“I use Byrdseed TV to differentiate for my clustered students. I LOVE all the ideas!” ~ a teacher in Washington
Students decide which adaptations would help an animal if it switched locations – and which would hurt it.
First, students research how one animal is adapted to its environment.
Then, they pick a related animal from a totally different biome and research its adaptations.
Students categorize animal adaptations as advantages, neutral, or disadvantages based on imagined location changes between two different species.
Finally they write the story of the two animals switching places.
Students will create a story showing that solutions can often create more problems.
Students choose a Halloween scenario and identify several problems that need solutions in that situation.
Students choose one problem from part one and write a solution that creates a new problem on their graphic organizer.
Their final problem will bring them back around to the original situation.
Students will turn their chain of problems and solutions into a story, song, poem, or other product.
Students will write a conversation between a person and the legendary version of that person.
First students brainstorm people who have had legends develop around them.
Next they’ll write about how those original people might feel about their legendary versions.
Finally students will write a conversation between a person and their legendary self.
Students will rewrite the climax of one story using a difference genre.
Students pick a new genre, then note what they’ll need to change, and what can stay the same.
They’ll rewrite just the climax of the original story into the new genre.
Finally, they write a pitch to convince the publisher Byrd ‘n’ Mifflin to publish their new version of the story.
Students write about bobbing for apples from an apple’s perspective.
Students write from an apple’s perspective who thinks it’s at a relaxing pool party.
They continue writing from an apple’s point of view as the bobbing begins!
Students will write a story about going roller skating in a Halloween costume that is not designed for roller skating!
Students choose a Halloween costume and describe three parts that create challenges while roller skating.
Then, they’ll write a draft of their story featuring three moments: false hope, losing balance, and, yes, a spectacular fall.
Finally, students will revise their writing to add some spice and pizzaz!
Students pick two seemingly unrelated pieces of content (say volcanoes and the human body). Then they build analogies to connect the two ideas.
Students will learn about analogies and practice some simple ones.
Students brainstorm vocabulary related to human bodies and volcanoes to create connections and develop unique analogies.
Then, they flesh out the connections between the vocabulary, writing definitions and connections.
Students create a comic, short story, or skit to show the similarities between two unrelated topics through their analogies.
Students will re-write passages in the style of various authors.
I introduce the concept of “voice” and then students work with a piece from Lewis Carroll.
Now they analyze the voice in a piece from Edgar Allen Poe.
Students re-write one author’s language using the voice of the other author.
Students work practice writing in a specific voice about a random topic.
To practice the common writing advice of “show, not tell,” students will write two examples of a scene: one showing a character’s trait, and one just telling. They’ll put a famous character into a mundane situation and develop their scene.
Students brainstorm actions and movements that show a character’s feelings and traits in a specific location.
Students write a scene that shows Darth Vader’s actions instead of telling how he feels.
Dig into the common elements of the fantasy genre.
Students learn about the fantasy genre by identifying common elements found in popular fantasy stories.
Students brainstorm creative ways for their realistic characters to enter a fantasy world filled with unique elements and themes.
Students will analyze pairs of opposite characters who have to work together.
Students think of opposite characters from stories, shows, and movies that highlight their differences through juxtaposition.
Students sketch their chosen characters and explain how their differences create juxtaposition in both appearance and personality.
Students will add structure to their plots using the time-tested, five-act model. I introduce it using several student-friendly stories.
Students identify the exposition and denouement in their favorite stories to see how characters change throughout the plot.
Students plan their story’s beginning and ending by identifying key events that show their character’s big change.
Students break down their story’s rising action into adventures that show how the character changes before the climax.
Students plan three adventures for their main character to help prepare for the climax of their story.
Students will learn to apply a range of conflict types to their stories.
Students will identify stories featuring each of the four types of conflict.
They’ll begin writing their own tiny stories.
Students will become familiar with four literary themes, learning to identify them as well as use them to create their own stories.
First, students will identify stories from each of the themes.
Then, they will continue writing their story from last time.
We open our unit on narrative writing with a big idea: “structure increases creativity.” I show how this is true by bringing in examples from across all disciplines.
Students will use four repeating types of characters as the starting point for their own interesting characters.
Students group characters based on their roles, like mentor or protagonist, to understand different character archetypes in stories.
Students identify their story’s protagonist and compare it to another character from the same archetype to deepen their understanding.