Carlin Wetzel

EDIS 5400: Professor Heny

Lesson Plan #3: Writing
November 2917, 2017

Lesson Plan #3: Developing Writing Territories

Draft 21

Context:
Course Name: Language Arts 6, Standard Level
Grade: 6th
Length of Lesson: 60 minutes
Description of setting, students, and curriculum and nay other important contextual
characteristics:
Students: 17 students, 11 boys and 6 girls, 1 ELL, 7 minority students, 10
caucasianCaucasian students, 1 gifted student
Current Unit: Poetry
Sutherland Middle School is located just outside of Charlottesville with 574 total students
enrolled. Therefore, the setting is rather intimate although it is a public school. Kathleen
Haans classroom is a very positive environment. Mrs. Haan displays student work in
several areas and has an immense personal young adult literature library that students can
claim books from, and even take home on loan. The students are learning a standards
level English 6 curriculum. They spend a good portion of their time defining, studying,
and applying their Word Wisdom word lists that they receive and are tested on bi-weekly.
This is a grade-wide curriculum requirement at Sutherland. We are teaching a lesson at
the end of their unit on part of a Plot Diagram/Narrative, and external and internal
character conflict. Our lesson is a quiz review for their summative assessment they will
take at the end of the block. This lesson is immediately important to the students because
of the quiz, but is largely more important for them to build strong reading skills in
identifying the main issues and events in texts that they read independently. Mastering
these skills will make them stronger readers and help them unpack texts! The majority of
our students fall into the category of middle class. All students at Sutherland have
personal laptops (ThinkPads) provided by the school that they are able to take home, but
we will not be using them in our lesson.
Lesson date: This lesson will come on the first day of our writing unit. This class could Commented [HK1]: Dont forget to make sure to include
definitely benefit from the going backward to move forward approach when it comes to how you will teach the other parts of the writing process
(see LP3 assignment information for more information).
writing, because from what I have seen it is hard for them to personally engage with
writing. Todays goal is to get them excited about writing, and scratch the surface of pre-
writing strategies.
This lesson engages students in the very beginning stages of pre-writing. Ultimately
students will develop a short narrative essay from one of their writing territories. We will
look at example of narrative essays, and I will scaffold this process by proving ample
workshop space in class for students to conference with me and with peers. After they
develop their narrative essays, they will have a round of feedback from peers before their
final draft is due. This will come in the form of me giving students specific tasks for peer
editing after we have had class time dedicated to me modeling the revision process for
 them on a previous students work. We will do a group revising session in class with
partners, after we have discussed and I have modeled how to revise essays. I will model
for them once or twice how to revise essays for big ideas using the writing traits we
have learned about in our texts this semester. I will use essays from years part to do this.
Then I will allow them to revise each others papers in a group setting as class with
scaffolded steps. This will be low stakes, and purely designed to practice their revision
skills and offer a chance to enhance their writing based on peers feedback. Students will
have two opportunities for meaningful revision on their essays. The first is after the round
of peer feedback, and the second is after students turn in their first final draft to me.
Based on my corrections and suggestions students will have another opportunity for
revision that is optional this time where they will be able to earn back up to half of the
points they missed. This allows students the opportunity to run in something they are
proud of and get in the habit of revising their work thoroughly with the practices I model
in class. Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman

Virginia Standards of Learning:

VSOL 6.7 The student will write narration, description, exposition, and persuasion.
(b) Use a variety of prewriting strategies including graphic organizers to generate
and organize ideas.

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and Formatted: Strikethrough
information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.2.B
Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other
information and examples.

Objectives (KUD format):

Know: Commented [HK2]: Are you wanting students to know
1. The student will know the characteristics of thehow to use the writing territories the characteristics of these strategies or are you wanting
them to know how to use the strategies as they develop
prewriting strategy. their writing?
2. The students will know the characteristicsknow how to use of the topic blast prewriting
strategy.
Understand:
3. The student will understand that prewriting strategies lead to higher-quality writing
through the generation of ideas.
Do: Commented [HK3]: These objectives seem pretty task-
4. The student will use various pre-writing strategies to be skilled in using the writing specific. I would revise and combine these two objectives
saying students will use various pre-writing strategies
territories prewriting strategy to generate ideas for a narrative or descriptive essay and to.
use .
5.4.The student will be skilled in using the topic blast pre-writing strategy to generate details
for a narrative or descriptive essay.

