Cynthia Rylant By: Anna Gallacher

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Heading (Title. Grade. Discipline. Duration. Reading Level)…………………………… 2

2. School Description……………………………………………………………………...... 2

3. Objectives………………………………………………………………………………... 2

4. About the Author……………………………………………………………………….....3

5. Book Summary………………………………………………………………………… 3-4

6. Favorite Lines……………………………………………………………………….…..5-6

7. Content Overview…………………………………………………………………….... 6-8

8. Content Outline………………………………………………………………………...8-11

9. Brainstorming Cognitive Maps………………………………………………………......11

10. Refined Cognitive Maps……………………………………………………………...….12

a. When I Was Young in the Mountains……………………………………………13

b. Night in the Country……………………………………………………………..14

c. The Relatives Came……………………………………………………………...15

11. Three Full Lesson Plans…………………………………………………………….. 16-33

12. Activities……………………….……………………………………………..…….. 33-34

13. Culminating Activity………………………………………………………………........ 35

14. Evaluation…………………………………………………………………...……… 35-36

15. Other Book By the Author………………………………………………………..….36-37

16. Materials…………………………………………………………………………………37

17. Resources……………………………………………………………………………. 37-38

18. Additional Worksheets…………………………………………………………….…39-41

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Heading

Title: Memoirs- Cynthia Rylant

Grade: Fifth Grade

Disciplines: ELA

Duration: 4 weeks

Reading Level: The reading levels of students range from kindergarten to 5th grade.

School Description: The school is located in the Bronx of New York. The school is primarily made up of lower class families. It is a fairly large school and there are about 270 students in the 5th grade. Many of the students are below reading levels. They struggle with reading due to English being a second language to several of these students. Many of the students scored below the state standards on the fourth grade state test and several of these students were put through summer school before moving up to fifth grade. There is a very high absent rate of students in this school because a lot of families in the community do not think of school as a priority. The majority of the students need extra help in one subject area or another. The teachers are all highly qualified and value education. There are signs outside each teacher’s door stating where he or she attended college to spark an interest in the students’ lives to further their education. Each classroom is equipped with a Smartboard and two computers for the students use. Each classroom also has a math center, class library, and words their way center. Each class has approximately 30 students on the roster. It is a multicultural classroom made up of mostly Hispanics, Muslims, and African Americans. There are five English Language Learners in this classroom.

Objectives: 1. Students will demonstrate the writing process through memoirs. 2. Students will develop stories about their personal lives through the use of memoirs. 3. Students will write a memoir that ultimately has a revelation about something that

happened in their lives. 4. Students will compare and contrast memoirs written by Cynthia Rylant with their

own personal lives. 5. Students will differentiate between memoirs and personal narratives. 6. Students will evaluate the importance of writing memoirs.

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About the Author:

Inductive Author’s Study- the information offered about author Cynthia Rylant will be presented before the study to familiarize the students with her stories.

Cynthia Rylant grew up in West Virginia and as a small child she never thought she would pursue a career as a writer. She loved reading comic books and classic romances but most of her free time was spent playing in the outdoors. It wasn’t until college when she decided to pursue a career in writing. She fell in love with writing after taking one of her college English classes. After being inspired by this college class she sat down one night and wrote the famous book, When I Was Young in the Mountains. This book became an instant hit and even since that night she never stopped writing children’s books. Her stories cover several themes including friendship, love, grief, mysteries, and memories of her childhood. Cynthia states, “I get a lot of personal gratification thinking of those people who don’t get any attention in the world and making them really valuable in my fiction — making them absolutely shine with their beauty”. She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with several pets. Cynthia Rylant is a great author to help students write using details and also how to create a story that is powerful from beginning to end. Her stories are based off of several small moments in her life that impacted who she is today. Cynthia Rylant it a great role model for young writers.

(http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/cynthia-rylant)

Book Summary:

1. The Relatives Came“In the book, The Relatives Came, Cynthia Rylant crafts a story that follows a family as they journey from their home in Virginia to visit with relatives. The families have to adapt to each other at first, the house seems noisier and more cramped with the relatives there. However, the two families soon adjust and enjoy each other so much, that by the end, the family is sad to see the relatives go. The story ends with both families missing each other and finding it necessary to once again readjust, this time to their quiet houses.”(http://writeontrack.wikispaces.com/The+Relatives+Came)

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2. Night in the Country

"’There is no night so dark, so black as night in the

country.’ And while the people dream of daytime

things, the nighttime world awakens. Owls swoop, a

rabbit patters, and in the yard an apple falls —

"pump!" — from the tree. Listen. Go to the window.

Across the field a light glows. Who else is up so late?

Who else watches and hears the sights and sounds of

night in the country — the many stirrings of silence, the many colors of the dark?

This lyrical text and velvety pictures presents a very different kind of nighttime: a

mysterious, moving night that will lull small children to sleep.”

(http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/night-country)

3. When I Was Young in the Mountains“The family life and simple pleasures of a girl growing up in a small mountain town are explored in this Caldecott Honor-winning book. An evocative remembrance of the simple pleasures in country living; splashing in the swimming hole, taking baths in the kitchen, sharing family times, each is eloquently portrayed here in both the misty-hued scenes and in the poetic text." —Association for Childhood Education International (http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/when-i-was-young-mountains)

4. Short Story: Being GoodThis short story is full of details portraying a young boy envisioning a visit from his grandfather during Christmas time. Phillip hasn’t seen his grandfather in a long time so he tries to remember what he is like. He hopes to be the perfect grandson who will easily relate to his grandfather. He wants to ease his grandfather’s loneliness on this very special Christmas visit.

