1. Writing Life Session 6 Emulating Style & Structure

2. Guiding Questions 1 What are some strategies that good writer’s use? 2 What do writers write about? 3 Why emulate another author’s style and structure ?

3. Emulating-imitating the style & structure of a favorite author. MIMIC, MODEL, EMULATE=ALL MEAN THE SAME THING 1

4. As I read aloud, think about how the paragraph is structured. The Perfect Storm

5. Questions to Ask ourselves… Practice Together… To emulate or mimic the writing of another author, first you must ask the following questions: What is this paragraph? Description of a place or person? Where does the paragraph begin? Outside? Weather? Where does the paragraph end? Inside? Talking about a person? How does the author get us from the beginning point to the end point? General to specific? Like a Zoom on a camera

6. Practice by Modeling

7. General to Specific Outside to Inside Begins with a description of the weather Ends with a description of Mr. Turner in his office. Describe Mr. Turner in his office. Teacher writes paragraph on the projector or board as class models together.

8. 1 st Period: On a cold autumn day as the leaves fly gently above Lewisville Lake, Mr. Turner sat in his parked car drinking coffee. In the neighborhood surrounding the school, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. That is, until Mr. Turner revved up his engine as he approached North Colony Blvd. The busses approached the school as they dropped off the kids. Through the noise of the rumbling engines, doors opening, neighbors, and students complaining about going to school, Mr. Turner walks inside. As the students rush around the hallways, one bumps into him causing his coffee to spill all over his suit. So, he rushed down the hallway…all the way to the restroom to clean up. On his way back to his office, Mr. Turner is annoyed by the students slapping each other. After stopping the fighting, he walks into his office, puts his head on his desk and dreams of a vacation!

9. 5 th Period: It was a scorching summer day as Mr. Turner was fishing on a boat in Lake Lewisville. He heard a loud pop as a golf ball plunged into the roasted pig of someone’s BBQ. He felt a little shake on his boat and he looked down through the murky water and saw a diesel truck tire with smelly dead fish in it floating away. The golfers came to look for their ball and found it in the pig! They complained to Mr. Turner for stealing the BBQ pig with their golf ball. He decided that he had enough commotion for one day, so he grabbed the pig, jumped on the helicopter, flew over the houses and trees, parachuted down to Lakeview’s roof, drilled a hole through the ceiling, and pencil-dove into his chair. Tactical Turner

10. 8 th Period: One morning while Mr. Turner was in Chick Fil A, he glanced outside and noticed that the clouds were so low that he could almost touch them with his hands. The foggy mist in the air was spreading like a wild fire. He hears a loud kaboom and turns to see his beloved motorcycle flattened like a pancake. As the oil spills out over the pavement, the heat from the engine causes a flaring explosion! He looks over and realized that it was his mom! She was complaining about the damage to HER car. His mom calls in a helicopter, he shoots up the ladder, glides across town, lands on the school, breaks through two stories, lands in his desk, and realizes it’s Saturday! » Crashing into Saturday

11. Cut & glue the two passages into your notebook. They don’t have to be on the same page. Under (or beside) the second passage, work with your partner to emulate the author’s style. 5-10 minutes, then volunteer share outs Partner Practice

12. What is being described? Is there dialogue? Is there description? What is being described at the beginning? The end? Does it progress from general to specific? Or the other way around? WHAT STANDS OUT AS BEING DIFFERENT, INTERESTING, OR UNIQUE Things to look for…

13. Model passage The Day of the Bully Most kids at school get along with everyone and no one picks on them, but I wasn’t so lucky. There was one boy in my 6 th grade class who made it his life’s mission to make my life miserable. One day was especially bad. When I got to the classroom, I found his coat hanging on my peg. I did not dare put my things in his space, so I rolled up my coat and put it by the door. During recess, he pushed me down in the snow. During lunch, he stole my sandwiches and threw my apple into the woods. After school, he followed me home and called me a baby because I would not stand up to him. Life can be hard for a skinny little kid like me.

14. INDIVIDUAL PRACTICE 1-FIND A PARAGRAPH IN YOUR SSR BOOK THAT WOULD BE GOOD TO MIMIC. MAKE A LIST OF THINGS THAT ARE UNIQUE TO THIS STYLE. 2-MIMIC THE PARAGRAPH IN YOUR NOTEBOOK ON YOUR OWN. REMEMBER TO MODEL THE SAME ITEMS IN YOUR LIST.