Middle School English

"Inside Writing Communities, Grades 3-5 A video workshop for grades 3-5 teachers; 8 half-hour workshop video programs, 8 half-hour classroom video programs, workshop guide, and Web site

This clip shows the first two steps of a mini-lesson: "Connect" and "Teach." I connect today's lesson with previous lessons, reminding everyone that today's work is part of our ongoing personal narrative unit. Next, I introduce what I want the students to try in today's lesson, which is to use a mentor text.

Mini-lessons and the books that help to guide your teaching point

Fantastic list of mini-lessons and books

Memoir unit resource

"Launching Readers' Workshop"

Resource for our first readers' workshop unit written by Stevi Quate

"Using Literature the First Weeks of School"

ATN READING LIST Welcome to ATN Reading Lists. ATN Reading Lists was started in 1996 as part of a librarian collaborative project, All Together Now, begun by Dale Copps. The intention was that librarians could not only use this resource but contribute to it as well. At that time, there were several of us who began web sites and hoped that we could use this fairly new technology as a place to share and collaborate. As well intended as the goal was, it soon became apparent that the vision was really not viable at that time. Dale handed the list over to Nancy Keane in 1999."

Mini-lesson: improving sentences with thoughtful prepositional phrases. We have this text in the middle school library: 398.5 MAC

"10 Ways to Develop Expository Writing Skills With The New York Times"

Great ideas for mentor text lessons focusing on the six traits of writing, using picture books at grade levels 3-12

You will be writing about yourself, about something that happened to you. It doesn't have to be about something big. Often the most interesting stories are about little things-fishing one afternoon with your cousin, getting ready for your first dance, meeting your new stepfather for the first time, meeting your best friend, making a little mistake but learning a big lesson. Everyone has little moments that stick out in his or her mind. You will be writing about one of those moments and learning how to make your writing interesting.

In this unit, students will explore the genre of memoir. They will see that writers write about the ordinary happenings of their lives and that their own lives are packed with meaningful experiences and memories that can form the basis of their own writing. Students will be encouraged to reflect upon the significance of remembered events and to keep a notebook of their thoughts and feelings.