Young Authors Lesson 4 ~ Editing

     In our last Young Authors lesson, students were instructed to write the rough draft of their story.  Remember that the length of the story is up to your young author.  But most 1st - 4th grade students will write short stories at around 10 paragraphs in length.

    In this lesson, you will want to help your student to revise and edit the rough draft of their story.  If at all possible set up a time for peer reviews.  So gather one or more of your students friends or siblings to read through your child's story and give suggestions.  Dads, grandparents, and other adults can participate in this process as well!  You can encourage everyone involved to make this a positive experience by doing two things.

     ~First, explain to your young author that their friends will be giving them suggestions.  A good author will take into consideration the suggestions and critique of their peers, but ultimately the story is up to the author!  However, there is no need for hurt feelings.  Don't forget to explain to the "reviewers" that it is best to be sensitive and encouraging when giving a critique.  You can ask questions like, "Is there any part of the story you didn't understand?" or "Was there a part of the story that you think needed more detail?"

     ~Second, give each reviewer an index card.  On one side write, "What I liked..." on the other side write, "Suggestions".  Be sure that each reviewer writes at least one thing on each side.  I would also encourage that they write one encouraging note for each suggestion they make.

     Once they have received the suggestions from their peers, you will act as your student's "editor".  Help them to decide which suggestions they should take seriously.  Also, read through their stories with them, helping them to correct any spelling and grammatical errors.

     Using the revisions, it is now time for your student to write their final draft.  Remember this is the draft that will go into their "published book".  Your student will want to use their best handwriting or type it.  (You can also type it for them, if they are not comfortable with that yet. )  In our next lesson, your students will decide how they will divide up the text of their story.  They will actually cut and paste parts of their final draft to pages of their "published book" that they will illustrate.

     I hope your students are enjoying writing their short stories!  If you missed them, feel free to check out Lesson 1, Lesson 2, and Lesson 3 of our Young Authors Lessons series. 

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Young Authors Lesson 3 ~ Roller Coaster Plot

It's a great day for our Young Authors, because if they haven't already it is time to start writing!  At the end of today's lesson, the students will begin their rough drafts.

But first, we will do a quick lesson about plot.  Choose a picture book today that has a good plot ... one that students can easily recognize the introduction, conflict, climax, and resolution/conflict.  Hand your student a copy of the Roller Coaster Plot worksheet below.  Explain each box briefly and tell them to pay attention to the story, as they will fill out their worksheet according to the story you read to them.

We chose to read The Story About Ping.
Roller Coaster Plot WS - Page 003
Once you have read the story, work with your students to fill out the worksheet. It may be easier to identify the Introduction/Conflict, Climax, and Resolution first.  Fill in the Rising and Falling Action last.

Finally, instruct your children that it is now time to write their rough drafts.  Try not to let them get too hung up on writing and spelling perfectly.  Let them know that mistakes will be corrected during the editing/revising phase.  If your children are particularly young, you may consider letting them dictate to you as you type the story for them.  This will allow them to be more creative without being bogged down by the physical aspect of typing and writing.  Let the length of the story be up to your student.  Many students in grades 1 - 4 will only write stories that are no more than 10 paragraphs long.


Just in case you missed it, Young Authors Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 can be found at the link.  Check back next week for another lesson! Pin It Now!

Young Authors Lesson 2 - Character Development

Last week I introduced you to the idea of creating Young Authors books.  I mentioned to you that our local homeschool group hosts a Young Authors Writing contest each year.  Well, I've had some questions about the contest, so at the bottom of this post I am posting the 'Official Rules'.  Also, I wanted to include some pictures of a couple of the books our kids have completed.  As you can see from the pics below, this does not have to be very professionally done!  The idea is just to have fun with your kids, learning about the Writing Process and creating something that looks like a "real book" that they will be proud of.

 

Young Authors Lesson 2 - Character Development

 

     Today, you should begin your Young Authors lesson with introducing the stages of the Writing Process.  Young children, especially, will not need to have a very firm grasp on this information but it is a good idea to introduce them to it so they have an idea of what they will be doing during the next few lessons.

 

THE WRITING PROCESS

(You may want to write these steps on the board.  Explain that the Writing Process is a tool to help students write well-written stories.)

 

1. Pre-Write

(Explain that the students have already been pre-writing!  Pre-writing is just the process of thinking about your story, what it is going to be about, who the characters are, etc. before you actually write the story.  When the students completed their Story Stew worksheet, they were pre-writing!  Today, we will do one more pre-writing activity.)

