Title & Author of Book: Meanwhile by Jules Feiffer
Grade Level: 3rd Grade
Materials Needed: Meanwhile by Jules Feiffer, chart paper, transition word sheet, writing paper
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.
G. Edit to improve sentence fluency, grammar, and usage.
Grade Level Indicators:
1. Generate writing ideas through discussions with others and printed material.
4. Use organizational strategies (i.e, brainstorming, lists, webs and Venn diagrams) to plan writing.
7. Create paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting sentences that are marked by indentation and are linked by transitional words and phrases
Book Summary: When Raymond's mom calls him, he ignores her, engrossed in his comic book. Raymond sees a word "meanwhile" in the comic book and it stands out in his mind. He stares at the word and is suddenly transported on his own adventure on a pirate ship. He carries the word "meanwhile" with him as he continues on his journey to other places.
Introduction:
The trait we are going to explore in this lesson is sentence fluency. Sentence fluency relates to the flow and rhythm of writing. Both sentence length and structure vary in a piece of writing that has strong sentence fluency. Writing that contains strong sentence fluency also has varied sentence beginnings. Some techniques that can help young writers apply sentence fluency to their own writing include: using occasional sentence fragments to add rhythm to their piece, varying sentence beginnings and length, and constructing sentences to enhance or obscure their meanings. In this lesson, we will read the book Meanwhile by Jules Feiffer to students to give them examples of how to use transition words to vary sentence beginnings and make the story "flow." Students will then use transition words in their own writing to help their story become more fluent.
Before the Lesson:
* Important note: Students should be somewhat familiar with transition words before this lesson.
Read the book Meanwhile by Jules Feiffer to students. As you are reading, point out how the author uses the transition word "meanwhile" in the story. Does the word help make the story flow? What other transition words does the author use to start his sentences? Explain to students that transition words help make the story "flow" more smoothly and vary sentence beginnings to make the story more interesting. Then, make a list of transition words used in the story on chart paper. Examples: suddenly, meanwhile, but, etc.
Lesson:
1. Remind students of the story read the day before. Review the transition words listed on chart paper from the story. Now ask students to add some of their own transition words to the list. Examples: however, after, first, then, last, finally, as soon as, until, before, etc.2. Now tell students they are going to write their own story about going on an adventure. As a class, brainstorm a list of possible places they could travel to on their adventure. Have students go back to their seats and fill out a brainstorming web to help them come up with ideas for their story.
3. Allow students to write their story. After writing, conference with students individually. Have them read their story aloud to you to help hear its flow and rhythm. After reading, ask students if they feel any of their sentences could use a new or varied beginning.
4. Give students a list of transition words to use. Tell them that they must pick at least three sentences in their story they feel could be started with a transitional word or phrase. Have students go back to their seats and edit their writing.
5. After editing, have students get together with a partner and read their stories. Allow them to discuss the transition words they used and how the words made their writing better.
6. Then allow students to share their stories with the class.
