made up. But I have found that it is simple enough that it works for just about anyone. (It's especially good for people like me who never understood traditional grammar in school and still don't!)

These are the rules of Mr. Peha's Stunningly Simple Sentence Structure System: (1) Sentences are made of parts. (2) Those can parts have names. (3) We can describe the structure of a sentence by describing the number and types of parts it contains, and the order in which those parts occur.

Take a look at this sentence: "On a bitter cold winter morning, Malcolm Maxwell, a young man of simple means but good intentions, left the quiet country town in which he'd been raised, and set off on the bold errand he'd been preparing for all his life."

You can see that it is made up of several different parts. There are four kinds of sentence parts to watch for:

(1) Main Parts. These parts usually contain the main action of the sentence: "Malcolm Maxwell,... left the quiet country town in which he'd been raised,...."

(2) Lead-In Parts. These parts lead into other parts, often main parts: "On a bitter cold winter morning,..."

(3) In-Between Parts. As the name implies, these parts go in between other parts. They feel like a slight interruption: "...a young man of simple means but good intentions,..."

(4) Add-On Parts. These are extra parts that convey additional information about any of the other parts and are usually used to make things more specific: "...and set off on the bold errand he'd been preparing for all his life."

We could describe the structure of this sentence like this:

Part 1

On a bitter cold winter morning,

Lead-In

Part 3

a young man of simple means but good intentions,

In-Between

Part 4

left the quiet country town in which he'd been raised,

Main

Part 5

and set off on the bold errand he'd been preparing for all his life.

Add-On

Or, more efficiently: Lead-In, Main, In-Between, Main, Add-On.

And that's all there is to it! (Well, actually there is more to it. But we'll cover that another time.)

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Writing: Smooth Sentence Fluency -- Six Traits Assessments Sentence Structure

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Smooth and Expressive Sentence Fluency Sometimes ya just gotta go with the flow - at least that's the situation most readers find themselves in. When we write, we write in sentences. Beginning with a capital letter, we wind our way over words and phrases until we've expressed a complete thought, and then we mark the endpoint with a period, question mark, or exclamation mark.

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Reminders about Sentence Fluency instruction

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Reminders about Sentence Fluency instruction

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Sentence of the Week can work well!  But make sure to then have them look back at their own writing! Challenge them to sentence explore!

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Sentence of the Week can work well!  But make sure to then have them look back at their own writing! Challenge them to sentence explore!

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Dr. Suz's Writing.  I need help with highlighted spots.

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Dr. Suz's Writing.  I need help with highlighted spots.

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REViEW and task ahead.  Let's think about what we have learned and what aligns with both NCTE and ILA.  We have learned TIME is essential, and we have learned to connect reading to writing.  MENTOR TEXTS are absolutely essential.  You have been writing lesson plans in order to make sure you provide EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION and strategies.  Now, we are going through the writing process as teachers.  Please look at the shoulder buddy list.  You will trade narratives with this person.  

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REViEW and task ahead.  Let's think about what we have learned and what aligns with both NCTE and ILA.  We have learned TIME is essential, and we have learned to connect reading to writing.  MENTOR TEXTS are absolutely essential.  You have been writing lesson plans in order to make sure you provide EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION and strategies.  Now, we are going through the writing process as teachers.  Please look at the shoulder buddy list.  You will trade narratives with this person.  

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Now, back to Lucy Calkins.  She proposes this structure for Workshops.  Of course, there are others ways.  We have been working on mini-lessons revolving around the trait.  NOTE:  Writing time is critical.  Share time will start SLOWLY, but build as the kids gain confidence.

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Now, back to Lucy Calkins.  She proposes this structure for Workshops.  Of course, there are others ways.  We have been working on mini-lessons revolving around the trait.  NOTE:  Writing time is critical.  Share time will start SLOWLY, but build as the kids gain confidence.

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Overview of A Day's Reading or Writing Workshop

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What Would have happened if I had started circling Desi's mistakes?  See that green pen?  Red?  I did not do this.  Instead, we conferenced.  NO RED PEN. NO GREEN PEN.  NADA. 

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What Would have happened if I had started circling Desi's mistakes?  See that green pen?  Red?  I did not do this.  Instead, we conferenced.  NO RED PEN. NO GREEN PEN.  NADA. 

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This is what happens when the red pen comes out...Note the age of this baby.

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This is what happens when the red pen comes out...Note the age of this baby.

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Listen to this beautiful piece written by a low achieving ELL student in McAllen, Texas.  Get your tissues out.  