 

2. Rough Draft

(Once your student has developed many ideas about their story it will be time for them to write the Rough Draft!  They don't have to worry too much about getting their story 'perfect', because this is just the Rough Draft.  They will be fixing mistakes during the next step of the Writing Process...)

 

3. Revising/Editing

(This is the time for the student to check the Rough Draft of their story for any spelling or grammatical mistakes.  Also, it is a good idea for students to have their parents, teachers, and/or peers read their story and get ideas to help them improve their story.  Perhaps a reader finds a part of their story confusing, and they need to re-write it to make it more clear.  Perhaps a reader suggests that more dialogue might make the story more interesting.)

 

4. Final Draft/Publishing

(Once the mistakes are fixed and their story has been improved, it is time to write the final draft and have the story 'published'...in our case that means illustrating the book and binding it together.)

 

     Today, we are still in the Pre-Write stage of creating our Young Authors books and we will do another exercise to help the students create concrete ideas about their story before they write it.  

 

     Tell your student that you will be talking about 'Character Development'.  Ask them to think of their favorite character from a book that they have read.  Ask them to describe the character and what they liked about that character.  You may give more examples of characters that you have enjoyed.  I have told my children about times when I really related to a character and enjoyed them so much that I felt like that character was my friend.  When I finished reading the book, I even felt a little sad because I wouldn't be able to hear about that character's story anymore. The reasons I have enjoyed those characters so much was because the author did a good job in developing them.  The author didn't just tell me a story, but he/she gave me many details about the characters that made them more interesting and made them even seem "real".

 

     Next, you will want to read a picture book to them.  Choose a book that does a good job with really developing their main character.  If you're not sure how to do this, a good idea would be to stick to a story that has the main character's name as the title.  (Some good ideas would be Corduroy, Curious George, and Horton Hears A Who.) 

 

     I chose A Baby Sister for Frances by Russell Hoban.

 

 

     Explain to your student that you will be asking them questions about the main character of the book once you are finished reading it to them, so they should pay attention as you read.  Once you have read to them, ask them to describe the main character's personality.  What were some interesting things about that character?  What was his/her likes and dislikes?  Describe the character's family.

 

     Point out some things that your student mentioned about their character that really didn't have anything to do with the storyline.  For example, in A Baby Sister for Frances, we find out that Frances likes raisins in her oatmeal and that she makes up funny rhymes and sings them.  This information is not critical to the story, but it makes Frances more interesting.

 

     Now, it's time for your student to develop their main character!  Have them fill out the 'My Main Character' worksheet below.  They may not use all of the information on the worksheet in their story, but it will be helpful for them to really spend some time thinking about their main character.

Young Authors WS - Character Development

 

      If your student is getting anxious to start writing their story, go ahead and let them begin their rough draft after completing the worksheet.  Officially, though we won't start the rough draft until our next lesson.  Look for that next week!

 

 

*  *  *

HFHG Young Authors Writing Contest
Deadline to turn in books: Friday, October 26
Young Authors Banquet: Friday, November 9

Our 4th Annual Writing Contest is open to all homeschool students in grades
1-12. Student books are divided into 5 different grade divisions. A winner and
two honorary mentions are awarded for each grade division. All participants are
given a Certificate of Participation and are invited (with their families) to
the Young Authors Banquet.

Rules for Writing Contest

The purpose of the Young Authors Writing Contest is for each student to write
their own work of fiction using the writing process and "publish" their own work
by illustrating and binding their final draft (get creative! - This is the fun
part!)

-Each work should be the sole work of one student (including illustrations).
Parents are allowed to help with typing the final draft, but please included
"Typed by: Parent's Name" on the front of the book.

-All writings should be an original work of fiction.

-Be sure to include the student's name and grade on the front cover. (Very
important for dividing into appropriate grade division!)

-Students should follow the Writing Process by first brainstorming their ideas,
creating a rough draft, revising their rough draft with the help of their peers
and/or teacher, and creating a final draft in book form. Only the final draft
will be submitted.

-All students must illustrate their stories (this is not required for grades
9-12). Illustrations can be drawn, painted, computer illustrated, or even made
using magazine cutouts (collage style). Creativity is encouraged and considered
during judging!

-All students must bind their final draft into book form. (This can be done as
simple as with a hole punch and ribbon or as technical as having it printed
into book form from a place like Walgreens or WalMart.)

-The length of the story is up to the discretion of the author. We have had
stories as short as a few sentences as well as novellas close to 100 pages
typed!


The Young Authors Banquet is a potluck banquet. All books will be on display
and awards will be given. It's a fun night to celebrate all of the students for
their hard work in creating their books! If you cannot attend, please plan for
someone else to pick up your student's certificate and book that evening.

