Names: Alyssa Carmona, Tom Strosser

Topic: Focus: Maintaining the Main Idea Throughout

Grade Level: 2
Common Core Standards:
W.2.3: Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events,
include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and
provide a sense of closure.
W.2.5: With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as
needed by revising and editing.
W.2.8: Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a
question.

Introduction: The mini-lesson will begin with a brief opportunity for writing. Ask students to close their eyes
and think about their Spring Break. Then, have them take out their writers journal and write a story about their
Spring Break. While writing this first draft, the expectation is that students are going to stick to writing surface
details. For instance, rather than focusing on one specific event that took place over break, students may just list
some of the things that they did.

Model: Share (two) examples of your own writing about Spring Break with the students. The first example
should be unfocused and vague, while the second example should be focused and address one event in
particular. Ask students about both versions of your story (i.e. Which of your stories did they enjoy more?
Why?). Discuss with students the importance and benefit of having a more narrow/specific focus when writing.
Show how using a graphic organizer can help with this.

Guided Practice: Have students come up to the SMART Board and participate in a sorting activity. The goal is
for students to distinguish between a focused and unfocused title and sentences. As students come up to the
board and complete the sorting activity, have them explain their thought process. The title and sentences will
build onto one another, resulting in two different narratives (one focused, the other unfocused) by the end of the
activity. Discuss with students the differences between these two writings (i.e. the focused piece is about one
specific event; it includes details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings).

Independent Practice: Have students go back to the Spring Break piece that they wrote at the beginning of the
mini-lesson. Tell them to focus on one particular moment/event and use a graphic organizer in order to generate
specific details.

Assessment/Expectation: Inform students that you would like them to use a graphic organizer in order to help
them focus on and write about one specific moment/event (does not need to relate to Spring Break). They can
use the graphic organizer to help them start on a new piece, or they may go back to a previously-written journal
entry that they deem to be unfocused. At the end of the marking period, students will submit the graphic
organizer, along with their first draft and final copy of a narrative of their choosing. Upon submission,
determine whether or not the student has made progress toward writing a focused and detailed, rather than an
unfocused and vague, narrative.