Grade Level Focus: 7th gradeFocus Trait: Conventions
Mentor Text: Frindle
Author: Andrew Clements
ISBN: 0689818769
Mentor Text Summary: At the start of fifth grade, Nicholas Allen is unhappy because his English teacher is the strict Mrs. Granger. One day, to stall for time in class, Nick decides to question why every word means what they do. After hearing Mrs. Granger's explanation, and having to write an essay about it for homework, he created a new name for the pen: "frindle". Mrs. Granger dislikes this new word because she thinks it's not respectful to the word pen, which has a long history. She starts making kids stay after school for saying "frindle" and write lines, but this proves to be a problem, as almost every kid in the school starts having to stay after school. The principal decides to visit Nick's house to end the use of the word, but it doesn't help because everything is out of Nick's hands now. The story goes on, but at the end, Nicholas receives a package from his teacher. Read the book to find out what was in the package!
About the Author: http://www.andrewclements.com/
In His Own Words:
During my senior year at Springfield High School my English teacher handed back a poem I’d written. Two things were amazing about that paper. First, I’d gotten an A—a rare event in this teacher’s class. And she’d also written in large, scrawly red writing, “Andrew—this poem is so funny. This should be published!”
“Sometimes kids ask how I've been able to write so many books. The answer is simple: one word at a time. Which is a good lesson, I think. You don't have to do everything at once. You don't have to know how every story is going to end. You just have to take that next step, look for that next idea, write that next word. And growing up, it's the same way. We just have to go to that next class, read that next chapter, help that next person. You simply have to do that next good thing, and before you know it, you're living a good life.”
Ohio Academic Content Standards Focus for the Lesson:
Content Standard: Writing Application
Benchmark: A. Use narrative strategies (eg. dialogue and action) to develop characters, plot, and
setting and to maintain a consistent point of view.
Content Standard: Writing Conventions
Benchmark: C. Use grammatical structures to effectively communicate ideas in writing.
Indicator: 2. Use commas, end marks, apostrophes and quotation marks correctly.
Lesson:
1. Get a classroom copy of Frindle by Andrew Clements. After having already read the book to the class once before, only read aloud chapter 6, which reveals how Nick changes the word for pen to frindle. Discuss how the chapter introduces a new word for a common object through its two characters talking in dialogue. Discuss how frindle doesn’t mean anything, until Nick gives it meaning. 2. After reading, copy several lines of dialogue from chapter 6 on the Smartboard or Elmo or whatever area you have available to you in your classroom. Have students review the basic dialogue punctuation rules or create a set of rules from the sample dialogue from Frindle.
3. As a class, teacher as scribe, create a short dialogue piece together following dialogue rules and discussing, HOW the rules make the writing clear for the reader.
4. Tell your students they will be writing a short scene today where two characters talk about a new word that has been invented. One character in the story will unveil the new word to the other. Remind students that they can reference the dialogue rule reminders created by the class from the examples found in the text. Tell your students that you challenge them to write original lines of dialogue, using the punctuation patterns of the examples from Frindle you shared on the board.
5. First step: Pre-Write- You could provide students with a graphic organizer to help them pre-write or differentiate instruction how you see fit in your classroom with your students. This could be done as a whole class, in small groups, or individually. Due to the nature of middle schoolers, I would suggest groups of 2 or 3 to use a graphic organizer of choice to brainstorm ideas.
6. Students need to write using the dialogue rules discussed from the examples in Frindle.
7. Once the story/ dialogue scene is written, have the students peer edit for revisions with a yellow crayon, looking for only proper dialogue conventions. Students should look for proper placements of commas, quotation marks, and end marks. Using a simple checklist of conventions, have the students take a red crayon to draw attention to obvious convention errors, such as spelling, capitalization, and proper verb/noun agreement.
8. Have students make revisions, and then share the dialogue and “new words” with the class. Make a list of the new words with definitions to hang in the room. Challenge the students to use the words around school to see if they catch on with the other students and teachers in the building.
No comments:
Post a Comment