Using a Mentor Text in Writer's Workshop- 1st grade and Kindergarten

Courtney Chan

9 Sept 201907:59

Summary

TLDRIn this interactive lesson, the instructor encourages students to enhance their storytelling by incorporating speech bubbles to bring their characters to life, inspired by the author George McClellan. The teacher demonstrates how to add dialogue to a story using a personal example of a trip to the park and climbing a super slide. Students are invited to review their own stories and add speech bubbles where their characters speak, making the stories more dynamic. The session concludes with a student, Jeremy, sharing his story, highlighting the effectiveness of dialogue in storytelling.

Takeaways

✏️ The speaker encourages children to be writers and mentions George McCleod as an example.
📚 The focus of the lesson is on adding dialogue and speech bubbles to make characters come alive in their stories.
👩‍🏫 The speaker provides a personal story about going to the park and going down a super slide, using it as an example of how to integrate speech bubbles.
🗨️ The speaker emphasizes how dialogue can be added to enhance storytelling, just like George McCleod's writing.
🎨 Children are encouraged to look at their own stories and think about where they can add speech bubbles to show characters speaking.
📝 The speaker demonstrates how to add dialogue by revisiting her own story and inserting speech bubbles where characters are talking.
👦 The speaker shares a story by a student named Jeremy, where he added dialogue about his experience at the movie theater.
👏 The class praises Jeremy for incorporating speech bubbles into his story, with the movie 'Super Mario World' as an example.
🎤 The speaker emphasizes that dialogue helps bring characters to life, asking students to apply this technique in their own writing.
👍 The speaker encourages students to try adding speech bubbles during their writing time and uses positive reinforcement to motivate them.

Q & A

What is the main objective of the lesson in the transcript?
-The main objective of the lesson is to teach students how to add dialogue, specifically using speech bubbles, to make their characters come alive in their stories, similar to how George McClellan writes.
Who is the author mentioned as a reference in the lesson?
-The author mentioned is George McClellan, who the teacher encourages students to emulate by using speech bubbles in their writing.
What example does the teacher use to demonstrate adding speech bubbles in a story?
-The teacher shares a story about going to the park with her sister Crystal and feeling excited about trying the super slide. She demonstrates adding a speech bubble by having the character say, 'I am so excited!' as part of the story.
How does the teacher help students understand the importance of speech bubbles?
-The teacher explains that adding speech bubbles can help make characters come to life and allows readers to see what the characters are saying in the story, enhancing the storytelling experience.
What task does the teacher assign to the students during the lesson?
-The teacher asks the students to look at their stories and see if there are places where their characters could be speaking. The students are encouraged to add speech bubbles where their characters talk to make their stories more engaging.
How does the teacher engage the students in the lesson?
-The teacher engages the students by using interactive storytelling, asking for their attention, demonstrating how to use speech bubbles, and encouraging them to reflect on their own stories to add dialogue.
What example from a student’s story is shared during the lesson?
-Jeremy, a student, shares his story about going to the movie theaters to watch 'Super Mario World.' In his story, he uses dialogue by saying 'Yay, yay' when he was excited to watch the movie.
What feedback does the teacher give to Jeremy about his story?
-The teacher praises Jeremy for using dialogue in his story and encourages the rest of the class to do the same by adding speech bubbles to their own stories.
What technique does the teacher use to model the writing process for the students?
-The teacher models the writing process by showing her own story and thinking aloud as she adds dialogue and speech bubbles to her characters, making the process clear for the students.
What is the teacher's final instruction to the students at the end of the lesson?
-The teacher asks the students to read their own stories and identify where they can add speech bubbles to make their characters talk, encouraging them to try this technique in their writing.

Outlines

00:00

✍️ Encouraging Writing Like George McClellan

The speaker begins by addressing the students, encouraging them to pay attention as they prepare to write stories like author George McClellan. The speaker highlights the importance of speech bubbles in making characters 'come alive' in a story, using an example of their own personal story about going to the park and using a super slide. They demonstrate how to add dialogue and incorporate speech bubbles, inviting the students to reflect on their own stories and think of ways to add character dialogue.

