Preparing Students for High Stakes Writing Assessments WRITING

Preparing Students for High. Stakes Writing Assessments: WRITING in the Fictional Narrative Mode

PURPOSE / GOAL • The key word for this mode is: STORY, STORY so look for that word in the prompt. • Your job is to ENTERTAIN the reader! • Your goal is to have a BALANCED paper (you should tell as much about what happened BEFORE your main event as you tell what happened AFTER it)!

ORGANIZING • Use a BEFORE (B), DURING (D), and AFTER (A) organization strategy!

PREWRITING FORMAT B Person : Place : Doing Something : Some Time : D A Main Event: Event #1: Event #2: Event #3: Concluding Event :

PREWRITING: “DURING” • Fill in the D (DURING) in your prewriting FIRST • This is the “Main Event” of your story. • You can usually find the main event in the writing prompt.

PREWRITING: “BEFORE” • Fill in the B (BEFORE) in your prewriting NEXT • Tell WHO (person) was with you, WHERE (place) you were, WHAT you were doing (doing something), something) and WHEN (some time) the story begins. • Remember, all of this information tells what happened BEFORE the main event. • Remember too, your story should start and end in the same TIME and PLACE as the main event.

PREWRITING: “AFTER” • Fill in the A (AFTER) in your prewriting LAST • Tell 3 MAJOR events which happened AFTER the main event. • To be considered a MAJOR event, you must be able to write at least 3 sentences about it! • Decide on a CONCLUDING EVENT which solves the problem or ends the drama.

LET’S TRY ONE! Imagine you and a friend find a box in a park with a large sign that says, “DO NOT OPEN!” Write a story about what happens next. Things to consider: • What is the main event? • Does the prompt give any of the BEFORE information? • Should you begin your story with “what happened next? ”

START WITH THE PROMPT… B Person: Jimmy and I Place: Cottage Hill Park Doing Something: Some Time: D A Main Event: Find a box Event #1: Event #2: Event #3: Concluding Event:

NOW WHAT? • Complete the rest of the BEFORE! BEFORE • Think about what you and your friend were doing at the park BEFORE you found the box. • When did this happen? Start the story on the same day and time you found the box!

FINISHING THE “BEFORE”… B Person: Jimmy and I Place: Cottage Hill Park Doing Something: Playing football Some Time: Saturday afternoon D A Main Event: Find a box Event #1: Event #2: Event #3: Concluding Event:

NOW WHAT? • Complete the AFTER! AFTER • The DURING will DESCRIBE the box and what you found inside it. • What happened AFTER you opened the box and found whatever was inside it? Come up with 3 MAJOR events.

FINISHING THE “AFTER”… B Person: Jimmy and I Place: Cottage Hill Park Doing Something: Playing football Some Time: Saturday afternoon D A Main Event: Find a box / dead squirrel Event #1: Threw box in air, squirrel landed on Jimmy Event #2: Jimmy tackled me, tried to beat me up, left me there Event #3: Called mom to get me Concluding Event: Squirrel burial/funeral

BEFORE YOU WRITE… • Remember your purpose: ENTERTAIN the reader! • Build in SUSPENSE, SUSPENSE ACTION, ACTION and DESCRIPTION! DESCRIPTION (adjectives, vivid verbs, figurative language) • Remember your goal: BALANCE the paper by writing as much in your BEFORE as you do in your AFTER • Follow the 2 - or 3 -hole rule to help you!

2 - or 3 -HOLE RULE • To balance your narrative, use the holes punched in your paper to guide you. • The rule is you CANNOT mention the DURING (the main idea of the paper) until you reach the 2 nd or 3 rd hole of your paper. • A 2 -hole rule paper will be 1 page long; a 3 hole rule paper will be 2 pages long.

SAMPLE “BEFORE”: This narrative would be following The 3 -hole rule! “Go deep!” exclaimed Jimmy, backpedaling like an NFL quarterback. I raced full speed toward the Cottage Hill Park playground, waiting for Jimmy to fire off another rotten pass. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that football was not his cup of tea, and as I expected, I went much deeper than Jimmy was able to lob the ball. Our entire Saturday afternoon went much the same way: Jimmy would toss the ball, and I would chase it under cars in the parking lot, atop wooden forts on the playground, into the bubbly stream running behind the playground…you get the picture.

“With two seconds on the clock, and down by a touchdown, this is Jimmy Smith’s chance to make the big comeback, ” I shouted in my best ESPN commentator’s voice. I was tired of chasing the ball around the park and hoped Jimmy was tired of watching me. With fire in his eyes, Jimmy faded back and pretended to dodge several defenders. He threw the ball and it wobbled end-overend into a huge pine tree. We both watched the ball tumble down and I heard it thump underneath the tree. With a sigh, I trotted to the tree and crawled under it, batting around with my hand to scoop the ball out. What I found, however, was not my ball.

SAMPLE “DURING”: “Jimmy, come over here!” I hollered, looking at a box wrapped in bright red, glittery paper, tied with a large silver bow. On all four sides of the box, large, hand-written words warned: DO NOT OPEN! “Whoa! You better put it back, ” said Jimmy. Ignoring his advice, I gently untied the bow, a bit weary of what might be lurking inside. Jimmy backed away a few steps as I shimmied the top off. There were several sheets of wadded up newspaper covering whatever lay in the bottom. Jimmy edged in for a closer look as I pulled the newspaper out, finally uncovering what looked to be a dead squirrel.

SAMPLE “AFTER”: “AHHHH!” I screamed, tossing the box and its decaying contents into the tense air. As if in slow motion, the box twirled and rolled in midair with Jimmy frozen beneath it. I watched in horror as the squirrel landed in the hood of Jimmy’s windbreaker and the box tumbled over his head. With the thud of the box on his head, Jimmy flung it off, and proceeded to dance and scream, thinking the squirrel was on his head, too. “Stop! STOP, Jimmy! It’s in your hood!”

Jimmy threw off his windbreaker and lunged at me, knocking me to the ground. I rolled myself into a ball in defense of Jimmy’s jabs, slaps, and kicks. Without retrieving his jacket, Jimmy grabbed his bike and frantically pedaled out of the parking lot, leaving me dazed, confused, and alone. After getting my head together, I found a pay phone and called mom, explaining what had happened. I asked her to meet me at the park with a pair of rubber gloves and a shovel. Within a few minutes, I saw her car rumble into the parking lot with Jimmy in the passenger seat.

Jimmy apologized, I accepted his apology, and Mom and I watched Jimmy dig a hole big enough to bury the box. I gently dug the stiff squirrel from Jimmy’s hood, and he suggested I leave the windbreaker with the squirrel. We buried the squirrel in the box, and mom said a few nice (but overdramatic) words to lay the squirrel to rest. Jimmy and I couldn’t help but giggle a few times. When the “service” was over, Jimmy crawled under the tree to get my football. “I think I need more practice, but next time, ” said Jimmy, “let’s just play at my house. ”