A SIX TRAIT WRITING GUIDE

for the picture books of Toni Buzzeo

SIX TRAIT WRITING GUIDE

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo; illustrated by David Small

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2012 IDEAS: Where Do Ideas Come From? Toni Buzzeo’s idea for One Cool Friend came from an urban legend about a boy stealing a penguin from the New England Aquarium. After she borrowed that idea, her challenge was to add effective details to bring the story to life. Send your students on a hunt for effective details in the text. Make a list of these details. Once you have an exhaustive list, return to each item and ask why each detail enhances the original idea Toni began with. If time allows, return to the book and search for details that are not in the text but that illustrator David Small has added. Ask students to discuss the ways David’s details convey more information to the reader and increase the humor of the story ORGANIZATION: And Then What? One Cool Friend employs a simple chronological structure. Invite students to go on a chronology hunt in the text, searching for phrases that indicate the passage of time such as, “On Saturday morning . . .” Make a list and then ask students to determine how much time passes from the beginning to the end of the book.

VOICE: Whose Point of View? Once you have discussed the ending of One Cool Friend and each student has formed an opinion about what the father knew or did not know as the story unfolded, introduce or review the concept of point of view. Discuss the fact that the current story is told from Elliot’s point of view and so we understand how he feels and thinks about events in the story. Now, ask each student to imagine that the story is told from Elliot’s father’s point of view. How will it change the story? Prepare students to rewrite the story from this other point of view. For younger students, you will want to complete this writing project as a group activity, but for more skilled writers, it will be fun to encourage each to write their own version of the story. Supply the following story starter:

Mr. _________ was a very ____________ man/father.

So when he read in the newspaper that it was Family Fun Day at the aquarium, he thought . . .

Ask students to pick up the story from Dad’s point of view. Remind them that they are allowed to imagine what he thinks and feels as events unfold, but that we cannot know what Elliot is thinking or feeling! SENTENCE FLUENCY: How Long Shall We Talk? Ask students to search for all of the dialogue in One Cool Friend, pointing out that it is enclosed in speech bubbles. Make a list of each spoken remark with a double space to indicate when a new conversation begins. Once the list is complete, ask students to discuss the length of conversations in the book. How many times do characters volley conversation back and forth? Are conversations shorter than they usually are in your classroom? Why is this? Does it leave space for more humor in the book?

WORD CHOICE: Proper Speech We learn on the first page of One Cool Friend that ”Elliot is a very proper young man.” After ensuring that students know what the word “proper” means and what it implies, re-read the book aloud, asking students to stop the reading with raised hands each time Elliot says something that proves that he is proper in his speech as well as his actions. Make a list of the things Elliot says. Then challenge students to imagine that Elliot is less proper, perhaps more like themselves. How would they rephrase or rewrite Elliot’s remarks in this case? CONVENTIONS: Bubble Up! Illustrator David Small decided to add speech bubbles to all of the dialogue in One Cool Friend, making it very easy to locate dialogue in the text. Begin by sending students on a dialogue hunt. Now ask them to notice that some of the speech bubbles are differently formatted. Make a list of these and then, while studying them in context, ask students to discuss why David might have used different formatting for them.

SIX TRAIT WRITING GUIDE

Lighthouse Christmas by Toni Buzzeo; illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2011 IDEAS: Family Stories If Frances and Peter were visiting your classroom and you asked them to tell you about the most memorable events in their family, they would surely tell about the Christmas that the Flying Santa visited. Invite students to discuss with their families which memorable event they would like to write about. Scribe the first drafts of stories younger students bring to share. Invite older students to write down the first drafts of their own stories. IDEAS: Details that Sing Ask students to return to their families to gather as many details as possible to enhance their stories. Help them to see where details will enliven their narration and guide them in the kinds of questions they might ask to elicit them. What was Aunt Lulu wearing? What color was the Jello salad that landed on the white carpet? What tune did Grandpa play on his flute? What was the state of Oma’s hat after Fred sat on it? Then, invite students to revise their stories by adding these details. ORGANIZATION: A Pattern of Three with a Twist Lighthouse Christmas is a chronological narrative in which the events follow the normal order of time. However, it also uses a modified Pattern of Three. Review the traditional pattern of three