5. Short Story: My Grandmother’s HairThis short story is a memory from Cynthia Rylant’s childhood about her grandmother. This story is a small moment in Rylant’s life that has stuck with her throughout the years. She remembers the joy she had when she was spending time with her grandmother and playing with her grandmother’s hair.

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Favorite Lines From Stories:

1. The Relatives Camea. “It was the summer of the year when the relatives came.”

a. This quote started off the book and really hooked the reader into the story.

b. “The relatives stayed for weeks and weeks.”a. This shows the students how long the relatives stayed and also shows

that this long stay forced the families to adapt to one another. c. “We were always so busy hugging and eating and breathing together.”

a. This reminds me of times I spent with my family and I felt that I could relate this to my life when I was teaching this lesson.

2. Night in the Countrya. “There is no night so dark, so black as night in the country.”

a. This is the start of the story and is another line that really hooks the readers in. This is also a great way to describe the night in the country for those students who do not know.

b. “If you lie very still, you may hear an apple fall from the tree in the back yard. Listen. Pump!”

a. This will show the students how to use descriptive words and also sound words effectively in their writing.

3. When I Was Young in the Mountainsa. “When I was young in the mountains, Grandfather came home in the evening

covered with the black dust of a coal mine. Only his lips were clean, and he used them to kiss the top of my head”.

i. This is such a small moment that Rylant describes so well and as a reader you actually feel like you are watching her grandfather kiss the top of her head.

b. “Later, in the middle of the night, she walked through the grass with me to the Johnny-house and held my hand in the dark. I promised never to eat more than one serving of okra again.”

i. This is a great line that the students can use to compare and contrast with the city life. They can be introduced to what a Johnny-house is and compare and contrast it to a bathroom in the city.

4. Being Good

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a. “Philip can see his grandfather’s liveliness disappearing. He watched the old man slowly deflate like a leaking bicycle tire and he doesn’t know why it is happening, and he wants to stop it.”

i. I really liked this line because it used a simile to describe how the grandfather’s liveliness disappeared.

b. “’Truth is, we liked it.’ He shakes his head. ‘We missed having a baby in the bed between us, so we liked that little boy snoring in our ears every Christmas Ever. It was a special present just for us, we told ourselves, just for being good. Good to our boys’”.

i. This was the line that explained the title of the story, Being Good, and was the beginning of the relationship that Philip and his grandfather were starting.

c. “’Grandpa,’ he whispers, ‘can I sleep with you?’ The old man mumbles again, the rolls himself to one side.”

i. I loved this line because it I felt that Philip’s climbing into bed with his grandfather was the best present his grandfather could of asked for. This moment brought back happy times that the grandfather used to have.

5. My Grandmother’s Haira. “I was a thin, blonde headed little girl, and I would climb up on the back of

the couch where my grandmother was sitting, straddle her shoulders with my skinny six-year-old legs, and I would gently, most carefully, life a lock of her soft gray hair and make my little pink comb slide through it.”

i. This line set the scene for the whole story. There were so many details that really helped me envision this particular moment as a reader.

b. “But I became a writer instead. And used my pen like a little pink comb, and got quiet, and thought good thoughts, and twirled and curled and rolled words into good stories.”

i. This line was great because it really showed the beginning of Cynthia Rylant’s career and how she related her times with her grandmother to her love for writing.

Content Overview

The students will be focusing on the author Cynthia Rylant for the next 4 weeks while focusing specifically on writing memoirs. Cynthia Rylant is an inspiring author who has written so many different books across all age groups. Her books cover many themes such as friendship, love, grief, mysteries, and memoires from her childhood. In this author’s study we will be focusing on the stories that relate to her memories from her childhood.

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Rylant will be introduced at the beginning of the study by having the students learn about her life events leading up to her career as a writer and then her career as a children’s author. The students will then be introduced to the three books and two short stories that we will be focusing on during this study: When I Was Young in the Mountains, Night in the Country, The Relatives Came, My Grandmother’s Hair, and Being Good.

After introducing the author, the students will be introduced to the topic of study, which is memoirs. They will be asked to brainstorm what they think a memoir is and sounds like. A memoir is an autobiography or a written account of one's memory of certain events or people. They will also be taught that memoirs usually have an underlying theme that involves the author’s revelation about that particular moment in time. Since the previous unit was personal narratives the students will be asked to compare and contrast personal narratives and memoirs. A personal narrative is a story about yourself and experiences that you have encountered. A memoir is a little bit deeper in the sense that it is a type of autobiography that is written to record personal observations and experiences in one’s life that makes the author realize something about themselves. A memoir confirms its underlying theme about the author’s revelation in the story.