Assessment: Commented [HK4]: Dont forget to align objectives and

Diagnostic: Students will show what they already know about. byabout standards to all assessments.
 -orally talking to me about pre-writing during the hook/opening to the lessonStudents will Formatted: List Paragraph, Bulleted + Level: 1 +
Aligned at: 0.25" + Indent at: 0.5"
demonstrate what they already know about pre-writing during our discussion after the
bell ringer. I will ask them to define pre-writing in their own words and determine Formatted: Not Highlight
whether they find it important, or how much they know about the process. They will
work to combine what they already about the prefix pre with what they know about the Formatted: Font: Bold, Not Highlight
writing process. This is an informal formative assessment, and I will use it to approach Formatted: Not Highlight
the rest of the lesson and shape my instruction based on their apparent level of familiarity
Formatted: Highlight
of unfamiliarity based on years past. This is our first unit on writing as a class, so I would
not expect them to know much or to know anything about pre-writing coming out of Commented [HK5]: Please indicate specific objectives
for the various assessments.
elementary school.
Formatted: Not Highlight
Objectives: VSOL 6.7, U3
Formatted: Font: Bold
Formative: Students will show their progress toward todays objectives btodays objective Formatted: List Paragraph, Bulleted + Level: 1 +
byy Aligned at: 0.25" + Indent at: 0.5"
-developing their writing territories sheetDeveloping their writing territories sheet Formatted: Font: Bold, Not Highlight
o I will collect students writing territory sheets after class and look through them to
Formatted: Not Highlight
see how they handled our first brainstorming activity. I will use their writing
territories sheets to judge what misconceptions or misunderstandings, such as Formatted: List Paragraph, Bulleted + Level: 2 +
Aligned at: 0.75" + Indent at: 1"
territories that are too vague or not very many territories, at the beginning of next
class. I will also use this formatively to assess whether the worksheet I provided Formatted: Font: Bold, Not Highlight
as scaffolding for developing their territories was sufficient, or if we need to have Formatted: Not Highlight
further discussion about the definition of a territory and how they are helpful to us Formatted: Font: Bold
as writers in future classes.
Formatted: List Paragraph, Bulleted + Level: 1 +
o Objectives: VSOL 6.7, K1, U3, D4 Aligned at: 0.25" + Indent at: 0.5"
-topic blast sheetTopic Blast Sheet
Formatted: Font: Bold, Not Highlight
o I will collect students topic blast sheets, and use their conversations with partners
and share time, to assess their comfort level with this pre-writing strategy as well. Formatted: Not Highlight
I will examine if students were able to expand their topics, or if they need more Formatted: List Paragraph, Bulleted + Level: 2 +
scaffolding with this strategy. Based on my observations I will use this as a Aligned at: 0.75" + Indent at: 1"
formative assessment to shape subsequent instruction. Formatted: Font: Bold, Not Highlight
o Objectives: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.2.B, VSOL 6.7, K2, U3, D4
Formatted: Not Highlight
Exit Card: Three-four sentences about their narrative
o I will collect students exit cards to see where they are in thinking about their Field Code Changed
narratives, and determine how effectives the pre-writing strategies we used in Formatted: Font: Font color: Auto, Not All caps
class were in helping them move forward in brainstorming for the actual writing. I Formatted: Not Highlight
will use this as a formative assessment to shape subsequent instruction based on
Formatted
the detail of students responses. ...
o Objectives: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.2.B, VSOL 6.7, U3, D4 Formatted ...
-exit card: first three lines of their narrative Formatted: Font: Bold
Formatted: Highlight
Summative: Students will be assessed in the future on these standards by
Formatted
o -Uultimately students will write a short narrative about one of their territories, creating a ...
portfolio that shows all stages of the writing process (including effective pre-writing Formatted ...
strategies, all drafts, revision notes, and a final draft. Formatted ...
o Objectives: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.2.B, VSOL 6.7, K1, K2, U3, D4) Formatted: Not Highlight
Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman
Materials Needed:
Appendix A: PowerPoint & Bell Ringer sheet *will add this in for final draft
Appendix B: Model Writing Territories
Appendix C: Writing Territories Support Sheet
Appendix D: Topic Blast Model
Appendix E: Topic Blast Student Sheet

Instructional Steps (Procedures)

I. Beginning Room Arrangement:
The students will enter the classroom and go to their normally assigned seats, which are in a U-
shape open to the front of the classroom where the whiteboard and television are located.