in which the character 1) tries and fails, 2) tries and fails, and 3) tries and succeeds. (Note: The Three Little Pigs is a good example that students will be familiar with.) Ask students to discuss how Lighthouse Christmas fits that pattern. Then ask them to discuss the surprise twist on that pattern at the end of the story. [STORY PATTERN ANALYSIS: Peter tries to figure out HOW Christmas will be celebrated at his new home on the island. 1) He begins by planning Christmas, drawing and coloring the things that make the holiday special. But Frances tells him there will be no cookies, no songs by the piano, and possibly no presents. 2) Then, Papa offers to send the children to Aunt Martha’s where they will have those traditional Christmas treats, and they plan to go. However, after the storm blows in and Mr. Dunlap is saved, Frances changes her mind. 3) Finally, the children decide that even without their traditional celebrations, they can craft a Christmas of their own, and they successfully do so. Most Pattern of Three stories would end there. But in Lighthouse Christmas, there is the final twist—the Flying Santa visit--that gives the children much of what Peter has wanted all along.] VOICE: Whose Point of View? Author Toni Buzzeo uses a limited third person narration to tell the story, and students will quickly realize that the point of view is Frances’s, as we are often aware of her thoughts. Challenge children to rewrite, or retell, portions of the story from Peter’s point of view. How does that change the “voice” of the story? SENTENCE FLUENCY: How Many Words Does It Take? Much of the dialogue in Lighthouse Christmas is spoken by two children--Frances and Peter. As a result, many of the sentences are brief. Send students on a hunt for short sentences spoken by the two children. For example, the first line of dialogue is spoken by Peter, and it contains five words: “How many days ‘til Christmas?” Frances answers with four words: “One less than yesterday.” Peter responds with only one: “Two?”

SIX TRAIT WRITING GUIDE for

The Sea Chest

by Toni Buzzeo; illustrated by Mary GrandPré Dial Books for Young Readers, 2002

IDEAS: Family Stories On her web site, Toni Buzzeo explains that this story came from a Maine legend, but also drew upon her own experiences as a child with a foster sister. Ask students to think about family stories they have heard about their grandparents or other long ago relatives. Invite them to write or tell the story from that relative’s point of view, looking back on it. IDEAS: Details that Sing Details are very important to the writing of historical fiction. Because the reader did not live at the time of the story, the author must paint a picture of the place and time using carefully chosen details. Ask students to create two lists: one for the details that Toni Buzzeo chose for this story to bring the time period to life and one for the details that she chose to bring the place to life. ORGANIZATION: A Tale Well Told Ask students to notice how the story is organized, with an overarching story that provides a frame for the inner story that Great Auntie Maita tells. This organization is called a frame story. Each portion of the story has its own first-person narrator. Invite students to imagine that the book was not written using a frame,

but rather that the grand niece told the whole story. How would it be different? How would the inner story be told? VOICE: Who is Telling the Tale? The voice for the long, interior story is a quiet, reflective voice that matches the character of Auntie Maita as she looks back on her life. Following on the Organization activity above, ask students to practice, in pairs, rewriting a scene from the inner story using the voice of the grand niece rather than Auntie Maita’s voice. SENTENCE FLUENCY: Poetry as Prose Reread a few passages of the story aloud and invite students to think about the lyrical or poetic copy of the text. Ask them how the sentences might have changed if the text were more straight forward and less poetic. As a group, practice transforming the text to more mundane phrasing and ask students to notice how the effect of the story is changed. WORD CHOICE: Searching for Gems Invite students to listen to the story a second time in order to search for words that are unexpected or unfamiliar to them. Flag those words with a post-it note or a sticky flag. As you read, if you encounter an exceptional word that children don’t identify, flag it as well. When the reading is complete, create a list of these words, look them up in a paper or online dictionary, and choose three of them to include in a short story or descriptive paragraph they write. CONVENTIONS: Ask students to look closely at the text for the frame story and note how it is rendered on the page. Why did the author and publisher decide that the frame story text should be written in italics? How is it helpful to the reader?