The students will then be introduced to Cynthia Rylant’s book When I Was Young in the Mountains. The teacher will read this book as a read aloud. The students will be focusing on generating small moments. They will see how Cynthia Rylant takes the big idea of being young in the mountains and breaks it down into small moments about her experiences during her childhood. The students will then be introduced to the analogy of watermelon ideas vs. seed ideas. A watermelon idea is the big picture. A seed idea is a very small moment in time. Rylant’s watermelon idea would be being young in the mountains. Her seed ideas would be each of those small moments that took place when she was in the mountains. To reinforce this idea of developing a small moment the teacher will read My Grandmother’s Hair by Cynthia Rylant. This will reinforce Rylant’s ability to focus on one very small moment that was so important to her when she was growing up. Students will then write a draft about a small moment that was important to them in their lives.

The next book that the students will be introduced to is Rylant’s book Night in the Country. The teacher will read this book as a read aloud. After reading the book, the students will have to identify the descriptive words that the author used throughout the story. The students will then be introduced to using the five senses to further develop their writing and will identify where in the book Rylant displayed these details. The teacher will discuss the importance of using details in their writing and will use Night in the Country as an example to show how, as writers, we need to make the reader feel like they are in our story by allowing them to create mental images. The teacher will then introduce the short story, Being Good by Cynthia Rylant to reinforce the concepts of descriptive writing. The students will observe the character details in this story to determine the feelings of the

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characters. The students will then take their small moment draft and will add details, descriptive words, and the five senses to really improve their drafts.

The last book that will be introduced will be Rylant’s book The Relatives Came. The students will have to determine how Rylant wrapped up and ended her story in a powerful way. Then as a class we will identify the effective ways to end a story and the importance of creating a strong ending. Students will then brainstorm ideas on how they can successfully wrap up the main idea in a story. The teacher will make a chart of effective ways to wrap up a main idea to display in the class as a friendly reminder. The students will then have to take their small moment draft and write a strong and powerful ending that wraps up the main idea of their story.

The students will then be asked to generate ideas for their closing writing piece of the unit, a memoir. They will be given a memoir-drafting organizer to help them generate ideas. They will be asked to fill in the organizer in a certain order. First, they will be asked to come up with a revelation that is important to them in their lives. For example, it is important to never give up. The students will then be asked to choose two small moments in their lives that proves that revelation. Finally, they will be asked to choose one of the ways we discussed to end their stories and then write a powerful concluding sentence. The students will then be asked to write their memoir based off their organizer. They will need a strong introduction with a hook and also a statement about their revelation. They will then need two body paragraphs that describe their small moments. Finally, they will need a strong conclusion that wraps up the main idea and also restates the revelation and why it is important. After completing their memoir they will publish it.

At the end of the study, we will have a celebration in the form of a publishing party. The students will have the chance to read their classmates memoirs and comment positively on them. This is a fun way to build community in the classroom and congratulate the students on their hard work.

Content Outline

1) Introduction of Cynthia Rylant

a) About the author

i) Her childhood

ii) Her career as a writer

b) Books by author we will be focusing on

i) When I Was Young in the Mountains

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ii) Night in the Country

iii) The Relatives Came

iv) Short Stories

(1) My Grandmother’s Hair

(2) Being Good

2) Memoirs

a) What is a memoir?

b) Personal Narratives vs. Memoirs

3) When I Was Young in the Mountains

a) Focusing in on small moments

b) Identifying the difference between seed ideas and watermelon ideas

c) Read short story: My Grandmother’s Hair to reinforce such a small moment.

d) Draft a small moment

4) Night in the Country

a) Identifying author’s use of descriptive words.

b) Identify the use of the 5 senses in story.

c) Identify importance of creating mental images in writing for the reader.

d) Read short story: Being Good to reinforce the importance of adding details to

understand characters in a story.

e) Edit drafts using details, descriptive words, and 5 senses.

5) The Relatives Came

a) Identify the characteristics of a good ending.

b) Identify ways to wrap up the main idea of a story.

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c) Determine the importance of having powerful ending.

d) Rewrite the ending of the small moment draft to create a strong and powerful

ending that wraps up the main idea of the story.

6) Writing A Memoir

a) Memoir Drafting Organizer

i) Choose a revelation that you had in your life and write it in your organizer. Ex:

Family is very important or It is important to never give up

ii) Choose two small moments in your life where you exemplified this revelation

and write it in your organizer.

iii) Choose a strong way to end your story and write your concluding sentence in the

organizer.

b) Introduction

i) Hooks the reader into your story and

ii) States the revelation that you had in your life

c) Body Paragraphs

i) Body #1

(1) Small Moment #1

(a) Using the details and descriptive words that were used throughout the

author’s study write about this small moment.

(2) Small Moment #2

(a) Using the details and descriptive words that were used throughout the

author’s study write about this small moment.

d) Conclusion

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i) Restate revelation

ii) Use one the strong and powerful endings we discussed throughout the author’s

study.

e) Publish your work

7) Publishing Party

a) Share published memoir with the class.

Brainstorming Cognitive Map

Refined Cognitive Map

Refined Cognitive for Each Book:

When I Was Young in the Mountains

Night in the Country

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The Relatives Came

Lesson Plans

I. Lesson Plan #1: Small Moments

1. Purpose (Essential Questions): How do we differentiate between a big idea and a small moment?

How does Cynthia Rylant exemplify the importance of such a small moment in time?

2. Vocabulary: Memoirs: an autobiography or a written account of one's memory of certain

events or people.

Small Moment: a very short period in time that if very important to the author.

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Seed Ideas- very small moment in time. Ex. I built a large sandcastle with my family at the beach.