II. Greeting/Welcome (108 minutes)

As students walk in I will greet them at the door by name. I will direct students to the
PowerPoint slide showing on the board asking them to complete the Bell Ringer.I will ask
students to pick up the bell ringer sheet on the way in that gives them their instructions for the
start of class. The Bell Ringer asks the students to write three complete sentences that are facts
from about them or things that have happened in their lives. Complete sentences must include a Formatted: Strikethrough
subject, a verb, proper capitalization, and proper punctuation (based on what they have been
focusing on)this will not be new to them but reminders are helpful as they make a habit out of Commented [HK6]: Is this part of the Bell Ringer slide
writing complete sentences. Two of them must be true, and the third must be a lie. I will prompt or something you will verbally be reminding students of?
As I continue to read, it seems like this is a handout,
students to be clever with their lie, making it seem as true as possible. Students will sit in their therefore, please include an appendix for this.
assigned seats as they come in, and complete this assignment on a half sheet of paper with the
directions and numbers 1-3 that they pick up from the Bell-Ringer basket on the way in to class.
I will have a timer on the board prompting them with how much time is left. This will be silent
time. (Bellringer Sheet Appendix A) Formatted: Font: Bold

III. Hook/Bridge/Opening to Lesson (10 minutes)

To start today, I want you all to close your eyes and think of the moment you first met your best
friend, or the earliest memory you have of them. Give me a thumbs up when you have that mental
image. [Wait for thumbs.] Now, can someone raise their hand and tell me, how much did your
best friend know about you when you first met? [Students will raise hands and hopefully say very
little, or nothing at all. I will ask each student who answers how he or she got to know his or her
best friend? Did that process involve telling their friends things about themselves? etc.]

Thank you for sharing about your best friends and how youve gotten to know them. Often this is Formatted: Font: Italic
the same thing we do when we write! We can write about anything, even ourselves, and make it
interesting to the reader because we are the experts! So this morning we are going to start by
practicing writing about ourselves to an audience to help them know us better. We are going to
play two truths and a lie with the sentences you wrote for your Bell Ringer. [Students will likely
get excited when I say this because they will be familiar with the game. I will work to let them
respond but keep class order by asking them to raise their hand if theyve ever played this game
in some form before.]
In a moment I am going to ask you to get in your Tripod Groups. [These groups of three that I
will have predetermined for activities like this that are based largely on behavior. I will have
allowed students to submit preferences to me for their tripod groups, and in doing so I will have
promised them one person on their list. I will have then made the groups according to my
expertise and the students preferences.] Each person is going to take a turn reading their three
sentences and the other two group members will discuss for 30 seconds to guess which sentence
they think is a lie about the other persons life. Does anyone have any questions about that
process? I will give you a time check when time is almost up, well do this for 6 minutes. Ready?
Go!

[As students discuss with partners I will walk around to listen in on their group communication
skills and also help them stay on task. This is also a great opportunity for me to learn more about
my students.]

Awesome job staying on task and telling your partners about your lives everyone! Can I have a
few volunteers raise their hands and tell us about how this process went for your group? Were
you able to tell which sentence was the lie? How did you know the difference between a truth and
a lie? [Allow several students to respond and describe the process based on their ability to
discern truth from lies. I will ask expanding questions to get students thinking about what makes
writing personal and realistic. Such as, What was it about xs writing that helped you know
what was true and what was a lie? Was their writing realistic?, etc.] I really enjoyed hearing
some of your memories and the interesting things that have happened to you. Now were going to Commented [HK7]: Is there time for a whole-group
transition into the main show for the day. debrief for students to talk about if their responses were
right/wrong and how they might have known the
difference? This could be a good lead into talking about
IV. Instructional Steps (325 minutes) what makes writing personal and realistic.

a) Writing Territories (10 minutes)

Today we are going to create our writing territories. We are starting a new unit on writing, and
like we just talked about and exemplified by sharing our two truths and a lie, writing is simply
another way to communicate our ideas, memories, and dreams to a readermuch like a friend,
or someone weve just met who doesnt know us well.