SIX TRAIT WRITING GUIDE

Stay Close to Mama

by Toni Buzzeo; illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka Hyperion Books for Children, 2012

IDEAS: How Do Ideas Change? Toni Buzzeo’s original story was about a young giraffe who fell into a swimming pool in Kenya, Africa, and had to be rescued by the humans living at the wildlife ranch. It was based on a real event the author learned about on a trip to Kenya. But as students will see, there’s no sign of a swimming pool in Stay Close to Mama. Share the author’s original idea with students and ask them how it changed to become a part of this story of several dangerous adventures. (Clue: the swimming pool incident became the water hole scene.) Then challenge students to discuss why the author might have decided to revise her original story. VOICE: How It Feels to Me While the stinging ants, hyena, crocodile, and cheetah are portrayed as threats to Twiga in the book, each of them is an interesting animal in its own right, worth investigation. Share information about each of the other animals in the story with children. Once they are more familiar with each of the other animals in the story, ask them, individually or as a whole group, to write a scene, narrated by a chosen animal, in which that animal encounters Twiga.

ORGANIZATION: All Over Again Much like the author’s other circular story, No T. Rex in the Library, the reader suspects that there are other, similar adventures ahead for Twiga. Ask students which line at the end of the story tells them that Twiga has more adventures in store and Mama shouldn’t be too sure he’s by her side to stay. ‘ Invite students to complete the following “circular story” graphic organizer, identifying and then adding each dangerous encounter in the story

SENTENCE FLUENCY: Three-Four-Five Ask students if they can find a sequence of sentences in Stay Close to Mama that have the following pattern: Three words Four words Five words Do students find these sentences enjoyable to repeat aloud? Ask them why they think that is. Then, invite them to rewrite the three sentences in a more ordinary, conversational manner, using many

BEGINNING: Twiga with his

mama/ END: Twiga back

with his mama

FIRST ADVENTURE:

SECOND ADVENTURE:  

THIRD ADVENTURE:  

FOURTH ADVENTURE

more words. Is the they have created more or less fun to repeat aloud? Why? WORD CHOICE: Interesting Verbs/Descriptive Adjectives Author Toni Buzzeo employs two types of words to bring the setting and the action of Stay Close to Mama to life. She employs specific verbs and verb phrases to deliver the action of the story. Then, she uses specific adjectives to bring the setting and characters into clear focus. Take your students on two successive tours of the story, scouting first for verbs (adding a star to those that are especially strong) and then for adjectives (again adding a star to especially well-chosen ones). Finally, invite your students to choose one strong verb and one or more especially descriptive adjectives and create a sentence of their own. CONVENTIONS: Insert a Comma Whenever Toni Buzzeo introduces a sentence with a prepositional phrase that refers to direction (such as “Up ahead, . . .) she follows the phrase with a comma. Re-read the story, searching for these phrases and create a list. Now, ask students to create a sentence of their own that begins with one of these phrases followed by a comma.

SIX TRAIT WRITING GUIDE

Just Like My Papa

by Toni Buzzeo; illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka Hyperion Books for Children, 2013

IDEAS: Details Convey Theme One of the key contributors to strong ideas in a story is the details the author uses to convey his or her theme. If the theme of Just Like My Papa is the importance of the parent and child relationship and the modeling the parent does for the child, ask students to discuss the many details author Toni Buzzeo used to convey the interaction of Kito and Papa and the instances where Kito imitates his Papa’s behavior. Can you think of other details that the author could also have used? VOICE: Two Main Characters in One Story While Just Like My Papa is a story told in third person, the narration actually reflects two voices, Kito’s and Papa’s. In some scenes, we are hearing about the events of the story from Kito’s perspective and in some, from Papa’s perspective. Invite students to notice how author Toni Buzzeo differentiated the “voice” in her narration between the two without using any dialogue. How does the narration change when it is Kito and not Papa who is our focus?

