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LESSON RATIONALE
Because my first graders are moving from the letter-name stage to the transitional stage of writing, I have decided to focus on the
pre-writing aspect of the writing workshop. In order to help my students think clearly about voice, I will ask them to create words
that help them convey a particular voice. Rather than having them write full sentences, I will have students write words or
phrases so that our time can be spent efficiently.
READINESS
I. Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s): Students will be able to convey voice through their writing.
B. Objective(s): After examining texts that display different types of voice, students will create their own word web about
a topic of their choosing with words that convey a particular voice.
C. Standard(s): 1.W.1 Write routinely over brief time frames and for a variety of purposes and audiences.
D. Management Plan
Time – 50 minutes
Use of space – students begin at tables, move to carpet for mini-lesson, move back to tables for writing workshop, and
move back to carpet for closure.
List of materials – short reading excerpts (attached at end), The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt,
blank sheets of paper for each student, document camera, notebook for conference notetaking.
Expectations and procedures
o Students that are sitting at individual desks (there are four of these in my classroom), will move to tables
during the beginning of the lesson, so that they will be able to collaborate with their peers.
o Students who are following directions, and doing their work will receive dojos (the classroom management
system). If students are not obeying or are being disruptive, they will be reprimanded twice (depending on the
offense). On the third time, they will come back to the kidney table to sit with me and whoever I am
conferencing.
PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION
II. Adaptation to Individual Differences and Diverse Learners
The students that I have selected for individual conferencing might struggle producing effective words to convey
their voice. I will confer with these students to help them turn their thoughts into effective words.
Some other students might struggle coming up with an idea or words that convey voice. I have allowed them to
confer with one another in order to brainstorm ideas together.
III. Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)
Minilesson (Whole Group)
Anticipatory Set (5 minutes)
o Students sitting at tables.
o I have two different sections from two different books that I want to read to you. These are both stories about
girls who are in school and do not like it very much. I want you to think about what makes these girls
different.
o Read excerpts from Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus and Fish in a Tree. (Attached at end of lesson
plan). Intentionally use very different voices for the two characters. Junie B. has a humorous and light tone,
while Ally is angry and bitter.
o Both of these girls did not like school, but they still seem pretty different from each other. Turn to the people
sitting at your table and talk about what you think was different about them.
o Allow students time to discuss. Call on tables to share. If students haven’t made comments about how the two
girls sound different (i.e. one is funny and one seems sad), guide them to that conclusion with prompting such
as How did the two girls sound? How did I read them differently?
Purpose Statement
o Today we are going to learn about how to write with voice because this will help your writing become more
interesting to read!
Introduce Trait (5 minutes)
o We have been talking about voice a lot this semester – who can tell me what we have learned about voice so
far?
o Allow students to respond – prompt them toward the following:
Our voice matters when we vote, like in our math lesson
we have to pay attention to the voice of the characters that we read so we know how they are
feeling
we have been listening to voices through sound waves in science
o Our voices should be heard in our writing too! When you write something, people should be able to tell if you
are feeling sad, happy, angry, silly, scared, or excited.
Junie B says words like: screechy, marched, “guess what?”, good hider, squeezed, all bended – she
seems kind of silly
Ally says words like: embarrassed, too messy, painful, freak, dumb, loser – she seems like she is
angry and sad
o If you put a certain type of voice in your writing, then people will be able to tell how you were feeling even if
you aren’t there to tell them.
Share Examples (Short Text/Read Aloud) (7 minutes)
o I am going to read the book The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt.
Pretty soon Mrs. clapped her loud hands together. “Okay, everyone. Gather up your things. It’s almost time for the bell.” Then I
heard a noise in the parking lot. It was screechy brakes. And so I looked out the window. And I saw the school bus. It was
coming to get me! “Oh no!” I said kind of loud. “Now I’m going to get chocolate milk poured on my head!” Then I chewed on
my fingers. “Get in line! Get in line!” said Mrs. “When we get outside, I want all of my bus students to come with me. The rest of
you must go to the crossing guard.” Everyone was lining up. I was the very last one. Just then the bell rang and Mrs. marched out
the door. Then everybody else marched out, too. Except guess what? I didn’t.
When you’re the very last one in line, nobody watches you. That’s how come nobody saw me when I ducked behind the teacher’s
desk and hid. I’m a good hider. One time at Grandma Miller’s house, I hid under the kitchen sink. Then I made a growly sound
and sprung out at her. I’m not allowed to do that anymore. Anyway, I stayed scrunched behind the teacher’s desk for a while.
And then I saw a better place to hide. It was the big supply closet in the back of the room. And so I ran back there very fast. And
I squeezed onto the bottom shelf. I squeezed right on top of the construction paper. Most of me was comfortable. Except my head
was sort of very tight. And my knees were all bended. Like when I do a somersault.
“All that doodling of yours, Ally. If you weren’t drawing all the time, your work might be done. Please put it away.”
Embarrassed, I slide my drawings underneath my blank writing assignment. I’ve been drawing pictures of myself being shot out
of a cannon. It would be easier than school. Less painful.
“C’mon,” she says, moving my lined paper toward me. “Just do your best.”
Seven schools in seven years and they’re all the same. Whenever I do my best, they tell me I don’t try hard enough. Too messy.
Careless spelling. Annoyed that the same word is spelled different ways on the same page. And the headaches. I always get
headaches from looking at the brightness of dark letters on white pages for too long.
The rest of the class is getting tired of me again. Chairs slide. Loud sighs. Maybe they think I can’t hear their words: Freak.
Dumb. Loser.