When I say writing territories I mean that we are going to make a list of everything we are
interested in and could potentially write about. It sounds daunting, but I think we can all agree
that the person we know most about is us! So today we are going to get inside our own brains
and think about what we are passionate about, what frustrates us, happy memories we have,
hardships weve faced in our life, people we love, and everything in between. Today is just a
brainstorming day, so we wont be doing any writing quite yet. Today we are just pre-writing. Commented [HK8]: I would make a point to describe
Before I show you an example of my writing territories, can someone raise their hand and tell me how this is part of the writing process and make this
really explicit to students so they know they will
what they think pre-writing might mean? [Students will raise their hands and I will prompt eventually be producing writing based on this work.
them to think about the prefix pre, which they have just studied in their Word Wisdom unit. I
will ask them to think about pre meaning before, which means pre-writing is what you do before I like that you have a discussion of what pre-writing is,
but I think adding in that it is part of a process is
you write. I will then ask them why they think pre-writing might be important for successful important.
writing? examples that I will guide them toward include: organization, getting all of your
thoughts out, figuring out what you actually want to write/communicate to your readers, etc.] In Formatted: Font: Italic
the future we will be doing fully developed writing of our own! But all writers do pre-writing to
get their ideas out, and figure out what it is they even want to write about and communicate to
their audience. Today we are focusing on the brainstorming part of the process. Later we will
write and revise. So whatever you brainstorm today, you will actually get to write about later! Formatted: Font: Italic

Developing a list of things in our lives that we would want to write about is a form of pre- Formatted: Font: Italic
writing, because it gives us a rich bank that we can come back to whenever we have a writing
assignment and cant think about something to write about! It also gets our juices flowing about
what we want to tell the world about ourselves, and what we are passionate about in our lives.
Here is an example of a few of my writing territories. [I will put a hand written list [Appendix B:
Model Writing Territories], under the Elmo projector. I will explain to them why a few of
these things are important to me.] When I get ready to write, I like to come back to this list and Commented [HK9]: Include this teacher talkthis is
think about what I am passionate about. Whether those are things that annoy me, happy your opportunity to model this for students.
memories from my life, or people that I love. For example, Ive taken a few big trips in my life Formatted: Font: Italic
that really shaped me as a person, so I could write a lot about that. My spring break trip to Mali
in Northwest Africa is listed on my writing territories right here. I love to reflect on that time,
and there are so many stories I could tell about that week. I also have a territory about the movie
About Time. Its my favorite movie and not many people have heard of it! A few of my friends
really dont like it, so that always gets me fired up. I want to convince people of why I think it is
the best movie ever, so I would love to write about that to an audience. Does anyone have any
questions about any of my territories? Your questions can actually help me brainstorm good
ways to communicate these ideas because I would have a better idea of what my audience wants
to learn! [Pause for students to ask questions. This would obviously work better with some
classes than others depending on their maturity.]

Now Im going to ask all of you to take out your Writers Notebooks, turn to a blank page, and
take about 10-15 minutes silently on your own to develop your own list of writing territories. I
am going to pass out a piece of paper to you as well that I want you to put in your binders to
help you develop your writing territories. It has several categories, and a reminder for us about
the purpose of this list. Please use it now to help you with this assignment, but also put it in your
class binder. We are all going to come up with at least ten territories, but the more you have, the
richer your prewriting bank will be. [Appendix C: Writing Territories Support Sheet] [I will
allow students to get settled back in their seats with their open notebooks and support sheets
before asking if anyone has any clarification.] Does anyone have any questions about what you
are doing for the next 10-15 minutes? Ill walk around if you have any questions. Dont mind me
if I look over your shoulder, Im curious to see what you all decide are your expert territories
and what is important to you. [I will walk around the room as students write their territories. If Commented [HK10]: Include teacher action here. This
there are some students who are having trouble generating territories I will ask them about the may also be a good spot to describe how you will
differentiate for your students.
bullet points that stand out to them on their handout, or get them thinking about their passions. If
students are on a roll, I will leave them be but look over their shoulder for ideas of students to
share out later in class who are really taking well to the pre-writing process, as model for their
peers.] Formatted: Font: Not Italic

b) Topic Blast (10 minutes)

Now that you all have your writing territories list, we are going to take our thinking one step
further as an expert. I want you to look at your territories and pick the one that you are most
passionate about today. It could be a fear, a dream, a favorite sports team, anything.

