Writing Your Second Original Story

Good morning,

This week, for your Work on Writing, you will be planning your second original story. As before, this planning stage will have two parts: 1) Independent Brainstorming and 2) Peer Conferring. Please record the Learning Intentions and Criteria in your Reading Log notebook (the back of your last good copy).

Notes:
1) for this story, all character names and personalities must be original (no peer names)
2) the storyline must be significantly different from your first story

Learning Intention: I can plan a story that contains original, interesting characters, setting(s) and problem.

Criteria: 1) details about character traits
              2) details about the setting(s), and
              3) details about the story problem and resolution 

Strong Recommendation: Use the brainstorming as a powerful tool to plan out your story. When you are finished brainstorming, you should know your characters very well and be excited about developing their problem. 

1) Below your Learning Intention and Criteria, brainstorm your story ideas. If you like, here are some brainstorming ideas (story writing). In addition, here is a site to help you come up with ideas, from Scholastic.

2) Peer Conferring: (for this story, you may do this with a peer of the same gender). Share your brainstormed ideas with your peer. Your peer is to ask questions and give suggestions to help you brainstorm more details.

Here is the rubric I will be using to mark your brainstorming assignment.

	1	2    Minimally Meeting	3    Fully Meeting	4    Working towards
Notes	very few notes or phrases very difficult to follow	a few notes or phrases might be difficult to follow	brief notes on all areas easily followed	many concise notes storyline very easy to follow
Setting/ Time Period	·   no setting identified	·   setting & time period identified	·   clear setting and time period	·   details about setting & time period
Characters	·   no description or names	·   names and/or ages of characters	·   well described e.g. appearance	·   unique, very well described (appearance and personality)
Story problem	·   predictable, no details	·   stated but few detail	·   some interesting details about problem	·   many details about problem ·   development
Resolution	·   no clear notes about how the problem is solved	·   some clear ideas about how the problem is solved	·   clear and details about how the problem is solved	·   many details about how the problem is solved

I am looking forward to reading some more very exciting story ideas!

Love, Mrs. French

Editing Your Story

Good morning Grade Fives and Sixes,

This week, your story will be edited twice: 1) by you, using your spelling notebook, and 2) by a peer. (If you are a girl, a boy will edit your story. If you are a boy, a girl will edit your story.) Please copy the following Learning Intention and Criteria in your notebook on the back of your last rough copy page.

Note #1: Expect to take at least 5 minutes for editing shorter stories and 15-20 minutes for longer ones. 

Note #2: The criteria includes the need to edit your sentences so that they do not begin with the following words: 'Then', 'And', 'So'

Some tips:

• try to use a variety of sentence lengths (short, long, joined with an 'and')
• try to use some juicy words to help your reader 'hear', 'see', 'feel', 'smell' your story
• check out 'Story Writing Checklist' for more specific information
• make all proper nouns bold (choose Home, highlight your word and choose B for bold) e.g. Sinkutview
• please underline all juice words added to your story e.g. the gigantic bear 

Learning Intention: I can use my spelling and punctuation skills to accurately edit my story.

Criteria: 1) correct spelling, 2) correct punctuation, 3) peer edited 4) no sentence begins with repeated words e.g. 'Then', 'And', Also, 'or 'So'

This is your first original story that you have written as an assignment this year. I am very excited about reading your edited versions.

Love, Mrs. French

Writing Your Story

Good morning Grade 5s and 6s,

Last week you planned your story. This week, you will write your story, the rough copy only. You may write your story on paper or type it on the computer. If you type it, be sure to run off the rough draft that you complete.

There is no Learning Intention this week.

At this time, please do not discuss your story with a peer. During this stage, I want you to follow your own ideas.

I hope you enjoy writing your stories. I know that I am looking forward to reading them.

Love, Mrs. French

Planning Your Story

Good morning,

This week, for your Work on Writing, you will be planning your own original story. This planning stage will have two parts: 1) Brainstorming and 2) Peer Conferring. Please record the Learning Intentions and Criteria in your Reading Log notebook (the back of your last good copy).

Learning Intention: I can plan a story that contains interesting characters, setting(s) and problem.

Criteria: 1) details about character traits
              2) details about the setting(s), and
              3) details about the story problem and resolution 

1) Below your Learning Intention and Criteria, brainstorm your story ideas. If you like, here are some brainstorming ideas (story writing). In addition, here is a site to help you come up with ideas, from Scholastic.

2) Peer Conferring: (If you are a boy, you will confer with a girl. If you are a girl, you will confer with a boy). Share your brainstormed ideas with your peer. Your peer is to ask questions and give suggestions to help you brainstorm more details.

I am looking forward to reading some very exciting story ideas!

Love, Mrs. French