Writing Minilesson: Choosing Good Writing Topics



Writing Minilesson: Choosing Good Writing Topics

Day 1

Connect:

Teacher shares, “As I am looking around the room I bet everyone has their own stories to write. You my be thinking, I don’t know what to write about! That’s my job. To help you figure out what you WANT to write about. Let’s make a list of things that we like or if you would like things that you dislike. Before you make your own list I’ll show you how I create my list!

Teach:

Teacher asks, “What makes a good writing topic?” Teacher listens to student responses then responds with, “Well, writers write about topics that they care about and know something about. That may include things we wonder about or are curious of. But mostly, we write about things that are important or interesting to us as individuals.”

Teacher then begins to think aloud as she writes her topics (5) on the board:

“OK I am listing topics that I may want to write about, I love my dog Milli, she likes to cuddle! I guess I could write about how much I like SunDrop. I know, maybe I could write about my stuffed animal Mr. Bear! I use to be a cheerleader and I miss it A LOT, that’s something I could write about. I could also write about my favorite place in the world, the beach!

Teacher writes these 5 topics on the board.

Milli

Sundrop

Mr. Bear

Being a cheerleader

The beach

Actively Involve

Teacher asks students: “I’ll bet you all are like me and you can think of at least 5 topics, or more, that you might want to write about. If you get stumped think about what a noun means. (Person, Place or Thing) This may help you as it did me.”

BEFORE students “Have-a-go,” ask at least one child to come up and “think aloud” how he/she comes up with topic selection. Having the students see their peer demonstrate his/her thinking process is very influential.

Now students are ready to “Have-a-go” on their own…

(Remember 1st day assignment where you wrote a letter to your students introducing yourself to them by discussing your likes and you invited them to write about their likes. Then you had students share and then created categories that featured possible writing topics.)

Another wonderful idea is to mail postcards or letters or write notes each day where you write about your actions, how you look, your dislikes, etc. Each day, focus on a new category.)

Write

Teacher then directs students to get paper, pencils, and find a personal writing place. Students write independently while teacher confers. During conferring the teacher is looking for examples of something to share that students are doing that would benefit the other students. Teacher shares with students, “If you finish writing down your topics and you would like to write about one of your topics, please feel free to do so.”

Share- This is also the “SHARING” stage of writing workshop

Teacher brings class back together and students gather in writing circle where several students share their topics in the Author’s Chair. “Now we are going to share some of the topics we all came up with. If you think someone’s topic is a good idea and would maybe like to write about it in the future go ahead and add it to your list. If someone’s topic sparks a memory that you would like to write about then add that to your list as well.”

Link:

Teacher shares with students: “So today we generated a list of topics that we might want to write about. WE learned that writers often write about things they care about and know about and find interesting. (Link to specific student examples.) When you all come in tomorrow, I’ll bet you will have PLENTY to write about. Be thinking about what you may want to write about, and if you feel like it, go ahead and give it a try tonight…

Each day in Writing Workshop you will be writing. Your topic list is a tool you may use to help you decide what you want to write about. If you think of something while you are at home that you want to write about, go add it to your list of topics!”

Day 2 Creating an entry from Writing Topic List

Drafting an entry from my topics list I choose to write about Mr. Bear.

Connect to previous lesson: Mr. Bear was one of my topics that I added to my list yesterday and I really feel like writing about him.

Teach: Alright, now I am going to write down things I like about Mr. Bear. I will show you how to use the 5 W’s and the H. (Who, what, when, where, why, and how)

Let’s get started.

-He’s brown and has big black eyes

-My mom and dad gave him to me at my fourth birthday party!

-I took Mr. Bear with me everywhere!

-I would get upset when I would accidentally leave him at Mawmaw’s house.

-When I got him he fell out of the bottom of my present!

-When I would be sick my mom would give him a bath in the washing machine so he wouldn’t get sick!

-He pretty much just stays on or in my bed at home now.

-He still sleeps with me every night.

-When I go on a trip he still goes with me.

“Okay, it looks like I have a decent list to start writing about Mr. Bear. I wonder what I can name the title. Oh I know…”

My Buddy, Mr. Bear

Have you ever had a stuffed animal that you just wanted to take everywhere? The best part about taking them everywhere is they don’t mind at all! My Mr. Bear, let me tell you, he went EVERYWHERE with me! I can remember taking him to mamaw’s, on vacation, to the doctor, to school, and many other places! He has always been there for me and always been a fantastic sport about it. Mr. Bear is a brown bear with huge black eyes. Good thing he likes to cuddle because he cuddles with me every night to this very day! I bet you are wondering how Mr. Bear came to be. Well, it was at my fourth birthday party when I picked up with present made of tissue paper and was gathered and tied at the top. As soon as I picked up the present out come Mr. Bear from the bottom. I guess he was just that excited to meet me! He had a cherry red bow tied around his neck! My dad had wrapped the present. Momma says that’s why Mr. Bear fell out the bottom! He pretty much just lives on my bed back at my apartment now but when I go on a road trip he is still making his way into my bag for the trip! I love my Mr. Bear and I know he loves me back!

Actively Engage: “Now, I would like to see you take one of those topics you wrote down yesterday and make a list of what you could write about on that topic. If you get stumped remember to use the 5 W’s and the H. It helped me when I was creating my list!”

After students have written about a topic get them to gather around the author’s chair and have a couple of them share what they had wrote about that day.

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