ORGANIZATION: What Time Is It? The story of Kito and his father follows a time-of-day organization. Ask students to cite specific examples in the text AND THE ILLUSTRATIONS to support what time of day it is in each scene. Once they have done so for each scene, discuss how the time of day influences the action in the story and consider why author Toni Buzzeo chose to organize the story in the way. SENTENCE FLUENCY: Just One There are many single word sentences in this story. Ask students to go on a hunt for them and list them, with their punctuation, on chart paper or a white board. Why do they end with an exclamation point? How would the feeling of the story change if these single word sentences and their exclamation points were removed? Discuss their importance to the story. What work do they do? WORD CHOICE: Verbs Do the Work Author Toni Buzzeo chooses her verbs carefully in Just Like My Papa. Ask students to go on a verb search on each page of the book. Challenge them to think of a more ordinary verb replacement for each of Toni’s interesting verbs and then discuss how this would change your feeling about the story. For example, if instead of writing, “Yellow moon peeks over the horizon,” she had written, “The yellow moon was shining,” how would it change the feeling you experience as a reader? CONVENTIONS: Are They Thinking or Talking? Did you notice that when Kito or Papa is thinking something, the thought is printed in italics on the page? This helps us to know that these are thoughts of the characters. But author Toni Buzzeo did not use quotation marks. If she had, the characters would have been talking. Go through and put quotation marks in place. Then talk about how this changes your feelings about the story.

SIX TRAIT WRITING GUIDE for

No T. Rex in the Library by Toni Buzzeo; illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa

Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2010

IDEAS: Lions and Tigers and T. Rex! In No T. Rex in the Library, Tess imagines that she has brought a dinosaur to life in her library while Cary, in Quiet! There’s a Canary in the Library, imagines a whole menagerie reading in her library. Spend some time brainstorming other animals that might visit the library and then, individually or in small groups, challenge students to write a new version of No T. Rex in the Library in which that animal is loose and misbehaving in the library. Encourage them to use appropriate and effective DETAILS in their stories. IDEAS: Later on that Day . . . At the end of No T. Rex in the Library, Tess whispers to the T. Rex in her library book that she will be back for him in ten quiet minutes. Ask students to imagine where Tess will be with her book when that ten quiet minutes is up. Will she be at home in her bedroom? Will she be at school? Will she be at the mall? Or might she be at a restaurant having lunch? Once students have decided on a location, ask them to imagine what happens this time when Tess pulls him out of her book. Invite older children to write an illustrated sequel. For younger readers, create a group story of Tess and T. Rex’s next adventure. Remind students that the message should be CLEAR AND INTERESTING.

ORGANIZATION: A Perfect Circle Open a discussion with children about story patterns. Some stories, like Ready or Not, Dawdle Duckling (Dial 2005) and Adventure Annie Goes to Work (Dial 2009) both by Toni Buzzeo employ a Pattern of Three, in which the main character tries and fails, tries and fails, tries and fails, then finally succeeds. Ask children whether they think that No T. Rex in the Library is based on a Pattern of Three. [Note that because T. Rex and Tess have three “adventures” they may think it does employ a Pattern of Three. However, point out that T. Rex and Tess are not trying to solve a problem in these three events.] Now introduce the idea of a Circular Story pattern. In a Circular Story, the ending of the story circles back around to the beginning such as Laura Numeroff’s If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Ask children to point out the elements in the plot of No T. Rex in the Library that make it a circular story. Focus on the concept of a beginning, middle, and end and the circling back of the end to the beginning. VOICE: Whose Story Is It? Discuss point of view in No T. Rex in the Library. The book employs an omniscient narrator and a lively storytelling VOICE. But this might be a very different story if it were narrated by Tess or by T. Rex. Then the story would take on the VOICE of that character. Divide children into two groups, one group assigned to tell the story in Tess’s voice and one group assigned to tell the story in T. Rex’s voice. How do the stories differ? How do readers FEEL differently from one telling to the other? WORD CHOICE: Descriptive Dazzlers Re-read No T. Rex in the Library and challenge students to find STRONG VERBS, COLORFUL PHRASES, and SURPRISING WORDS. Use the DESCRIPTIVE DAZZLERS chart (below) to list them. Now revisit the IDEAS: Lions and Tigers and T. Rex! activity. Make a list of the alternate animals that might be loose in the library and create lists of DESCRIPTIVE DAZZLERS for each of them too.

