Focus Lesson Planning Sheet



Focus Lesson Planning Sheet

|Focus Lesson Topic |Starting with Strong Feelings – Grades 3-5 |

| | |

| |(Adapted from Calkins & Kesler, 2006) |

|Materials |Strategies for Generating Personal Narrative Writing anchor chart from previous lessons, chart |

| |paper, markers, paper or notebooks for student writing, clipboards (optional) |

| | |

| |Teacher Preparation: |

| |Chart listing a strong emotion and several times you experienced that emotion |

| |Second strong feeling/examples ready to share |

| |Small moment story based on a strong feeling ready to “compose” for students |

|Connection |Yesterday we learned that thinking about turning points in our lives can help us to think of |

| |ideas for personal narratives. |

|Explicit Instruction |Today I will teach you another strategy that writers use to generate personal narratives. This |

| |strategy is called starting with strong feelings and it is especially good for thinking of ideas |

| |that can be turned into very powerful, true stories. Most of us can remember times when we have |

| |wanted something very badly or felt strongly about something. As writers, it can be helpful to |

| |think of a strong feeling – happiness, worry, or surprise, for example. Once you name a feeling |

| |you can ask yourself, “Can I remember one particular time when I felt that way?” Then you can |

| |write the story of that strong feeling time. |

| | |

| |Let me show you how I use this strategy. This morning I started thinking about using this |

| |strategy for my own writing. So, I wrote down a feeling, [name feeling] and listed some times |

| |when I have felt that way. [Show prepared anchor chart. Chart should list a strong feeling and |

| |several specific examples of times the teacher has experienced that feeling. Briefly discuss |

| |chart with students.] |

| | |

| |Now watch me while I use this strategy again. I will think of a strong feeling, write it down, |

| |and think of small moments when I felt that way. I think I’ll try this with “surprised” [or |

| |other strong feeling]. [Model brainstorming and recording times related to the selected strong |

| |feeling.] |

| | |

| |After I have gathered a few ideas, I look at my list and decide which idea is the most important |

| |to me and which one could be used to write a story. [Model selecting a story idea from the |

| |strong feeling lists.] Now, I ask myself, “How did this start? Where was I? What did someone |

| |say or do that would make a good lead for this story?” |

| | |

| |[Model beginning the draft of a strong feeling story. The teacher does not need to write the |

| |entire story, but should model enough to demonstrate how writers recall strong memories to build |

| |a personal narrative.] |

|Guided Practice |It’s your turn to try this strategy. Let’s start with [name a strong feeling – “surprised” seems|

| |to work well with students]. Now, think of times in your life when you felt [name strong |

| |feeling.] Maybe you…… or you might have…. [As students are brainstorming, give a few general |

| |examples of times that they may have felt the selected feeling to support their thinking.] |

| | |

| |[After about 3 minutes, share a few student lists that illustrate specific small moments related |

| |to the strong feeling.] |

|Send Off [for Independent |I want you to always remember that writers can think of ideas for powerful personal narratives by|

|Practice] |thinking of a strong feeling and then remembering small moments in their lives when they felt |

| |that emotion. I know that many of you are anxious to get to independent writing and start |

| |drafting a strong feeling story. If you are not quite ready to start writing, please spend some |

| |time brainstorming more ideas and then start your draft. |

| | |

| |[Note: Some students may want to think of another strong feeling and spend some independent |

| |writing time brainstorming ideas for this new feeling before beginning a draft.] |

|Group Share |Today you have been working hard to write important stories that really matter to you. As you |

| |were working, I remembered another strategy that I sometimes use to think of ideas for personal |

| |narratives. I have noticed that in my family, and probably in your family too, there are stories|

| |that we retell over and over again. For example, [briefly tell a family story]. How many of you|

| |have stories from your family? Turn and talk to a partner to share your family stories. [Allow a|

| |few minutes for partners to share stories orally.] |

| | |

| |The stories you have just told, and other family stories that you tell and retell can be written |

| |as personal narratives. Let’s add this strategy to our anchor chart. |

| | |

| |Note: Teachers may wish to use the group share time for students to share a portion of their |

| |strong feelings stories and devote a subsequent focus lesson to personal narrative writing based |

| |on family stories. |

Sample Anchor Chart (Grade 5 – modify for other grade levels)

Strategies for Generating Personal Narrative Writing

- Think of a person, place, or thing that matters to you. Think of small moments related to these people, places, or things. Choose one small moment and write the story.

- Think of first times, last times, or times when you learned or realized something important. Write about one of these moments.

- Think of a strong feeling and list small moments when you have felt that way. Write about one of these strong feeling moments.

- Think of the stories that your family tells and retells. Write one of these stories.

Focus Lesson Note: This lesson about starting with strong feelings can be used as an opportunity for students write about any experience that brought about strong feelings (i.e., getting hurt, getting lost, etc.).

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