Voice: Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin

Lesson Focus: Using a mentor text to teach students the trait of voice. Students will practice using voice in their own writing.
Title & Author of Book: Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin
Grade Level: 3rd Grade
Materials Needed: Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin, chart paper, writing paper, various informational books about animals
Ohio Academic Content Standards English Language Arts K-12:
Writing Processes
Ohio Benchmarks English Language Arts K-12:
A. Generate ideas and determine a topic suitable for writing
C. Apply knowledge of graphics or other organizers to clarify ideas of writing assessments
Grade Level Indicators: 
1. Generate writing ideas through discussion with others and printed material
4. Use organizational strategies (e.g. brainstorming, lists, webs and Venn diagrams) to plan writing

Book Summary:  Doreen Cronin takes on the character of a spider as she writes this story filled with details about the life of a spider. The spider accounts his daily routine through diary entries, including what he eats, where he lives, how he travels, how he survives, and other interesting facts about spiders.

Introduction: Through this lesson, students will explore the writing trait of voice. Voice is the way in which a writer expresses herself. It is the personality of the author shining throughout the story. It is also the way in which an author portrays and gives voice to the characters in the story. Students struggle with voice when writing because it is not as concrete as other traits. Teachers can help students understand voice by reading aloud stories that demonstrate strong voice. In Diary of a Spider, Doreen Cronin manages to give voice to a spider by showing us the world from his perspective. Her humor and wit also shine through her writing, and we will use this mentor text to show students how to use voice in their own writing.

Before the lesson: Read the book to students so that they become familiar with the language and content.

Lesson:                                                      
1. Read the book aloud to students. Discuss how the author's voice shines throughout the story. Ask students to point out some of the funny facts they hear in the story. On chart paper, list some fun and silly sentences Cronin uses in her story. Guide students to understand that this is the author's way of showing her sense of humor.  Guide students to notice how Cronin makes the reader feel as if the spider actually wrote the story. This is her way of giving voice to a character.
2. After reading the story, explain to students that they are going to write their own Diary of a ______ stories. Allow them to use reference books that you have chosen that have various information about animals.
3. They will choose an animal and create a brainstorming web, listing different facts about the animal. For example, they could include where the animal lives, what it eats, what it looks like, etc. They will use this brainstorming web when they write their stories. They can also draw a picture of their animal as a prewriting activity.
4.  After creating their brainstorming web, students will write their Diary of a _____ stories. Remind students to give their animal voice in their story. Also remind them that by adding humor, interesting facts, and descriptive words to their story, they are letting their voice shine through.
5.  After writing, allow students to share their stories with the class.