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DURING READING
Write Now
Look at the Prompt Explain that each sentence in the prompt has a purpose.
  • Sentence 1 presents a topic.
  • Sentence 2 suggests students think about the topic.
  • Sentence 3 tells what to write—notes.
Strategies to Develop Focus
Have students
  • mark important ideas in the text with self-stick notes.
  • look at the first sentence of each paragraph to find important ideas.
  • include only important ideas in notes.
NO:   Visitors enjoy lovely view
YES: Statue on island in New York
  Harbor
For additional suggestions and rubric,
see pp. 407g–407h.
Writer’s Checklist
  • Focus Do notes include only most important ideas?
  • Organization Are notes in the same order as ideas in the text?
  • Support Are important dates and names included in notes?
  • Conventions Are capital letters used where needed? Do punctuation and abbreviations used make sense?
Write Now: Paragraph
Prompt
Elena's Serenade describes a girl
who makes special music.
Think about a character or person
you know well.
Now write a paragraph about that person, using logical organization.
Writing Trait
Organize your paragraph by putting ideas in an order that makes sense.
Hints for Writing Good Paragraphs
Write an opening sentence that "sets up" your topic or main idea and engages readers. Consider a topic sentence, a question, or an interesting fact.
Use transition words and phrases such as first, after, but, also, however, then, for example, and on the other hand to connect ideas, sentences, and paragraphs.
Make sure each sentence in the paragraph supports the topic or main idea.
Write a conclusion that wraps things up but is more than a repeating of ideas or “The end.”
Writer uses quotation
marks to
indicate
words
from story.
Details support
idea that
Elena is
determined.
Student Model
Use the model to help you write your own good paragraph.
Paragraph has organization: topic sentence, followed by details and a conclusion.
 
   
Close  
Scoring Rubric    Narrative Retelling
Rubric 4 3 2 1
Connections
Makes connections and generalizes beyond the text
Makes connections to other events, stories, or experiences
Makes a limited connection to another event, story, or experience
Makes no
connection to
another event, story, or experience
Author's
Purpose
Elaborates on author’s purpose
Tells author's purpose with some clarity
Makes some connection to author's purpose
Makes no
connection to
author's purpose
Characters
Describes the main character(s) and any character development
Identifies the main character(s) and gives some information about them
Inaccurately identifies some characters or gives little information about them
Inaccurately
identifies the characters or gives no information about them
Setting
Describes the time and location
Identifies the time and location
Omits details of time or location
Is unable to identify time or location
Plot
Describes the problem, goal, events, and ending using rich detail
Tells the problem, goal, events, and ending with some errors that do not affect meaning
Tells parts of the problem, goal, events, and ending with gaps that affect meaning
Retelling has no sense of story
Selection Test To assess with Elena's Serenade, use Selection Tests, pp. 117–120.
Fresh Reads for Differentiated Test Practice For weekly leveled practice, use pp. 175–180.
Retelling Plan
  • Week 1 Assess Strategic Intervention students.
  • Week 2 Assess Advanced students.
  • Week 3 Assess Strategic Intervention students.
  • Week 4 Assess On-Level students.
  • This week assess any students you have not yet checked during this unit.
Use the Retelling Chart on
p. TR16 to record retelling.