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Writer's Block
By Cara Bafile
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Grade Level: 3-6
Story Preview: When his teacher assigns what seems like a simple writing exercise, John discovers hes out of ideas. Characters from his imagination -- a cowboy, a wicked queen, a longed-for pet, and others -- help him overcome "writer's block." In the end, readers realize that the script theyve just read is John's play.
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Roles: Narrator, John, Cowboy, Astronaut, Samson, Wicked Queen, and Mom
Setting: present day
Theme: creative writing
Vocabulary:
- conflict: disagreement
- frustration: disappointment or aggravation
- buckaroo: cowboy
- cowpoke: cowboy
- destination: place one is going to
- persuade: win over
- betrayal: to mislead
- hideous: ugly or horrible
- villains: characters who act against the hero
- fantasy: something imagined
- banter: joking or clever chat
Props: none required
Follow-Up Questions:
- What was Mr. Lern's assignment to the class?
- What nursery rhyme is John talking about when he says one of his ideas has "been done"?
- What characters speak to John?
- Who is Samson? Why does John consider writing about him?
- Who suggests that John write about real events?
- What does John write about? Is it real or fantasy?
Follow-Up Activity:
Help students avoid the frustration of writer's block by having them generate a personal writing list. Ask them to write down at least ten topics they would like to explore through writing. They might consider family members, friends, vacations and trips, other memories, books or stories theyve read, famous people they would like to meet, and so on. Encourage students to keep their lists in a journal or other safe place for future reference.
Additional Notes:
A few additional tips that can assist youngsters in overcoming writer's block are
- Break down the assignment.
- Discuss ideas with parents, teachers, and peers.
- Write the assignment as a letter to a friend.
- Jot down ideas on a personal writing list.
- Respond to something read.
- Use a writing prompt.
Click here for a printable script.
Article by Cara Bafile
Education World®
Copyright © 2007 Education World
03/09/2007
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Subject: ELA- Reading
Grade: 5
Lesson Objective: To compare and contrast characters in a story using specific details from the text
Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3- Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
Materials:
Printable Student Worksheet
Starter:
Say:
Why do you think that there are different types of characters in stories? (Allow the students to answer.)
Main:
Say:
Authors write about many different types of characters when they write stories. Different characters are needed to tell a story.
Some characters are main characters and we learn a lot about them while we are reading a story. They are very important to the story. The story is often about main characters.
Minor characters are in a story to help the major characters and to help move the story along.
In every story there is a protagonist. This is the character that the story is about and is a main character. The protagonist is a character that we as readers develop emotions about. Those emotions are generally good, but not always.
There is also an antagonist in every story. This is a character that goes against the protagonist. The protagonist must overcome the antagonist. For example, in “Little Red Riding Hood,” Little Red Riding Hood is the protagonist and the wolf is the antagonist. Little Red Riding Hood must overcome the wolf for the story to end.
Most characters in stories develop or change along the way. This is most noticeable in main characters, but this also happens with minor characters.
Paying attention to the character traits of the different characters in a story will help you to identify which characters are major, minor, protagonists and antagonists.
This will help you to better understand and appreciate the story that you are reading.
Now, you are going to read part of a story. You are going to think about the characters and how they are the same and how they are different and then you will answer the questions.
Does anyone have any questions?
Feedback:
Say:
Who would like to share their answers? (Allow the students to share and go over the answers.)
Written by Kimberly Greacen, Education World® Contributing Writer
Kimberly is an educator with extensive experience in curriculum writing and developing instructional materials to align with Common Core State Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy.
Copyright© 2019 Education World
Subject: ELA- Reading
Grade: 5
Lesson Objective: To identify the theme of a poem based on details in the text
Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2- Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
Materials:
Printable Student Worksheet
Starter:
Say:
Why do you think it is important to know the theme of a text that you are reading? (Allow the students to answer.)
Main:
Say:
Knowing the theme of a text helps us to better understand what the text is about and what the author is trying to tell us.
The theme is what the text is about.
When you are figuring out the theme of a text, particularly a poem, you should first look at the title. Sometimes, that tells us what the theme is. If it doesn’t, you should read the text and then think about what the author is saying and the feelings that the author is using.
You can also paraphrase when reading a poem to help you figure out what the author is saying.
After you have figured out the theme of the poem, you should go back and read it again.
This time, you should be thinking about how the author reflects on or speaks about the theme.
Reading the author’s words once you know the theme helps you to focus on the feelings and reflections that the author shares.
You should be noticing the types of words that the author uses and the feelings that those words evoke. Remember, poems are words that are put together to make the reader feel a certain way.
Now, you are going to read a poem. Read the poem two times. The first time you read it, think about what the theme is. The second time you read it, focus on how the author reflects on or talks about theme. Then, you are going to answer the questions.
Does anyone have any questions?
Feedback:
Say:
Who would like to share their answers? (Allow the students to share and go over the answers.)
Written by Kimberly Greacen, Education World® Contributing Writer
Kimberly is an educator with extensive experience in curriculum writing and developing instructional materials to align with Common Core State Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy.
Copyright© 2019 Education World
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