So the next thing writers often do after theyve chosen their topic, is develop it further with
something like a topic blast. Im going to show you all mine. [I will show them a topic blast
for my grandmas house growing up under the Elmo projector. Appendix D: Model Topic Blast
] The goal of a topic blast is to take a topic and blast it into a million pieces. Imagine you are Commented [HK11]: How can you model this to make
explaining the details of the topic you choose to someone how knows nothing about you or the the process clear? What will you say? Right now, I feel
like you are giving instructions, rather than instructing.
topic. Get detailed! So here, Ive written major aspects of my memories from my grandmas
house growing up. Ive made an arm for how she made me feel. And several arms for random
stories that I think would be important for my audience to know if they were really going to
picture my grandmas house. In a moment you are going to share your topic blast details with
your elbow partner, so think about what would be important for them to know in order to
understand your territory that you choose to blast. Does anyone have any questions? [Pause for
questions and clarifications.] Alright, get to blasting for the next 10 minutes! [As students work
on their topic blasts I will walk around and conference with them individually. I will specifically
go toward students who I know tend to have a hard time with independent work/motivation, or
for whom writing is a daunting process (even prewriting). Students may ask questions like I
dont even know where to start, or What is important for the reader to know and I will help
them think about what is most important to them about the writing territory they chose. What
stories do they get excited to tell, and what questions do they get excited to answer for an
inquisitive reader, or what points do they get excited to make about things they are passionate
about. There is very little structure to this other than wanting them to expand their original idea
into lots of little ideas so they can get started thinking about what will be in their essay. Commented [HK12]: Here is another opportunity for
student dialogue.
c) Partner Share (5 minutes)

Now that you have some details down on your topic blast, turn to your elbow partner and tell
them all about your topic using the details you have on your paper. If something else comes to
mind while youre telling them out loud about your topic, then add it onto your topic blast paper.
Each partner will have about two and a half minutes. Does anyone have any questions? [Pause
for questions.] Ready, set, share! [I will walk around as students share and join in on their Commented [HK13]: Include teacher actions here and
conversations. If their partners arent asking questions or responding much, I will ask them possibly some student talk.
questions about their writing territory, since they are experts about that territory. I will also use
this time to see which students are really grasping the concept of what we are doing, and which
students are not. Based on these informal observations I will know what to address in the future
and whether or not they are effectively understanding this pre-writing strategy to the degree that
they would use it on their own.] Formatted: Font: Not Italic

Formatted: Font: Bold

V. Closing (5 minutes10 minutes)
Okay ladies and gentleman, Ive seen some great brainstorming today. You have started to get
into the mindset or a writer and what it means to be an effective communicator. As your exit
card, I want you to write down the first three sentences of your writing piece that you would do
on your topic, hypothetically. It can be the roughest draft ever.I want you to write 3-4 sentences
Commented [HK14]: I dont know if 5 minutes is
enough here. This feels like a pretty big jump from
brainstorming to producing their first three sentences. I
wonder if one way to scaffold this for students who might
struggle with this would be to have students write a few
sentences of what they would like to include in their
writing (more like a summary, rather than an
introduction).
explaining what you might like to include in your writing based on your brainstorming today.
Take some of what you told your partners, and put that into writing! This is low-stakes, I am not
grading it, and its just for me to see where your brains are with the writing process. You can
include very rough ideas, but please use complete sentence. The only stipulation is that you
write these sentences based on the ideas you just shared with your partner that came from your
topic blast! Do this silently, and when youve finished you can drop it in my hand and head on to
third block. Raise your hand please if you have any questions.[Allow them to complete exit Formatted: Font: Not Italic
card.]

Alright, great work today developing your writing territories and starting to think about what
you want to write about! If anyone wants to get a head start, see me on the way out and Ill give
you a sheet with some instructions on how you can get a head start on the next step in the
process, your draft!