Watermelon Ideas- the big picture or a large moment in time. Ex. My family spent the summer at the beach.

3. Skills: Listening

Identifying

Applying

Comparing

Working collaboratively

Writing

4. Objectives: Students will differentiate between small moments and the big idea in

Cynthia Rylant’s story When I Was Young in the Mountains.

Students will use evidence from Cynthia Rylant’s story When I Was Young in the Mountains to explain the importance of focusing on a small moment in time.

Students will identify the differences between a seed idea and a watermelon idea.

Students will generate a list of small moments in their lives and will draft a small moment story.

5. Common Core Learning Standards: Writing Standards K-5

o Grade 5 Standard 1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts,

supporting a point of view with reasons and information. i. a. Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an

opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.

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ii. b. Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.

iii. c. Link opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., consequently, specifically).

iv. d. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.

Standard 4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

Standard 5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising,

editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

6. Pre-Assessment: Students have previously been assessed on how to write a personal narrative. The previous unit involved generating ideas about the students’ personal lives. They are able to generate ideas but have not yet been taught the difference between a big idea and a small moment in time. They understand how to create an introduction with a hook and understand that a story has a beginning, middle, and end. They have also been introduced to the author but have not yet read her books.

7. Lesson Presentation: Set-Induction:

o I will start by calling all of the “families” to the rug. I will call them one by one to maintain management.

o I will activate the students’ prior knowledge by explaining how we have been discussing memoirs and writing about important moments in our lives. I will then state that today we are going to determine the difference between a small moment and a big idea.

o I will then introduce the book, When I Was Young in the Mountains, by Cynthia Rylant. I will explain that the story is about the author’s life when she was a young girl living in the mountains.

Procedure: o I will then read the book, When I Was Young in the Mountains, as a

read aloud.

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o I will ask the students throughout the story questions about the story and we will also compare the city to life in the mountains as we read.

How is a “Johnny-house” different from the bathrooms we use today?

Turn and talk to a partner about the differences. The students will then have the opportunity to share their ideas with the class.

Cynthia Rylant used to swim in a water hole when she was young in the mountains, what do we use?

Turn and talk to a partner about the differences. The students will then have the opportunity to share their ideas with the class.

o After reading the story, I will explain that Cynthia Rylant focuses the story on a big idea or a watermelon idea. I will then state that she takes several small moments or seed ideas from that big moment.

A watermelon idea is the big picture or a large moment in time. Ex. My family spent the summer at the beach.

A seed idea is very small moment in time. Ex. I built a large sandcastle with my family at the

beach. o As writers, we use small moments to express something that was very

important to us in that very small moment in time.

o I will then introduce the students to a chart made by the teacher. It will have a column for watermelon ideas and a column for seed ideas.

I will have sentence strips, previously made from the lines in the story, which students will have to choose from to put in the chart.

What is the watermelon idea in the story? o When I was young in the mountains

What are some seed ideas that Cynthia Rylant uses?

o Later, in the middle of the night, she walked through the grass with me to the Johnny-house and held my hand in the dark.

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o I promised never to eat more than one serving of okra again.

o When I was young in the mountains, Grandfather came home in the evening covered with the black dust of a coalmine.

o Only his lips were clean, and he used them to kiss the top of my head.

There will be several sentence strips to choose from with Velcro on the backs and on the chart for them to attach.

o Why is this a small moment compared to a big idea?

Students will be asked to explain their reasoning for each sentence strip.

o Students will then be given a graphic organizer, Spitting Out Some Seed Writing, where they will be asked to fill in two watermelon ideas and then three seed ideas corresponding to each watermelon idea.

Using that organizer the students will be asked to choose one small moment or seed idea to generate a short story.

Teacher will pull small groups during writing time for those students who are struggling to write and generate ideas.

o The teacher will then give the students and index card for the students to write their seed idea on.

o The teacher will glue the index cards to a chart labeled Class 5-504’s Seed Ideas. The students can refer back to this chart to develop ideas on writing small moments when writing.

Closure:o Through a grand conversation we will discuss the difference between

a small moment and a big idea.

What is the importance of using small moments in our writing?

How does Cynthia Rylant use this technique in her writing?

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8. Materials: Writer’s Workshop notebooks

Pencils

Smartboard

When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant

Drafting Paper

Spitting Out Some Seed Writing Organizers

9. Follow Up Activity: Following the lesson, students will be given Cynthia Rylant’s short story, My

Grandmother’s Hair, they will be asked to read it at home. After reading it they will have to write in their writers notebooks what Rylant’s seed idea was and why it was so important to her. They will then have to take a small moment from their life that relates to a family member and write about it.

o The next day there will be a conversation about Cynthia Rylant’s story and how that small moment was so important to her.

o Students will also have the opportunity to share their small moments about their relatives.

10.Evaluation/Assessment: The students will be asked to go back to their organizer and choose a

different seed idea to write about. Students will work on drafting a small moment and stretching out their small moment into a story with a beginning, middle, and end. The students will be asked to refer back to Cynthia Rylant’s story When I Was Young in the Mountains for ideas when they are writing.

11.Differentiated: For ESL learners, the students will be able to refer back to the seed idea vs.

watermelon chart with Cynthia Rylant sentence strips. If these students are still struggling the teacher will also be pulling small groups during writing time.

