This week I will be talking about I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith, Drawn Together by Minh Le and illustrated by Dan Santat, and Mentor Texts by Dorfman and Cappelli. I will also take you along with me in my Writers Notebook this week. 

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Have you ever experienced a language barrier? It can be frustrating but I recommend you check out Drawn Together by Minh Le. This book follows along a grandpa and grandson. A cool aspect of this book is that Minh Le did not put words in it except for some dialogue. The grandson visits his grandpa but there's one problem. They don't speak the same language. They find a common barrier, drawing. This text is similar to last weeks Abuela, Mango, and Me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Narrative Writing Strategies

• Descriptions: Digging Deeper - students practice writing rich descriptions of people, places, animals, and objects

• Appealing to the Senses - students create a chart with the following categories: I see, I hear, I feel, I smell, and I taste. They write descriptive words for the 5 senses based on their narrative. 

• Focusing on a Moment - writers focus on one single moment in their narrative to elaborate on. 

• Adding Details Through Questioning - writers brainstorm questions to ask in their writing. This will help them think of details to add to their writing so it is clear for the reader. 

• Weather Leads - writers brainstorm weather leads to open their narrative or new paragraph. 

• Choosing the Right Leads - a variety of beginnings for students to choose from. 

  • Onomatopoeia, Snapshot Setting, Foreshadowing, Simile, Short, Choppy Statement, Action (suspense), Dialogue, Creepy statement, and so much more!!! (page 123-124). ​

• Choosing the Right Endings - a variety of endings that will leave the readers hooked. 

  • Memory the lingers, thoughts or feelings, accomplishment/discovery, final action, lesson learned, bookends, or start all over again (page 127). ​

• Building a Narrative - students make two columns of important people. They should list some activities and events that connect those two people. 

• Creating a Physical Description - students brainstorm description words for characters or settings in their narrative. 

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Drawn Together and I Talk Like a River

Writer's Notebook Ideas

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• Descriptions: Digging Deeper - I would have students write description words in their writers notebooks to use in their narratives. In I Talk Like a River, Jordan Scott used description words like bubbling, churning, whirling, crashing, and twist (page 24).

• Dialogue - in Drawn Together, Minh Le did not use words to tell the story. On some occasions there is dialogue so that really draws in the reader. On page 4 and 5, the grandson asks "What's new grandpa?". Students can engage readers by adding dialogue to their narratives.

• Show Don't Tell - On page 8 and 9 of Drawn Together, the grandpa and grandson drew their version of themselves. Instead of Le telling us, she showed us with the beautiful illustrations by Dan Santat. Students can add a drawing to their narratives to give the readers an insight to their writing.

• Repetition - In I Talk Like a River, Jordan Scott repeated "I talk like a river" a lot in the text (page 35). Students will be encouraged to use repetition in their personal narratives to engage the readers. Repetition should be used on what you are trying to get across to the readers. 

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In my writers notebook, I created

beginning leads for my personal narrative.

See to the right. I think this strengthened my

personal narrative because it hooked

the reader. I really enjoyed this writing

process because it reminded me of the

setting and feeling I had when I got into

App State. As you can see, I kept marking

things out which represents my thought

process. 

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I also created two-columns for important

people in my life. I listed events that

were important to me with that person.

Each one of these events I could turn

into a narrative. It gave me lots of events

that I could write about that I had

forgotten. This strategy helps students

reflect on past experiences that they

might not remember. 

 

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Here is my personal narrative about

the time I got into App State. I was

going to write about all 4 years but I

decided to focus on the day I got in.

I can still remember this day clearly and

it still brings a smile to my face. I

haven't finished yet and I still need to

add my beginning hook. I believe this

is a good topic for my narrative because

it holds a special place in my heart. I

can use the strategies above to

strengthen my narrative and to engage

readers. 

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