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Young Authors Lesson 1 ~ Story Stew

 

 

Each year of my elementary school life our teacher would make a simple announcement that would bring moans and groans to the majority of the students in the classroom.  "It's time to begin working on our Young Authors books," she would say.  But while those students were whining, my little heart would secretly jump with delight. 

 

Young Authors was a program hosted by our local newspaper and offered in every elementary and middle school in our county.  Students would write works of fiction, "publish" them by illustrating their stories and creating a final draft to be bound in some homemade way to resemble a "real book".  These works were judged and awarded according to grade.

 

When my children were old enough, I contacted the local paper to find out the guidelines for homeschool students wanting to enter into the contest.  Unfortunately, they had stopped hosting this contest but graciously offered links and articles aiding me in starting my own contest....which I did.  For the past four or so years, I have been running a homeschool Young Authors contest for my local homeschool group. 

 

This year I will also be teaching a Young Authors class at our homeschool co-op.  And since I am already planning the lessons, I thought I'd share them here in case you would like to create Young Author books with your students as well.  I'll be posting one lesson a week and I'm not finished with the plans yet, so I'm not exactly sure how many weeks it will take...probably about 6.  Just keep checking back for more!

 

Our first lesson is an exciting one...

 

Young Authors Lesson 1 -Creating a Story Stew 

 

First, you will want to excitedly tell your students that they will be beginning a new project.  They will be writing their very own short story!  And not only will they be writing a story, but they will be illustrating it and binding it to look just like a "real" book.  Books take time to create and their books will not be made in one day either.  But after all of their hard work, they will have a wonderful creation to share with their family and friends.

 

Next, you can tell your students that you will be making a "Story Stew".

This idea was adapted from lesson plans found at teachers.net.

 

Before you begin, you will need to gather some materials.  You'll want a large stew pot, mixing spoon, labeled index cards, a book, and an apron and/or chef's hat.

 

Put on your chef's hat and apron and grab your stew pot.  Explain to your students that like stew, a good story is made up of several "ingredients".

 

Reach into the pot and pull out an index card on which you have written "characters." Explain that characters are "Who is the story about?"  Discuss that a story usually has one "Main Character" and that the story is told from the main characters view point.  Mention familiar stories and ask students to tell you who the characters are.

 

Reach into the pot and pull out another index card on which you have written "setting." Explain to students that the setting is "When and where the story happens." Mention familiar stories and ask students to identify the setting.

 

Reach into the pot and produce an index card on which you have written "plot." Explain that plot is "What happens in the story."  Explain that stories have a beginning (introducing characters and setting), middle (the majority of the story, introduces conflict which gradually rises until the climax of the story), and end (the conclusion will usually end the conflict of the story and quickly wrap up the content).  Mention familiar stories and ask students to briefly explain the plot.   

 

Do the same thing with a card entitled ‘Conflict’.  Explain that a story needs a 'conflict' which is a problem or challenge that the characters (usually the main character) will face.  The four main conflicts we encounter in stories are: Man vs man (ex. two boys face off in a sports challenge), Man vs. Supernatural (ex. a boy must defeat the evil aliens invading his town and save the citizens), Man vs. Nature (a girl goes for a walk in the woods, but quickly becomes lost and must find her way home), Man vs. Self (a shy girl must overcome her fears to perform a piano recital).

 

Once you have done this, choose a short story to read aloud to your students.  I chose 'Library Mouse' by Daniel Kirk.

 

 

 

This is an adorable little book about how a mouse decides to become an author.

 

After reading the story, ask the students to identify the characters. Write them on an index or recipe card and drop it into the stew pot. Stir it up. Then ask students to identify the setting, conflict, and the plot in the same manner. After stirring up the "ingredients," reach into the pot and produce a photocopy of the cover of the story you just read.  Ta-dah!  The ingredients made into a book!

 

Next, have students brainstorm ideas.  Think of three story ideas and write them down.  Discuss their ideas and choose one.

 

Finally, students will create their own "Story Stew".  Students can use the worksheet I created below to fill in their own ideas for setting, characters, plot, and conflict for their story.

 

 

Story Stew Worksheet

Remember to encourage your students! Some may struggle with coming up with ideas on their own. Tell them that a work of fiction is a made-up story, but it is often helpful to authors if they write about things they are familiar with. You may want to suggest things that your student enjoys that he may want to write a story about (i.e. sports, hobbies, places he's visited).

Once the Story Stew worksheet is completed, you are finished with Lesson 1! Pin It Now!