Attention to Individual Student Needs:

*I will add this in for the final draft after I get feedback as to whether this is an effective
pre-writing lesson! I tried to specifically keep in mind my 6th grade 4882 class that struggles Commented [HK15]: Yes, it is.
when allowed too much student talk. Classroom management has proved to be a huge challenge
this semester.I differentiated this lesson specifically for Maya, a student who is several grade Formatted: Not Highlight
levels behind in reading and would likely have difficulty developing her writing territories
without scaffolded material. Therefore I provide the writing territories support materials and
model each part of the process on the Elmo projector.
I also differentiate for Shawn, a gifted student who often benefits from extra material to
complete individually. I differentiate for Shawn by offering an opportunity for students to get a
head start on their first draft and develop their ideas further before the next class. This allows
Shawn to work to a point of challenging himself if he does not feel challenged entirely by the
pre-writing activities from class.
Formatted: Highlight
Technology Use:
PowerPoint
Elmo Projector: I use the Elmo projector to model the parts of the pre-writing process,
this way I am sure all students can see clearly what is expected of them and how to
complete this process independently.
Formatted: Highlight
How this lesson incorporates specific insights from course readings and /or class
discussion:
Formatted: Not Highlight
I got my inspiration for this lesson plan from Chapter 7 of Gallagher, where she gives us
examples of brainstorming/pre-writing techniques. Two examples she uses that build on each
other are developing writing territories and expanding those with a topic blast graphic organizer.
With my particular 4882 class in mind, I found the principle that weve discussed in class, the
fact that sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards with writing, to be particularly
relevant for my 6th graders. They are mostly uninterested in writing and unaware of what it Formatted: Superscript
means to have a personal, captivating, and powerful voice as a writer. Using Gallaghers writing
territories and topic blast pre-writing strategies I hope to scaffold my students understanding of
what they can write about, and how they can go about the beginning of the writing process. I
want to provide them with a rich bank of ideas for writing that they can come back to throughout
my class in their writing territories, and give them tools to expand their ideas in the pre-writing
stage through the topic blast organizer, which will help them to think about what is necessary for
their audience to fully get the point the author is trying to make.
-Gallagher: writing territories & topic blast (Ch. 7) Commented [HK16]: Please expand.

Carlin,

I think you should focus on to re-visiting your objectives and assessments so that you have
alignment between. Then, you can expand on your instructions (including modeling and student
dialogue).

Appendix A: Bellringer Half-Sheet Formatted: Font: Bold

Two Truths & a Lie Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial, 16 pt, Bold,
Underline
Formatted: Centered

Directions: Please write three complete sentences about your life. Two of them must be Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial
true, factual sentences about something that has happened to you in your life or Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial, 12 pt, Not Bold, No
something you have done, and the third sentence must be a lie. Be sneaky! Your underline
complete sentences must include capitalization, proper punctuation, and a clear subject. Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial

1. Formatted: Line spacing: Double

 Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial

2.

Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial

3.

Appendix B: Model Writing Territories

Ms. Wetzels Writing Territories

About Time & the theme song

My grandmas house growing up with the gumball machine
 Roadtrip to Canada
becoming best friends with Alison
week long trip to Mali over spring break
why driving on backroads cures every bad feeling
the Outer Banks
childhood vacations to Myrtle Beach
losing my mom in an elevator
the crazy antics of my childhood dog, Mattie
dancing throughout childhood/what TDC meant to me
Grandpas coin collection
choosing UVA for college
why paper towels & fingernails drive me crazy

Appendix C: Writing Territories Support Sheet

Writers write about what they know, they have certain

writing territories they write about often. They use their
Writers Notebooks, like us, to generate and rehearse their
ideas.
 Possible Writing Territories:
childhood memories games
obsessions music
quirks/funny habits books
problemssocial, personal, authors
cultural poems
annoyances, pet peeves songs
things you are confused about movies
things you are passionate about writers and artists
sad times in your life food
joyful times in your life beloved thingstreasures,
accomplishments mementos
fears/failures, worries parents
familyclose, distant, future siblings
friends, then and now
favoritesnow/then, food,
colors, songs, etc.
pets, then and now
teachers, then and now
places: school, camp, trips,
times with friends/relatives, Formatted: List Paragraph, Bulleted + Level: 1 +
Aligned at: 0.25" + Indent at: 0.5"
vacations Formatted: List Paragraph, Line spacing: single

hobbies
sportsthat you play, favorite
teams
Appendix D: Model Topic Blast
Appendix E: Topic Blast Half Sheet (to glue in Writers Notebook)
Directions: The point of a topic blast is to
take your topic (territory) and blast it into as
Topic Blast: _________________________ many pieces as possible off the points of the
star below.