The advanced students will be given an enrichment activity that will involve writing a story using their watermelon idea and their three seed ideas. They can use similar language used in Cynthia Rylant’s story.

Kinesthetic

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o Students will be able physically place the sentence strips into the chart.

Visual

o Students will engage in the read aloud and will be able to refer back to the chart of small moments and big ideas generated from Cynthia Rylant’s story, When I Was Young in the Mountains.

Intrapersonal

o Students will be allowed to work alone in their writer’s workshop notebooks on developing a small moment story.

Interpersonal

o Interpersonal learners will enjoy this activity because they can work together on communication skills during turn and talk questions on the rug and also sharing their small moments.

12.Resources: Spitting Out Some Seed Writing Organizer:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/60461862/Seed-Writing

Rylant, Cynthia, When I Was Young in the Mountains. New York: Bradbury, Print.

My Grandmother’s Hair by Cynthia Rylant

Common Core Learning Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20Standards.pdf

II. Lesson Plan #2: Descriptive Writing

1.Purpose (Essential Questions): Why is it important to add details to our writing?

How does Cynthia Rylant use descriptive words in her writing to help us create mental images?

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How can we add details to our writing that allows the readers feel like they are in the story?

2.Vocabulary: Memoirs: an autobiography or a written account of one's memory of certain

events or people.

Envision- visualize

Mental Images- forming pictures in our minds.

3.Skills: Listening

Identifying

Applying

Comparing

Working collaboratively

Writing

4.Objectives: Students will identify descriptive words in the Cynthia Rylant book, Night in

the Country, and in their own personal stories.

Students will identify the mental images created by Cynthia Rylant and will use these techniques in their writing.

Students will rewrite their personal narrative, from the previous unit, by adding details and descriptive words that depict the 5 senses.

Students will revise their small moment draft using descriptive words.

5.Common Core Learning Standards:c. Writing Standards K-5

i. Grade 51. Standard 1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts,

supporting a point of view with reasons and information. i. a. Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an

opinion, and create an organizational structure

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in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.

ii. b. Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.

iii. c. Link opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., consequently, specifically).

iv. d. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.

2. Standard 4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

3. Standard 5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising,

editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

6. Pre-Assessment: Students have previously been assessed on how to write a personal narrative and also how to generate small moments in their lives. They have written a small moment memory draft that has a strong introduction. They have been previously assessed on how to add dialogue to story to add detail from their previous unit on personal narratives. They are familiar with details in a story but have not really focused on making the story come alive with descriptive words.

7.Lesson Presentation: Set-Induction:

o I will start by calling all of the “families” to the rug. I will call them one by one to maintain management.

o I will activate the students’ prior knowledge by explaining how we have been discussing memoirs and writing about important moments in our lives. I will then state that today we are going to take those small moments and make them come to life.

o I will then ask the students to help me fill in a T-chart. One side will say country and one will say city. To activate their prior knowledge I will have them give me characteristics of what the city is like and what the country is like. We will have a grand conversation comparing and contrasting the two based on the students’ knowledge in both categories. This will help the students, who have never visited the country, visualize how the country is different from the city before reading.

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o I will then state that today we are going to learn how to add detail to our writing using descriptive writing.

o Next, I will introduce the book, Night In The Country, by Cynthia Rylant. I will explain to them that the author, Cynthia Rylant, is writing about what the nightlife is like in a country setting.

Cynthia Rylant is a great descriptive writer. She makes us feel, as readers, like we are inside the story by making the story come to life.

Procedure: o Before starting the book I will introduce the students to a descriptor

word chart. I will explain that during the story when we see a good descriptive word we will hold our thumbs up in the air. As the teacher, I will then write the word into the chart so that the students can use words like these later in their writing.

o I will then read the book, Night in the Country, as a read aloud.

o Other than just filling in the chart, I will also ask questions throughout the story to engage and keep the students focused.

o After reading, I will ask the students to recall how Rylant used details to make the story come to life.

I will ask the students to turn and talk to a partner to discuss what details Rylant used and how these details helped make her story feel real.

They will then have the opportunity to discuss with the class what they talked about with their partner.

o I will then turn their attention to the smartboard where we will learn different techniques for adding details in our writing

The 5 senses- sometimes authors use the 5 senses to make us feel, as readers, like we are there.

We will go back to the story and to our list of descriptor words to see where Rylant used this technique and why they made us feel like we were in the country using the 5 senses.

I will underline all the 5 sense words that she used in red so the students can differentiate techniques.

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Sound words- sometimes authors use sound words that describe an action or an object.

We will go back to the story and find a place where Cynthia Rylant used a sound word.

Sound words can be used like Cynthia Rylant used to describe the apple falling to the ground, “Plump!” or can be used in dialogue like if someone is screaming, “AHHHHH!”

I will underline all sounds words in blue on our chart.

Descriptive words- the rest of the words on our list are words that describe something in the story.

Cynthia Rylant uses these details so we can create a mental image in our heads.

o Can anyone tell me what a mental image is?o A mental image is a picture in our minds. We can

envision or visualize something in a story because the author described it so well.

o All of these techniques help make a story come alive. They make us feel like we are experiencing a night in the country.

o I will then ask the students to take their personal narrative from last unit and they will go back and add details to the story. They will have to use the 5 senses, sound words, dialogue, and descriptive words.