DESCRIPTIVE DAZZLERS Strong Verbs

Colorful Phrases

Surprising Words

________________

SENTENCE FLUENCY: ROAR! BAM! Arrr! One way that Toni Buzzeo, the author of No T. Rex in the Library, keeps the action moving is through use of some very short sentences. Some are exclamations or sound descriptions of one word. Challenge your students to interact with the text and make a list of one word, two word, and three word sentences. CONVENTIONS: No T. Rex in the Library is chock full of exclamation marks. Read the book aloud the first time with using a flat tone for all exclamations. Then, reread the story with the appropriate voicing for these marks. Afterward, discuss the importance of exclamation marks to this story.

SIX TRAIT WRITING GUIDE for Ready or Not, Dawdle Duckling

by Toni Buzzeo; illustrated by Margaret Spengler Dial Books for Young Readers, 2004

IDEAS: Later on that Day . . . Read Dawdle Duckling by Toni Buzzeo aloud. At the end, ask students to guess whether they think Dawdle will ever dawdle again. Before reading the sequel, ask students to predict how a dawdling character like Dawdle Duckling will perform in the game of hide-and-go-seek. Will he hurry off to hide? Will he always be spotted by Mama? Will he win the game? If students are excited about creating their own sequel, allow them to do so in small groups or as a class before you read Ready or Not, Dawdle Duckling aloud. Remind them to use details and to be sure that their message is CLEAR AND INTERESTING. ORGANIZATION: Success at Last! Discuss the difference between the two Pattern of Three story structures. After the first reading of the book, ask students how many times Dawdle Duckling tried and failed before he finally succeeded. Now ask them to imagine that instead of the ‘Try-and- Fail, Try-and-Fail, Try-and-Fail, Succeed’ pattern, this story had the ‘Try-and-Fail, Try-and-Fail, Try-and-Succeed’ pattern of Little Loon and Papa. How would they have to alter the story to fit that pattern?

VOICE: I Think I Can An important feature of Dawdle’s personality is his optimism and cheerfulness. Ask students to point out places where that trait shines through in what he says and does. Now ask them to imagine what he might say and do if he were pessimistic and less cheery. SENTENCE FLUENCY: He Said, She Said Before reading the story aloud, introduce students to the repeated phrases in the story and invite them to chime in whenever one occurs. Ask them to notice that most of these sentences are dialogue. What effect does removing the quotation marks and summarizing in third person have on enjoyment of the story? WORD CHOICE: What We Say When We Play Many children’s games have colorful phrases to accompany them. Ask students which two phrases Hide-and-Seek uses. Find them in the story. Now ask them to brainstorm colorful phrases other games, such as Red Rover and Tag, use. CONVENTIONS: He Says, She Says Much of the story of Ready or Not, Dawdle Duckling is told through dialogue. Review with your students the definition of dialogue and then focus on the special punctuation—quotation marks—that tells the reader that characters in the story are speaking to each other. Make a chart that lists the five characters who speak in the story. Beneath each character, record each of the pieces of dialogue spoken by that character. Be sure to use quotation marks around each sentence!

