Scary Story

Today we will be writing a scary story. When I told students this last week, they thought I had lost my mind. "It's not Halloween," they said. "Why would we do it in May?" they asked.

Well, funny you should ask that. The things we will cover include:

1. The plot and developing problems;

2. Descriptive writing and adding supporting details;

3. Punctuating dialogue;

4. Character development;

5. Building a narrative to a climax;

6. Cooperation and writing with a partner;

7. Edditing-git that speling write;

8. Writing with an introduction, body, and conclusion.

The assignment is to write a scary/horror story. BUT, shooting or guns, and stabbing or knives, or killing in any way is NOT allowed! All injuries must be incidental or accidental. The focus is on scaring the reading in only the most imaginative ways!

I can't wait to read them.

Hot Spot

Today we are focusing on the HOT SPOT of an article. This idea was adapted from Ralph Fletcher's Writing Workshop, the Essential Guide. Fletcher talks about identifying the HOT SPOT of a story as a writer. We looked at using this same skill as a reader.

We used our Scholastic News, and tried to find one or two sentences in each article that contained the gist of the article. Usually these included at least two W's. This HOT SPOT is the key to comprehending the article. We also discussed the importance of slowing down and thinking about this part of an article, because this is the most important section.

Students skimmed each of five articles, and then highlighted what they felt was the section that contained the key. Then, we used the doc camera to project articles and discussed the differing opinions, until we decided on the HOT SPOT for each article.

What Doesn't Matter

Part of being a successful reader of nonfiction means understanding the important information. This week, we looked at reading from the other side. We looked at the article No Drivers Wanted about robot cars. This is an article about the DARPA Challenge for driverless cars. Students highlighted in pink, all of the information that wasn't important.

Student partners went through the article and looked for trivial details, unnecessary adverbs and adjectives, and minor facts, opinions, and quotes that didn't help understand the article.

Once the highlighting was completed, student partners were combined to make teams of four. The four students compared each team's work and discussed their decisions.

Scotty D. took over as the teacher next, and students looked at the article with the projector. With Brianne managing the computer, the class as a whole had to agree on what wasn't important. Today, students will use what text that is left as they search for the W's and write a gist statement.

This is how the article looked when they finished. If you look at what is not highlighted, you should be able to see the important details, and get the gist.

Tuesday, October 11—Stanley usually seems to know where he's going. He moves quickly over rocky ground and across puddles. He works hard and he's almost always on the move. Stanley is a robot car.

Last week, 23 teams—including the Stanford University team that built Stanley—gathered in the Mojave Desert in Nevada to compete in a special race known as the Grand Challenge. The race was special because none of the cars had drivers.

Stanley completed the dangerous 150-mile course through the desert in six hours and 53 minutes, earning the Stanford team a $2 million prize from the Department of Defense. Of the 23 teams that competed, only five actually finished. The others were stumped by mechanical or technological problems.

Sebastian Thrun, the lead robotics engineer for the Stanford team, realizes that driver-free, robot cars like Stanley still seem like something from a science-fiction film. "People by and large don't believe in this stuff," he said. "They've seen too many failures." This year's Grand Challenge was much more successful than last year's, when no vehicle was able to travel more than eight miles.

Key Words to Reading

Not all words are created equal. Some words carry a heavier weight to the reader who is tuned in to using all possible means for comprehension.

Not to be outdone by 6A, the 6B class came up with the list above and beyond all lists. Partners worked through their Scholastic News for key words that helped the reader know when an important point is about to come. Listed below are words that the discerning reader will use as keys to getting it.

1. Why- makes you think about a “W” detail; reason

2. but- opposite; something else is happening

3. and- tells that there is going to be another example

4. I think- tells you somebody's opinion; gives an example [I wonder, I thought, I know, I pictured]

5. because- gives you a reason for something

6. or- tells something different

7. said- tells somebody's opinion

8. who- makes you think about a “W” detail; person

9. however- something else is happening

10. about- gives more information

11. also- tells something is coming

12. what- makes you think about a “W” detail

13. show(s)- tells you more detail

14. when- makes you think about a “W” details; time

15. If..., then- shows a relationship

16. Each/ for example- - elaborates or tells more information

17. where- makes you think about a “W” detail; place

18. results in- causes, effect, finished product

19. point is- main idea, gist

20. difference- something else

GREAT JOB to both classes for their hard work and outstanding effort!

A special shout out to Haley and Baylie for their outstanding finds (they even outdid the combination of Mrs. Bowers and me).




Discussion for tomorrow--check your grammar and spelling before commenting (See yesterday's Blog comments).

Learning to Read, con'd

What is important? What should we highlight? What are the W's? The students worked hard to drag the meaning out of an article, and here is what it looked like when we finished. We used the DLP projector with a student leading the discussion, and a student operator on the computer.

Details from the Book

Today we focused on the letter project. The topic of the day was adding details that support your thoughts, ideas, and opinions. We discussed the W's--what kind, why, when, who, where, and how. This should give letters about SSR books a lot more information, and make them more interesting.

Congrats to our Study Island Students of the Day, Alina S and Josh P.

Also, good job to Scotty D. for answering the Question of the Day!

Grades will soon be available at all times on-line at Engrade.