05:01

🎬 Jeremy’s Story and Final Writing Tips

The speaker shares a story from a student named Jeremy, who describes his experience at the movie theater watching 'Super Mario World.' The speaker asks Jeremy if there was dialogue in his story, praising his effort. The speaker then encourages all students to try using speech bubbles in their own stories, emphasizing how adding dialogue can make characters come to life. The students are encouraged to give Jeremy an 'awesome job' for his story, and the session ends with the speaker reminding the students to be mindful of speech bubbles when writing.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Writers

In the script, 'writers' refers to the students who are engaging in the writing exercise. The teacher encourages them by addressing them as 'writers,' connecting their activity to professional authors. This label is intended to boost their confidence and help them take ownership of their creative process.

💡George McClellan

George McClellan is referenced as an author whose work serves as a model for the students. The teacher uses McClellan's example to inspire the students to write and use specific techniques like speech bubbles. He is presented as someone the students should emulate in their storytelling efforts.

💡Speech bubble

The speech bubble is a visual representation of dialogue in writing, often used in comic strips or illustrated stories. In the video, the teacher encourages students to add speech bubbles to bring their characters to life, making their stories more engaging by including direct speech.

💡Character

A character is a person or figure in a story. The teacher instructs the students to think about what their characters might say, highlighting how dialogue can make the characters feel more real. This focus on characters helps the students develop their storytelling skills.

💡Dialogue

Dialogue refers to the conversation between characters in a story. The teacher emphasizes how adding dialogue, through speech bubbles, makes the story more dynamic. It’s used as a key technique for storytelling, bringing characters’ interactions to life.

💡Story

A story is a narrative the students are tasked with creating during the writing session. The teacher models her own story for them and asks them to look at their own stories, seeing if they can add dialogue or speech bubbles to enhance their writing.

💡Super slide

The 'super slide' is part of the teacher’s example story, where she describes going to the park and being excited but nervous to try the slide. The slide is symbolic of an exciting event in a story that can be enhanced by dialogue and character expression.

💡Excitement

Excitement is a key emotion portrayed by both the teacher and the students in the script. The teacher models how she was excited about going on the super slide and encourages the students to reflect similar emotions in their own stories, bringing them to life through speech bubbles.

💡Sharing stories

Sharing stories is an important part of the classroom exercise. Students like Jeremy are encouraged to share their work with the class. This practice helps them learn from each other, and the teacher uses it as a way to highlight successful use of dialogue and narrative techniques.

💡Creative process

The creative process refers to the act of developing and refining a story. The teacher guides the students through this process by modeling her own writing, asking questions about their stories, and introducing techniques like speech bubbles to enhance their writing. It’s central to the video’s educational message.

Highlights

The speaker encourages the students to write like George McLeod, emphasizing the transformation into writers.

The speaker asks the students to use speech bubbles to make characters in their stories come alive.

A connection is made between writing and transforming, using the metaphor of how the 'Veggie Monster' transforms.

The speaker uses their own story as an example, about a day at the park, to demonstrate adding speech bubbles.

The speaker illustrates the excitement of a moment in a story, explaining how to express emotions with dialogue.

The speaker refers to a dialogue in their own story: 'I am so excited to go on the super slide,' showing the use of a speech bubble.

Encourages students to find moments in their own stories where characters could be speaking, using speech bubbles to enhance storytelling.

The importance of characters talking in a story is highlighted as a way to bring them to life.

The speaker gives students time to reflect on their own stories and think about where to add speech bubbles.

Students are encouraged to read their stories silently and find moments to add dialogue.

A student named Jeremy shares his story about going to the movie theater, and the speaker highlights his use of dialogue.

Jeremy's story about going to the 'Super Mario World' movie is shared as an example of adding dialogue in a narrative.

The speaker applauds Jeremy's efforts, encouraging other students to follow his example and add speech bubbles.

The speaker encourages students to practice adding dialogue not only today but in any future writing.

Students are asked to return to their desks and try adding speech bubbles, reinforcing the day's lesson.