MAMA DAWDLE TURTLE FROG FISH

SIX TRAIT WRITING GUIDE for

Little Loon and Papa

by Toni Buzzeo; illustrated by Margaret Spengler Dial Books for Young Readers, 2003

IDEAS: Who Lives There? Little Loon lives in a north woods ecosystem. While searching for his Papa, he encounters three mammals along the shore. Invite students to think of another ecosystem with which they are familiar, a baby animal that lives there, and three animals that he or she might encounter while looking for his or her Papa. ORGANIZATION: At Papa’s Side From the outset, the reader knows that Little Loon must overcome his fear of diving and be transformed. At the first turning point in the story, he swims away from his Papa to avoid his fear. In the interior sequence (which uses a pattern of three structure), he searches for this Papa and dives when he finally finds him. Ask students to imagine that Little Loon does NOT swim away. How might the story unfold, still using a pattern of three structure where Little Loon tries and fails, tries, and fails, tries and succeeds without ever leaving Papa’s side? VOICE: Matching Voice Begin by discussing first person versus third person narration with your students. Even though Little Loon and Papa employs a third person narrator, the voice of the story is informed by Little Loon’s character/personality. Ask students to list words that describe

Little Loon’s character and emotions. (Note: it may be helpful to compare him with a more rambunctious character such as Annie in Adventure Annie Goes to Work and Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten). Once you have discussed his character and emotion, ask students whether the voice of the story matches Little Loon’s personality and emotion. Does the story have a quiet voice? SENTENCE FLUENCY: How Does it Sound to You? Remind students that one of the important tools that authors employ in their writing—especially for picture books that are read aloud—is sentence fluency. They use sentences of varying lengths. They use lyrical language that flows easily. And they use carefully chosen repetition. Begin by asking students to go on a repetition hunt as you read the story for a second time. What elements of the text are repeated? List them on chart paper. Then, divide students into groups and assign each group one of the “chunks’ of repetition to join in on as you read the story again for a third time. What effect does repetition have on their enjoyment of the story? WORD CHOICE: What’s that Sound? When Little Loon encounters each large animal, the moose, the bear, and the beaver, Toni Buzzeo uses three sound words to capture what Little Loon hears. Challenge students to come up with additional words for each animal (using nonfiction books about each if they need ideas). To extend this activity, if you have completed the Ideas activity above, challenge them to create three sound words for each animal they have selected from their chosen ecosystem. CONVENTIONS: Toni Buzzeo adds to the excitement of the story by using exclamation points. Begin by going on a hunt for them and write each sentence on chart paper or a white board. Next, read each sentence first with, and then without, the exclamation point. Discuss why the author decided to use the punctuation mark in each location. How does it affect the experience of listening to the story?

SIX TRAIT WRITING GUIDE for

Adventure Annie Goes to Work

by Toni Buzzeo; illustrated by Amy Wummer Dial Books for Young Readers, 2009

IDEAS: Details Bring the Character to Life Read the first three pages of Adventure Annie Goes to Work aloud to your students without sharing the illustrations. (Note: You may want to write them on chart paper or your white board.) Ask your students to tell you what kind of girl they think Annie is using only the text from these three pages. What details inform their thinking? IDEAS: A Lesson Learned After you have read and discussed the story, ask your students what they think the main idea or “message” of the story is. Is it about following the rules? Is it about personal strengths? Is it about self-confidence? There are many possibilities to discuss. ORGANIZATION: Four-Square Pattern of Three Use a four-square graphic organizer like the one below to help your students uncover the Pattern of Three in Adventure Annie Goes to Work.