The teacher will informally observe the students while they are writing and will pull a small group to reinforce the concepts for those students who are struggling.

Closure:o Through a grand conversation we will discuss what we wrote and

why we chose that technique as a way to add details to our story.

What techniques did you use? Give me an example of where you used them.

How do your newly added details make your story come to life?

o Students will be asked to share some of the examples of details used in their stories with their peers and their peers will talk about what they liked or thought they could add to their stories.

8.Materials: Writer’s Workshop notebooks

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Pencils

Smartboard

Night in the Country by Cynthia Rylant

Being Good by Cynthia Rylant

9.Follow Up Activity: Following the lesson, students will be asked to read the story Being Good by

Cynthia Rylant. The students will be asked to read the story once and will then be asked to read the story a second time. However, during the second time the students will be asked to underline details including the 5 senses in red, underline any sound words in blue, and circle any descriptor words that they came across. This will be done for homework and the students will create a new descriptor word chart in their notebooks that will be shared the next day in class.

10.Evaluation/Assessment:d. The students will be asked to go back and revise their small moment draft. They

will be asked to add details to their draft using dialogue, the 5 senses, sounds words, and the list of descriptive words that we generated as a class. The will have to recall ways that Cynthia Rylant made her stories come to life using Night in the Country and Being Good.

11.Differentiated: For ESL learners, the students will be able to refer back to the descriptor word

chart when writing and if they are struggling a small group will be pulled to reinforce these ideas.

The advanced students will given an enrichment assignment where they will have to go home and use the language used in Night in the Country to write a story about Night in the City. They will have to use details to make their stories come to life.

Kinesthetic

o Students will be able to use their bodies, their thumbs, to express which words they believe are descriptive words when we are reading Night in the Country.

Visual

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o Students will engage in the read aloud and will be able to see the slides on the smartboard with the different techniques to add details to a story.

o They will also be able to see the descriptor word chart to refer back to when they are writing.

Intrapersonal

o Students will be allowed to work alone in their writer’s workshop notebooks when they are working on adding details.

Interpersonal

o Interpersonal learners will enjoy this activity because they can work together on communication skills to discuss what Cynthia Rylant did to make her story come to life.

12.Resources: Rylant, Cynthia, Night in the Country. New York: Bradbury, Print.

Being Good by Cynthia Rylant

Common Core Learning Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20Standards.pdf

III. Lesson Plan #3: Good Endings

1.Purpose (Essential Questions): Why is it important for our stories to have powerful endings?

How can we create an ending that wraps up the main idea of the story?

What are the characteristics of a good ending?

2.Vocabulary: Memoirs: an autobiography or a written account of one's memory of certain

events or people.

Referring: making a reference to.

Revise: a proof including corrections made in an earlier proof.

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3.Skills: Listening

Identifying

Applying

Comparing

Working collaboratively

Writing

4.Objectives: Students will identify the characteristics of good endings in the Cynthia

Rylant book, The Relatives Came, and in their own personal stories.

Students will rewrite the endings of short stories using the characteristics of good endings.

Students will revise the ending of a draft of the their own writing pieces using the characteristics of good endings.

5.Common Core Learning Standards: Writing Standards K-5

o Grade 5 Standard 1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts,

supporting a point of view with reasons and information. i. a. Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an

opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.

ii. b. Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.

iii. c. Link opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., consequently, specifically).

iv. d. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.

Standard 4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task,

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purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

Standard 5: With guidance and support from peers and adults develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

6.Pre-Assessment: Students have previously been practicing writing about important or special moments in their lives. They have been free writing using these ideas but they have not yet revised any of them. As writers, we have previously discussed how to hook a reader in by creating a powerful introduction and also how to use descriptive writing to add details and excitement into our stories. However, we have not discussed how to end a story by wrapping up the main idea of the story.

7.Lesson Presentation: Set-Induction:

o I will start by calling all of the “families” to the rug. I will call them one by one to maintain management.

o I will activate the students’ prior knowledge by explaining how we have been discussing memoirs and writing about important moments in our lives.

o I will then introduce the book, The Relatives Came, by Cynthia Rylant. I will explain to them that the author, Cynthia Rylant, is writing about how her family came to visit her for a summer.

Procedure: o I will then read the book, The Relatives Came, as a read aloud.

I will periodically ask questions during the book to ensure engagement and understanding.

I will also remind the students of the important details when reading and how we use descriptive writing when we write.

o After reading, I will ask the students to recall how Rylant ended the story.

I will ask the students to turn and talk to a partner to discuss why they felt this ending was a good one.

o We will discuss what Rylant did that helped wrap up the story.

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o Then I will state that sometimes authors end their stories with a memory, a feeling, a wish, a hope, or sometimes even by referring back to the language in the beginning. I will put these techniques on a smartboard slide for them to see visually.

Which technique do you think Cynthia Rylant used in this book?

o Let’s take a look at the smartboard now to take a look at the difference between a good ending and a bad ending.

o We will play a game called Make A Choice! I will show you a phrase about what the story was about, then there will be a couple endings below it and as a class we will determine if it is a good ending or a bad ending and why. When I read the ending you have to give me a thumbs up if it is a good ending (model thumbs up) and a thumbs down if it is a bad ending (model thumbs down).

A story about a trip to The Bronx Zoo: As I traveled home, I thought about my exciting day at

my favorite place, The Bronx Zoo. Then I went home.