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Listen to this beautiful piece written by a low achieving ELL student in McAllen, Texas.  Get your tissues out.  

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TASK FOR SHOULDER BUDDIES:  As Gallagher quite aptly tells us in Write Like This, you DO NOT assess or peer review for all elements.  I want you and your peer to look at one aspect of this writing.  THE HOOK.  Look at each others' first sentences.  Do you want to read on?  Then, read the entire piece.  Is the hook in keeping with the entire piece?  Talk about it through zoom, email, phone.  You decide.  Then, please reply in Discussion 5.  ONE of you can type for both.  What did you learn?  Decide about your own hooks?

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TASK FOR SHOULDER BUDDIES:  As Gallagher quite aptly tells us in Write Like This, you DO NOT assess or peer review for all elements.  I want you and your peer to look at one aspect of this writing.  THE HOOK.  Look at each others' first sentences.  Do you want to read on?  Then, read the entire piece.  Is the hook in keeping with the entire piece?  Talk about it through zoom, email, phone.  You decide.  Then, please reply in Discussion 5.  ONE of you can type for both.  What did you learn?  Decide about your own hooks?

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How about this rubric?  Could we teach kids about the traits and have them decide what is important and write it in the boxes?  This would look different depending on the grade, eh?  Think about this...we are only reviewing for HOOKS, so aren't we looking at the first two traits only for the narrative?  Sure, you could focus on dialogue, etc.  YOU know what YOUR students need.  Period.

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How about this rubric?  Could we teach kids about the traits and have them decide what is important and write it in the boxes?  This would look different depending on the grade, eh?  Think about this...we are only reviewing for HOOKS, so aren't we looking at the first two traits only for the narrative?  Sure, you could focus on dialogue, etc.  YOU know what YOUR students need.  Period.

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TO FIND YOUR BUDDY:  To enlarge, clip on the 3 dots on the right hand side of this PADLET entry. 

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TO FIND YOUR BUDDY:  To enlarge, clip on the 3 dots on the right hand side of this PADLET entry. 

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The teacher could do a lesson on hooks.  I always loved Jeff Zentner's first line to his story:  

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The teacher could do a lesson on hooks.  I always loved Jeff Zentner's first line to his story:  

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All great authors know that a killer first line is almost more important than the first few pages, and authors put in hours of work just to get the right sentence on paper.

In homage to the torture session of finding the best hook, I'm posting some of my favorites. This is the "recently published Young Adult Literature" edition, so don't panic if you don't see A Wrinkle In Time or A Tale of Two Cities listed. This is just YA (maybe a little MG), just from the past few years (maybe a little longer).

Here they are in no particular order, with a few pretty covers thrown in... And feel free to add your own favorites in the comments!

"I've been locked up for 264 days." Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

"First the colors.
Then the humans.
That's usually how I see things.
Or at least, how I try."
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

"There's a hint of wind coming over the top of the stone walls and through the barbed-wire sky on the day Alexander Stowe was to be Purged."
The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

"The shutters swinging in the storm winds were the only sign of her entry." Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

"There is one mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair." Divergent by Veronica Roth

And an honorable mention in the category of Best First Chapter Title!

I hope you've enjoyed this list and be sure to add your own nominees in the comments below!

Late night scribbler who force-hugs teens, dodges toddlers and fakes the complicated steps of the paso doble. Author of the Austen Takes the South series and the Cane River Romance series. I also write under the pen name of Virginia Carmichael. Find me on facebook at Mary Jane Hathaway, or on my blog at The Things That Last.

young adult books Literary criticism fantasy great books science fiction

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38 Best First Lines in Novels (YA Edition)

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All great authors know that a killer first line is almost more important than the first few pages, and authors put in hours of work just to get the right sentence on paper. In homage to the torture session of finding the best hook, I'm posting some of my favorites.

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ONE lesson on sentence fluency
Discussion with shoulder buddy related to HOOKS.

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Time to make sure you are wrapping up your article reviews.  Remember, I allow you to share what you lave learned any way you want.  Just make sure you summarize the article AND tell me how you can use it in your class or future class.  Below are some ideas that came from YOUR classmates. 

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Time to make sure you are wrapping up your article reviews.  Remember, I allow you to share what you lave learned any way you want.  Just make sure you summarize the article AND tell me how you can use it in your class or future class.  Below are some ideas that came from YOUR classmates. 

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Continue your research work by looking for articles in the areas of

1. conferencing,

2. editing and revising,

3. tech tools for teaching writing.

If you find articles that you will use, load them to the discussion (6 are required this semester).