But So

So At last

VOICE: How Would Mommy Tell the Story? Adventure Annie Goes to Work is narrated in first person by Annie. Throughout the story we hear Annie’s voice. We hear her particular expressions, and her personality shines through. But what if Mommy had been telling the story? Engage your students in an exercise focused on voice by retelling the story from Mommy’s Point of View. Ask students to give hrt interesting words and expressions that let us know what she is like. WORD CHOICE: Verbs with Verve Sometimes the best way to add verve to writing is to use strong verbs. Often, as readers we don’t notice these strong verbs and the effect they have on the story. Challenge your students to rewrite Adventure Annie Goes to Work with ordinary/boring verbs each time Toni Buzzeo uses a more exciting verb. For example, rewrite, “I rise. Morning shines.” to read, “I get up and it is sunny.” After replacing all of the verbs on a page (or in the whole story) read the end result aloud and discuss which you like better and why.

Someone? Wants:

WORD CHOICE: Not Just ANY Word Will Do Begin by discussing first person narrative. Remind students that when the main character is speaking directly to the reading and using “I,” they are reading a first person narrative. Practice reciting pairs of sentences, one in first person (e.g. I zip to the kitchen./She zips to the kitchen.) until students have a clear concept. Then re-read Adventure Annie Goes to Work. Remind them that Annie is narrating the story. Ask them to listen for interesting or surprising words that Annie uses, and to raise their hands each time they hear one. Pause to write them on chart paper. When you have completed the reading, examine the list of words. Mark any of them that are words Annie has made up with a star. Think about why even Annie’s invented words make sense. (For instance, ziggle and zaggle draw on zigzag and suitably describe the way Annie moves down the hall.) Challenge them to return to the story and help Annie make up a few more new words by replacing some of her ordinary words with invented words that still imply the original meaning. SENTENCE FLUENCY: Building Excitement Tell students that they can recognize sentence fluency when listening to a story read aloud. Ask them why, for instance, this sentence is especially fun to read or listen to: “We zoom and stop, zoom and stop, zoom and stop, stop, stop.” You may want to read the story in full a second time and ask students to raise hands each time they hear a sentence they especially like. Mark that sentence with a post-it note or a sticky flag. After the reading is complete, return to each flagged sentence and discuss what makes it a particularly good one. CONVENTIONS: What’s the Question? Review the use of question marks with your students then practice formulating questions. As each student asks a question, write it down on chart paper or a white board and invite him/her to come up and end it with a question mark. Now, ask student to go on a question hunt in Adventure Annie Goes to Work. Remind them that the question marks they see will alert them to a question. Discuss why there are so many questions in the book.

SIX TRAIT WRITING GUIDE for

Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten by Toni Buzzeo; illustrated by Amy Wummer

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2010

IDEAS: Illustration Predictions Before reading Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten share Amy Wummer’s illustrations with students without reading the text. Ask them to try to determine the Main Idea of the story through illustrations alone. What might the author’s message be? IDEAS: Hunting for Details Good writers plant details in their writing that make their stories fun to imagine and easy to understand. Good illustrators illustrate those details and add additional details of their own. (Note: Details are small and specific things that make us notice them.) Take students on a detail hunt in Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten. What details early in the story (from the time Annie wakes up at home until Mr. Todd leads her to her seat at the red table) let us know that Annie is going to be looking for adventures in Kindergarten? List these details. Next to each detail, tell who included it: the author, the illustrator, or both. ORGANIZATION: Three is the Ideal Number Begin your discussion of the Pattern of Three in children’s stories with a retelling of The Three Pigs and discuss the organization of this familiar Pattern of Three story. Next, encourage students to think of other stories that employ a Pattern of Three in which the

main character tries and fails, tries and fails, and finally tries and succeeds (or, alternately, tries and fails, tries and fails, tries and fails, then ultimately succeeds). Ask them to apply this idea to Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten. What is Annie hoping to have in Kindergarten? (HINT: Adventures!) How many times does she try and what does she do each time? After some discussion, help students to write a (group or individual) summary using the following template. Annie has a problem. She wants ________________________. First, she tries to have a ______________________________ adventure, but______________________________________. Then, she tries to have a _____________________________ adventure, but______________________________________. Finally, she tries to __________________________________ and then___________________________________________. ORGANIZATION: Adventure Annie Stars Again After completing the “Three is the Ideal Number” activity, invite students, individually or as a group depending on their age level, to create another Adventure Annie story using the same Pattern of Three they identified above. Ask them to begin by summarizing the new story using the same template. Then, invite them to write and illustrate the new story. For group endeavors, consider asking each student to illustrate a single page and assemble the pages into a complete story. VOICE: Whose Story Is It? Engage students in a discussion of Point of View in Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten. Who is telling this story? Who is the “I” (narrator) as we read? If you listen to the things Annie says, you can get a pretty good idea of who she is and what she is like because she speaks with a distinctive voice. Ask students to choose interesting sentences that Annie speaks. If she weren’t such a