A story about an embarrassing moment: I was very, very, embarrassed. As long as I live I’ll never forget the most embarrassing

moment of my entire life.

A story about my first roller coaster ride: I had fun. As I snuggled under my covers that night, I fell asleep

thinking about my ride on the roller coaster. That’s all folks!

A story about field day at school: When I got home, I opened my birthday present that my

mom and dad gave me. It was the most fun day of my life. I’m already looking forward to the next time we have a

field day at school. I hope I don’t have to wait too long.

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o I will then, on the next slide (of my smartboad slides), have the examples of all of these great endings for them to refer back to when they start the next activity.

o I will then ask the students table by table to return to their seats.

o Then I will ask them to take a topic they have either written about or want to write about.

o They will then be asked to write an ending for that story using what we learned about good endings. They will have the techniques and some examples of what makes a good ending on the smartboard.

I will go around and ask them what they are writing about and what characteristic they are using to make sure that they are on the right track.

o For the students who are struggling, I will pull a small group and go over the techniques and concepts again. Then as a small group we will come up with some ways to end their stories.

Closure:o Through a grand conversation we will discuss what we wrote and

why we chose that technique as a way to end our story.

What technique did you use? Why?

How does your ending wrap up the main idea of the story?

o Students will be asked to share some of their endings and their peers will talk about what they liked or thought they could add to their endings.

8.Materials: Writer’s Workshop notebooks

Pencils

Smartboard

The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant

Previous Stories

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9.Follow Up Activity: Following the lesson, students will be asked to go back to their list of

generated story ideas write a story about one of these memories in their lives. They will be asked to concentrate specifically on the ending and they must make sure to not only to include one of the characteristics of good endings but they must also wrap up the main idea of the story. They will share their endings the following day during writer’s workshop.

10.Evaluation/Assessment: As an evaluation, the students will be asked to take the small moment draft

that they have been working on and rewrite the ending. They will have to recall the techniques used from the lesson and will have to recreate a good ending. They will use the characteristics to really wrap up the main idea discussed in the story. They will have the choice to use a memory, a feeling, a hope, a wish, or they may even want to refer back to the language they used in the beginning of their story.

11.Differentiated: For ESL learners, the students will be able to use the smartboard slides as a

reference when they are rewriting their endings. Also a small group will be pulled if any students need extra help.

The advanced students will be given an enrichment activity where they will have to use one of their generated ideas and write and entire story making sure that they concentrate on their endings and wrapping up the main idea of the story.

Kinesthetico Students will be able to use their bodies, their thumbs, to express

whether or not they agree with the good endings.

Visualo Students will engage in the read aloud and will be able to see the

slides on the smartboard with the characteristics of a good ending.

Intrapersonalo Students will be allowed to work alone in their writer’s workshop

notebooks on recreating a good ending.

Interpersonal

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o Interpersonal learners will enjoy this activity because they can work together on communication skills to brainstorm good ending ideas.

12.Resources: "Great Endings." Great Endings. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2012.

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/3613

Rylant, Cynthia, and Stephen Gammell. The Relatives Came. New York: Bradbury, 1985. Print.

Common Core Learning Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA%20Standards.pdf

Activities:

Interview the Author: After the introductory lesson on Cynthia Rylant and her books, the

students will get the opportunity to set up a mock interview with her. The students will be

assigned to groups of 4 to 5 students according to their readiness levels in writing. They

will then formulate questions as a group that they would want to ask Cynthia Rylant. As a

class, they will bring all of their questions together and will choose 10 interview questions

from the bunch. The next day the teacher will dress up like Cynthia Rylant and each group

will get to ask her two questions each. This way the teacher will get to prepare her answers

as the pretend Cynthia Rylant. This will be a pretend interview where the students will get

the chance to learn a little more about Rylant.

Brainpop Jr. Video: This video will be watched at the beginning of the unit to show

students the importance of Cynthia Rylant and also author studies. This will be a fun way to

engage the students and get them excited about learning about Cynthia Rylant. The video

will be watched twice. The first time the students will be asked to just listen and absorb as

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much as possible. The second time the students will be asked to take notes about Rylant

and the teacher will periodically stop the video to give students time to take notes.

Letter to the Author: At the end of the study the students will get the opportunity to write

a letter to the Cynthia Rylant. They will have to choose one skill that Cynthia uses in her

writing and they will write about why they like that skill and how it has inspired them to

include it in their writing. Students can also include what they learned about her and if they

relate to her childhood in anyway. Students will responsible for writing a letter using the

correct format and will turn this letter in for a grade. After reviewing the letters the teacher

will send them to Cynthia Rylant herself and will hope for a response to share with the

class.

Cynthia Rylant Web quest: The students will get to learn a little bit more about the author

by engaging in a web quest. The web quest includes a list of questions that when you click

on the question it brings you to a link that gives you history about that aspect of Rylant’s

life. They will have to complete the web quest and then hand in the list of questions and

answers that they found during the web quest. The teacher will look over the students’

responses and will then hand back the answers to staple into their writer’s notebooks. The

teacher will need to rent out the computer lab before the web quest to make sure that the

class can have access to computers (the link to the web quest is listed under resources).

Culminating Activity:

At the end of the author’s study the students will engage in a publishing party. The students

will be able to share their memoirs with one another and comment positively about them.

