Scott Foresman Reading Street

Genre Memoir
Writer's Craft Get Your
Reader's Attention
Writing Trait Sentences

Identify the characteristics of a memoir.
Write a memoir with features that get your reader's attention.
Focus on sentences.
Use a rubric.

Sentences Read imperative, exclamatory, and interrogative sentences aloud to English learners, using tone to show how these sentences add excitement to writing. Add think-aloud comments to explain how punctuation helps readers understand sentences.

FOCUS/IDEAS The memoir

focuses on a meaningful experience.

ORGANIZATION/PARAGRAPHS

The event is described in chronological order.

VOICE The writer's voice

communicates that the experience was meaningful.

WORD CHOICE The writer uses

words to create vivid details and suspense.

SENTENCES Sentence lengths

and kinds get the reader's attention.

CONVENTIONS Grammar and

mechanics are excellent, including use of possessive pronouns.

Model the Trait

Improve Writing

Prewrite and Draft

Draft and Revise

Connect to Unit Writing

READING-WRITING CONNECTION

Rocks in His Head is a biography.
Ideas in Rocks in His Head are expressed in different sentence lengths and types that get the reader's attention.
Students will write a memoir that gets the reader's attention by using different sentence types.

MODEL SENTENCES Discuss Writing Transparency 18A. Then discuss the model and the writing of a memoir.

I see that the writer has written a memoir called, "How I Became a Rock Climber." He tells a story about an important event in his life. He begins with a title that makes the reader ask a question. Then in the middle, the writer varies the types of his sentences by asking a question that also gets the reader's attention.

Writing Transparency 18A

with | without Answers

WRITER'S CRAFT

Get the Reader's Attention

Display Writing Transparency 18B. Read the directions and have students determine ways to secure a reader's attention.

GET THE READER'S ATTENTION Tomorrow we will write a memoir about an important experience in our lives. How can I get the reader's interest? I can begin with a catchy title. Then I should start the memoir with a strong opening sentence, perhaps an interesting fact. I can also create suspense by saving some facts and revealing them later.

GUIDED WRITING Some students may need more help recognizing ways to get a reader's attention. Point out selections with attention-getting titles and opening sentences that create suspense. Have students discuss each feature.

Writing Transparency 18B

with | without Answers

READ THE WRITING PROMPT

on page 76 in the Student Edition.

Rocks in His Head describes an important experience in someone's life.

Think about an experience that is important to you.

Now write a memoir about it.

Writing Test Tips

Write a title and opening sentence that make a reader interested and curious.
List the details of the event in chronological order.
Write details that will make the story suspenseful.

GETTING STARTED Students can do any of the following:

Create a concept map with Events that Changed Me in the center.
Work with a partner to discuss unusual or exciting personal experiences.
With a group, describe interesting biographical stories they have read.

EDITING/REVISING
CHECKLIST

Does the memoir focus on an experience that was important to the writer?
Does the memoir have features that get the reader's attention?
Are possessive pronouns used correctly?
Are words with the prefixes pre-, mid-, over-, and out- spelled correctly?

See The Grammar and Writing Book, pp. 156–161.

Revising Tips

Sentences

Support sentences by varying sentence lengths and kinds to get the reader's attention.
Consider using one or two exclamations and questions as well as statements.
Write vivid opening sentences to get your reader's attention.

PUBLISHING Students can read their memoirs aloud in small groups. Some students may wish to revise their work later.

ASSESSMENT Use the scoring rubric to evaluate students' work.

Week 1

Poem 35g–35h

Week 2

Describe a Setting
59g–59h

Week 3

Memoir 85g–85h

Week 4

Describe a Goal
111g–111h

Week 5

Writing for Tests
137g–137h

Story

PREVIEW THE UNIT PROMPT

Tell a story about a character who
is one of a kind. Focus on an
event that shows how this person
is unique. Your story may be real
or imagined, humorous or serious.

APPLY

A story has a beginning,
middle, and end and focuses
on one incident or event.
A story narrates a
meaningful event that
someone experienced.

Writing Workshop Memoir

Sentences