Unit 4 · Writing and Telling

Here is a tiny story. Mia found a kitten. She gave it milk. It fell asleep in her lap. That is the whole story. It has three parts.

The beginning tells who and where. Mia found a kitten. The middle tells what happened. She gave it milk. The end tells how it turned out. The kitten fell asleep.

Think of a story like a walk. You start somewhere. You go somewhere. You stop somewhere. Beginning, middle, end. Every story you tell can have all three.

Leo wants to write about the beach. He does not know how to start. So he draws. Sand. Waves. A crab. His dad. Now he sees his story. Now he can write it.

A drawing is a picture you make. You can draw before you write. Draw the beginning. Draw the middle. Draw the end. Three boxes. Three pictures.

Then look at each picture. Say what you see. Write that down. Leo wrote: I saw a crab. It ran under a rock. Dad laughed. His pictures gave him the words.

You do not need a dragon. You do not need a spaceship. You lost a mitten. You found a worm. You rode a bus. Those are stories too. They are true. They are yours.

A small moment is one little thing that really happened. Not your whole day. Just one part. Not the whole trip to the zoo. Just the goat that ate your map.

Pick one small moment. Close your eyes. See it again. Where were you? Who was there? What happened? Then tell it. That is a true story.

Read this. I put on my boots. I got in the snow. I got up. I fell down. Wait. That is mixed up. You fell, then got up. The order is wrong.

Order words fix it. First, I put on my boots. Next, I went out in the snow. Then, I fell down. Last, I got up. Now a reader can follow you.

First tells what came first. Next and then tell what came after. Last tells the end. Use them like stepping stones. One step. Then the next.

I had a dog. That is true. But you cannot see the dog. Now read this. I had a small brown dog with one floppy ear. Now you see him.

A detail is a small piece of what you saw. Colors. Sizes. Sounds. Smells. What did it look like? What did it sound like? How did it feel?

Add one detail at a time. The apple was red. The apple was red and crunchy. It went crack when I bit it. Each detail is a little window. The reader looks through it.

My favorite season is winter. That is what I think. Not everyone agrees. Some kids love summer. That is fine. What I think is called an opinion.

An opinion needs a reason. A reason tells why. My favorite season is winter because I love to sled. The word because opens the door to the reason.

Try it. Pick a favorite. A food. A color. A game. Say what you think. Then say because. Then say why. That is an opinion with a reason.

Frogs have wet skin. Frogs lay eggs in water. Baby frogs are called tadpoles. These are not opinions. They are true for everyone. They are facts.

A fact book page is about one topic. Frogs. Trucks. The moon. It gives facts a reader can learn. Start with the topic. Then write two or three true things.

Where do facts come from? From looking. From books. From people who know. If you are not sure it is true, do not write it. Check first.

Look at this. the dogran fast. Something is wrong. Three things are wrong. Can you find them?

First, a sentence starts with a capital letter. The, not the. Second, words need spaces. Dog ran, not dogran. Third, a sentence ends with a mark. A period. A question mark. An exclamation point.

Now fix it. The dog ran fast. Capital T. Spaces. A period. Read your writing out loud. Your ears will find what your eyes miss.

Three kids talk at once. "I saw a—" "My dog—" "Wait, listen—" Nobody hears anything. It is just noise. Now one kid talks. The others look at her. They hear every word.

To listen means to hear and think about it. Look at the person. Keep your hands still. Wait until they are done. Then it is your turn.

Taking turns is like passing a ball. One person has it. Then they pass it. Everyone gets a turn. Nobody grabs. That is how a good talk works.

Mr. Cole says, "Put your work in the bin." Kai does not know which bin. He could guess. He could sit and worry. Or he could ask. "Which bin, Mr. Cole?"

A question is how you find out. Asking is smart. It is not a bad thing. Everyone gets confused sometimes. A question fixes it fast.

Good questions start with who, what, where, when, why or how. What do you mean? Where does it go? Can you say it again? Ask, and you will know.

Ella tells her story to the rug. Her voice is soft. She talks fast. Her hair hides her face. The class leans in. They still miss most of it. Then Ella looks up. She speaks slow and loud. Now they hear it all.

To speak loud does not mean to yell. It means your voice reaches the back of the room. To speak clear means every word comes out whole. Not mushed together.

Try this. Lift your chin. Look at a face in the back. Say each word. Take a breath at the end of a sentence. Your voice is a gift. Let people have it.

Ben tells how to get to the gym. "Turn left. Well, first go out the door. Then, um, past the office." The class is lost. He mixed up the steps.

Ben tries again. "First, go out our door. Next, turn left. Then, walk past the office. Last, the gym is on your right." Now everyone can find it.

Stories work the same way. Say what happened first. Then what came next. Then how it ended. Use first, next, then and last. Your listener will follow you.

Guess what I am thinking of. It is a thing. Hard to guess, right? Now listen. It is small. It is round. It is red. It is crunchy. You bite it. An apple!

To describe means to tell what something is like. Use details. How big? What color? What sound? How does it feel? What does it smell like?

Describe a person: my grandpa is tall with a gray beard and a soft voice. Describe a place: the library is quiet and smells like paper. Details paint the picture.

Priya read her story. Max asked about the dog. Lily asked about the shoe. Those questions were feedback. They told Priya what her readers wanted to know.

Feedback is what someone tells you about your work. Good feedback says two things. What I liked. What I wonder. I liked the dog part. I wonder what color it was.

When you get feedback, listen. Say thank you. Then think. Should I add that? Priya added the wet shoe. Her story got better because she shared it.

Jamal said, "I felt proud." Priya said, "My hands shook." Both told a feeling. Proud is a feeling word. Shaking hands show a feeling too. Nervous.

There are many feeling words. Happy. Sad. Mad. Scared. Excited. Shy. Proud. Surprised. Each one tells what is going on inside a person.

Add a feeling to your story. I lost my tooth. I felt excited. Or show it. I jumped up and down. Both let the reader feel it with you.

Deon read a book about a fox. The fox was sly. Deon did not know that word. He asked. Sly means tricky and clever. Now he had a new word.

Books are full of new words. When you find one, stop. Ask what it means. Say it out loud. Then find a place to use it. My cat is sly. She hides my sock.

Use a new word where it fits. Sly fits a fox or a tricky cat. It does not fit a rock. The more you use a word, the more it is yours.