The students will be given post-its to use for their comments. Then in the form of a carousel

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the students will have 5 minutes at each memoir. They will be asked to leave their memoirs

at their desks and then will be asked to stand up with a pencil and some post-its. They then

will be asked to move one desk to the left. They will be responsible for reading that memoir

in 4 minutes and 30 seconds. After reading they will have approximately 30 seconds to give

a positive comment about the story by either making a connection to the story,

commenting about the use of details, or simple commenting on how they liked a particular

part of the story. They will write their comment and their name on the post-it and then

they will leave the post-it by the memoir. This process will continue until the students had

the opportunity to read 5 to 6 other students’ memoirs. Once the students have finished

commenting, they will be asked to return to their seats and read the comments from their

classmates about their memoirs. Finally, there will be a grand conversation about the

memoirs where students will get the opportunity to talk about certain memoirs they liked

or could relate to. This will be a fun and engaging way to wrap up the memoir unit.

Assessment/Evaluation:

The final culminating activity will be the students finished memoir. The teacher will

evaluate the students’ memoirs using a rubric. The students will need to include a strong

introduction with a hook and a strong revelation, two body paragraphs that include the two

small moments that will be used as evidence for their revelation, and a strong conclusion

that wraps up their main idea and restates the importance of the revelation. Students will

need these components but will also be graded on their use of details, neatness and

organization. This completed memoir will be a good indication for whether or not the

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students grasped all of the concepts from each of Cynthia Rylant’s books and the lessons

aligned with them.

Other Books by Author and Awards:

All I See (1988)

An Angel For Solomon Singerbird House (1996)

Birthday Presents (1991)

The Bookshop Dog (1996)

Cat Heaven (1997

Christmas in the Country (2002)

The Cookie-Store Cat (1999)

Couple of Kooks (1990)

Dog Heaven (1995)

Gooseberry Park (1998)

The Great Gracie Chase: Stop That Dog! (2001)

The Heavenly Village (2002)

Missing May (1992)*1992 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award*1993 Newbery Medal

Mr. Griggs’ Work (1993)

Poppleton (1997)

Poppleton and Friends (1998)

Poppleton Everyday (1998) *Parent’s Guide to Children’s Media Award Winner

Poppleton Forever (1998)

Poppleton Has Fun (2000)

Poppleton in Fall (1999) *2000 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award

Poppleton in Spring (1999)*Parents' Choice Storybook Recommendation

Poppleton in Winter (2001)

Silver Pancakes (1997)

Soda Jerk (1990)

Tulip Sees America (2002)

The Van Gogh Café (1998)

Henry and Mudge Series (1990-2009) Scarecrow (2009) Mr. Putter and Tabby Series (1999-2011) Some Good News (2009) Snow (2008)

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Every Living Thing (1999) Something Permanent (1994) A Blue-Eyed Daisy (2001) Long Night Moon (2004) In Aunt Lucy’s Kitchen (2001) If You’ll Be my Valentine (2005) A Little Shopping (2009) Annie and Snowball (2007-2010)

Materials:

Smartboard Pencils Drafting Paper Publishing Paper Post its Writer’s Workshop Notebooks Make a Choice Game on Smartboard The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant Night in the Country by Cynthia Rylant When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant Being Good by Cynthia Rylant My Grandmother’s Hair by Cynthia Rylant

Resources:

About the Author: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/cynthia-rylant The Relatives Came Book Summary:

http://writeontrack.wikispaces.com/The+Relatives+Came Night in the Country Book Summary:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/night-country When I Was Young in the Mountains Book Summary:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/when-i-was-young-mountains Rylant, Cynthia, and Stephen Gammell. The Relatives Came. New York: Bradbury,

1985. Print. Brainpop Jr. Video:

http://www.brainpopjr.com/readingandwriting/authors/cynthiarylant/ Webquest: http://www.westmeade.net/Library/rylanttreasurehunt.htm

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Make Your Choice!(Give a thumbs up or down on these endings.)

Remember that the word “As”is one way to start the closing sentence.

A story about a trip to Carowinds:Then I went home.As I traveled home, I thought about my exciting day at my favorite place, Carowinds.

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A story about an embarrassing moment:I was very, very embarrassed.As long as I live I’ll never forget the most embarrassing moment of my entire life.

A story about a magic carpet ride:I had fun.That’s all folks!As I snuggled under my covers that night, I fell asleep thinking about my ride on the magic carpet.

A story about a fun day at school:It was the funnest day of my life.When I got home, I opened my birthday presents that my mom and dad gave me.I’m already looking forward to the next time we have a fun day at school. I hope I don’t have to wait too long!

 Name:_________________________________________ Date: ________________________________

Spitting Out Some Seeds Writing

Directions: Good writers pick a small memory to write about in detail instead of telling a series of events. We call this a seed story because it is just one tiny piece of the big, juicy watermelon that is your life. Brainstorm two watermelon topics and then look closer for a few seeds to write about. Record them here.

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Name: __________________________________________ Date: ___________________

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Revelation What was the “eye-opener” you discovered as a result of these two small moments?

Small Moment #1

Small Moment:

Beginning:

Middle:

End:

Small Moment #2

Small Moment:

Beginning:

Middle:

End:

Strong Concluding

Sentence

How can you wrap up the main idea and restate your revelation?