lively, interesting girl, how might she say each of these things? Ask students to rephrase the sentences to imagine that Annie was a cranky girl, a sad girl, a sassy girl, etc. VOICE: How Would Mr. Todd Tell the Story? Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten is narrated in first person by Annie. Throughout the story we hear Annie’s voice. We hear her particular expressions, and her personality shines through. But what if Mr. Todd had been telling the story? Engage your students in an exercise focused on voice by retelling parts of the story from Mr. Todd’s Point of View. Ask students to give him interesting words and expressions that let us know what he is like. WORD CHOICE: Wild about Verbs Discuss the function of verbs in writing. Give students a few examples of these action words and then ask them to suggest several of their own. After you have a long list, ask student to consider synonyms for these verbs, telling them that the more surprising their synonyms are, the better. List these next to the original verbs on your list. Finally, re-read Adventure Annie Goes to Work aloud and ask your students to raise one hand when they hear an ordinary verb and two hands when they hear a more unusual, interesting, or exciting verb. WORD CHOICE: Invent Your Own Once in a while, Annie can’t find an ordinary word that suits her purpose, so she simply invents one of her own. After reading both Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten and Adventure Annie Goes to Work, make word cards for her invented words and put them on a classroom INVENTED WORD Wall. Invite your students to make up one invented word each day. Encourage them to create words that make use of some part of other words to which they are related so that everyone will understand their meaning. SENTENCE FLUENCY: Break It Up or Keep it Long? One of the longest sentences in Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten is:

I squizzle back to my room and tuck my zookeeper hat, my high wire slippers, and my walkie-talkies into my backpack—just in case.

After discussing the advantages of varying sentence length and including some long sentences like this one, read the sentence in context from the story. Now write it on chart paper or the white board so that students can see it. Help students to rewrite it as a series of short sentences. Now, read the page again, first with the original long sentence, then with the short sentences. Ask students which their ears prefer and why. SENTENCE FLUENCY: Scouting for Short Sentences Introduce your students to the idea that the best writing uses a variety of sentence structures and lengths by sharing an example that does not employ variety. For example, what if Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten began like this:

I hear Mommy at my door in the morning. Mommy sings, "Rise and shine, Adventure Annie." I hop to my calendar and think ‘At last! ‘ I am glad it is Adventure Annie Kindergarten day.

Instead of like this:

"Rise and shine, Adventure Annie," Mommy sings at my door. I hop to my calendar. At last! Adventure Annie Kindergarten day.

Discuss the advantages of the second example (taken from the text). Then, ask your students to go on a “Short Sentence Hunt” for sentences that are two, three, and four words long. (Note: It may be helpful to use a document camera for this activity so that you can project the text for students to see as you read.)

CONVENTIONS: Punctuation Location Ask students to share what they know about exclamation points and question marks. Reinforce correct knowledge and refine understanding as needed. Then, give each student either a laminated oaktag question mark or a laminated oaktag exclamation point. (Note: Make the two sets of punctuation marks from two different colors. Use a die cut machine if possible.) As you read Adventure Annie Goes to Work, ask students to raise their punctuation marks whenever they see one in the text that matches the one they are holding. (Note: It may be helpful to use a document camera for this activity so that you can project the text for students to see as you read.) At the end of the reading, discuss the work that each punctuation mark does in the story.