Amber Patko

ELD 308

Writing Mini-Lesson

Grade: 5th
Common Core Standards: Writing Standards for Writing K-5, Text types and
purposes, 3 A
Grade 5: 3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or

events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event

sequences.
o A. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a
narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds
naturally.
Objective: By the end of this lesson, students will be able to begin a draft of a
narrative story, properly introducing the story with an attention-grabbing lead.
Materials: Rules by Cynthia Lord, short passages to be displayed on the overhead
projector, easel and markers
Procedure:
1. Lesson Introduction/Objective and Purpose:
o Today we are going to begin writing narratives by first learning
about the best ways to open our stories! I am going to teach you a
little bit about leads. A lead is the first few sentences or first
paragraph of a story that is used to grab the readers attention and
make them want to read more. Heres an example of a boring opening
to a story: I have a sister. Her name is Sally. One day we went to the
mall together and we bought clothes. Boring! Today we will learn
about a few different types of leads and how they can make the
opening of our stories exciting! Yesterday we started reading Rules by
Cynthia Lord. After that we will begin writing narratives of our own.
Im going to pass out a definition tableas the lesson goes on write
down the definitions of each type of lead. Then you can keep it to use
as a reference! I will also be writing them down on the board to help
you out! *pass out reference/definition sheet*
2. Teach and Model
o The first type of lead you might use in your story is dialogue. This
involves beginning with the characters speakingthey might be
having a conversation or exchanging information (write definition on
board). This might draw the reader in and make them want to read
on because they might wonder why the characters are saying what
they are saying, or what will happen after the conversation! Now,

thumbs up if you remember starting Rules by Cynthia Lord. Great!

Well Cynthia Lord actually uses this type of lead at the very beginning:
o Come on, David. I let go of his sleeve, afraid Ill rip it. When he
was little I could pull my brother behind me if he didnt want to
do something, but now Davids eight and too strong to be
pulledIts not raining. Come on. Mom said go to the car.
(page 1)
o I dont know about you guys, but this passage drew me in when I was
reading it. The conversation made me wonder why the main character
was rushing her brother to the car, and where they were going! I
wanted to read on to find out!
o In addition to dialogue, another important lead is a flashback. This is
a short story about something interesting that happened in the
characters past (write definition on board). A flashback might hook
the reader because the reader might wonder why the story is
important and why the character shared it. Also, the story might be
very interesting, which might make the reader want to keep reading
to hear more interesting details in the narrative!
3. Guided Practice
o For the next couple of leads I am going to read what it is called and
were going to see if someone can guess what the definition is! The
next type of lead is an action lead. Does anyone want to take a guess
as to what an action lead might be? (Call on 2-3 students. The
character doing something/performing an action; an exciting event
happening) Very good guesses! An action lead is when a character is
doing somethingwhen using this lead we want to make it exciting
by using a lot of verbs and maybe even putting the reader under
suspense. (Write definition on board). Why might an action lead draw
a reader in? (Because the reader will want to find out what happens
next so they will want to read on; when something exciting is
happening it is more fun to read).
o The next lead is the inner thoughts lead. What does everyone think
this might mean? (Call on 2-3 students. The character is giving their
opinion and feelings about something, and sharing their reaction to an
event). Thats right! The inner thoughts lead helps us dive into the
mind of a character, and see how he/she is reacting to something that
happened, and how they feel. (Write definition on board). Why might
the inner thoughts lead hook the reader? (Because the reader might
wonder what happened to make the character feel that way; the
reader will want to find out why they feel the way they do).
o The last type of lead we will learn about is imagery. Does anyone
know what imagery is? (Call on 2-3 students. The author describes
something, and paints a picture in the readers mind). Very good! An
imagery lead is when the author describes a setting or event really
well so that the reader can visualize what is happening. He/she uses
many details, as well as adjectives. How might imagery draw the

reader in? (If a picture is painted in their mind they will be interested
to hear more).
4. Independent Practice
o Now, last week we started brainstorming story ideas in our writing
notebooks, and you all came up with some really cool ideas. Today
you are going to choose your favorite idea that you wrote down
whatever you think will make the best story! Now that you
understand how to grab the audiences attention with a great lead,
you will use your story idea to write the beginning of your narrative!
We will be writing in our writing workshop notebooks. Use your
reference page and pick your favorite lead to begin your story.
Always remember good writing techniques we know as wellmake
sure the beginning introduces the setting, characters, and sets up
events for the story. I want this to be quiet writing time, so no talking.
If you dont finish thats okay, we will come back to it again tomorrow.
Lets get to work! Get our your writing workshop notebook.
5. Assessment
o After listening to me teach/model different types of leads, and we
discussed it as a class using Rules, students should be able to set up a
narrative story well. I will know they understand if they are able to
explain the different types of leads, and also by reading what they
wrote in their writing workshop notebook so see if they could put it to
practice.
6. Closing
o Today we learned how to start a story so that we grab the readers
attention and make them want to read on. We talked about five
different leads that we could use in our narratives. One was dialogue,
which is the one we noticed was used in Rules. Another one was a
flashback, or a short story about the past. Can someone remind us of
another lead? (Actiona character doing something). Very good. Can
someone name another? (inner thoughtsthe character thinking
about something that happened). Excellent, can anyone name the last
one? (Imagerycreate a picture in the readers head). You guys did a
great job todaymake sure to always think about these things when
you are writing a story, because they will make the reader enjoy your
writing even more!

Name_________________________
Types of Leads: Drawing the Reader in

Type of
Lead

Dialogue

Flashback

Action

Reaction

Imagery

Definition