Becoming a great Leader in writing

I think the hardest part about writing can be starting. Reflecting on my experiences writing papers for classes, the majority of the time I write my beginning or introduction last. But when it comes to narrative writing I think a different approach is necessary. I am rarely ever content with my first idea for a lead sentence and this discontentment can get me stuck from moving on with my writing. After reading about and testing out this strategy, I don't think I will have as much of an issue with starting anymore! Learning this strategy has truly helped me feel like I am a better Leader in my writing.

This week we focused on the following texts: Mentor Text Chapter 5, Drawn Together, and I Talk Like a River. Mentor Texts chapter 5 was full of narrative writing strategies to help writers formulate their lead sentence, create physical descriptions of characters, how to transition to the middle of your story, how to add a satisfying ending, and building an ending using final illustrations. In this post I will be focusing on the "Crafting a Lead Sentence" strategy with the support of Drawn Together by Minh Le and I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott. Here's a quick summary of each book:

Drawn Together: a boy has trouble communicating with his grandpa but one day finds a new way to communicate, connect, and relate to his grandpa.

I Talk Like a River: a boy with a stutter is having a tough speech day until his dad takes him to the river and he gains a new perspective.

You can hear Minh Le read his book here! Drawn Together won the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. Click here to learn more about the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.

You can hear Jordan Scott read his book here or read it yourself on epic!

I Talk Like a River won the Schneider Family Book Award this year. Click here to learn more about the Schneider Family Book Award.

Your Turn Lesson "Crafting a Lead Sentence"

I do:

The first thing we are going to do is use another authors work as a mentor text. When we look at another authors writing as a mentor there are a few questions we need to ask. What do you notice the author doing? What kind of details does the author include? Looking at I Talk Like a River the author begins with "I" and a verb. That could be a good way for us to start our own narratives. Jordan Scott also tells us about the setting in his first sentence. I think Jordan Scott wrote a great first sentence that he probably didn't come up with on the first try. For practice we are going to circle some elements of his sentence and see what we can write instead.

Here is my example of how I would break down this process with my students. I would probably share this process with them using a white board and document camera or a SMARTboard/Sharpboard so that they can watch how I interact with the sentence. During this time I would also share with them the beauty of a thesaurus. Our students are learning vocabulary and may need some help finding new ways to describe the experiences they are writing about. You could use thesaurus.com so that students can engage virtually and I feel like most classrooms don't have thesauruses in them anymore. After coming up with some alternatives for different words within Jordan Scott's sentence we will insert our new words into the sentence to see the different combinations we can make and how the selection of different words gives the sentence the ability to make you feel differently in response to reading it.

We do:

Now that my students have observed me craft a new lead sentence, it is time for us to craft one together using a similar structure to Jordan Scott's, but this time we will be creating a sentence to represent the first page of Drawn Together. This is a wordless spread within a picture book, so this gives you and your students space to practice inferencing that can then inform the sentence you create.

My hypothetical students and I decided to start our sentence like Jordan Scott's with "I" plus a verb and then include details about the setting and emotions we found in the spread. Then we found three adjectives or details that we thought we could change to make our lead sentence stronger or cause the reader to have a stronger response. Then, together, we will use our own vocabulary repertoires and then the thesaurus to help us find new ways to describe what is happening in the text. We will make our lists, putting 3-5 options in each selected word's category so that we can then piece together a new and stronger lead. Each option can be written on a sticky note and stuck to the first page and together we can practice reading it with the rest of the story to determine which one would be the best fit.

You do:

Now it is time for the students to try this strategy out on their own writing! Direct your student to... Find a narrative entry from your writers notebook! OR select a new idea from one of your lists and write a lead sentence. It doesn't have to be perfect because we will explore how we can change our lead sentence. I have students write their lead sentence on a new page in their writers notebook so that they have plenty of space to edit and try out new combinations. Provide students with 3 different colored pencils or pens and if they need extra support have them or yourself write in an outline to their notebook page similar to the one below to help with organization.

Now give your students time to create! Provide them with access to a thesaurus or allow them to converse with their neighbors for vocabulary help. Share with them how writers ask people for help, these people they ask for help are called editors. Editors are people who help writers on their journey to find their lead sentence and represent their story to the best of their ability. Jordan Scott and Minh Le worked with editors to create I Talk Like a River and Drawn Together. So as a class we will be each others editors. You may need to go over what kind of feedback you expect students to give one another. It is important to discuss how we want to build someone up as a writer not tear them down. If we tear them down they may not feel like writing and that is the opposite of what we want. We want each other to feel safe to express our thoughts and experiences.

Extra Notes:

This lesson may take a few days and it can seem a little long winded, so keep it as engaging as possible! Even during the "I do" section continuously ask your students questions, for their advice, and thoughts. I would also recommend reading these books with your students prior to completing this lesson. A mentor text is truly a mentor when students have had repeated exposure to it. This makes them more likely to identify patterns within the authors writing and prepares them to apply what the author does to their own writing.

Meet the Authors and Illustrators:

This is Jordan Scott, the author of I Talk Like a River. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Here is an interview he did about his book!

This is Sydney Smith, the illustrator of I Talk Like a River. You can visit his website here. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Here is an interview where he talks about being an illustrator and an author. He wrote his first picture book in 2019, click here to view it.

This is Minh Le, the author of Drawn Together. You can visit his website here. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Here is an interview about his book!

This is Dan Santat, the illustrator of Drawn Together. You can visit his website here. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

Here is a video about Dan Santat's creative process for illustrating Drawn Together.