Warm-Up:

If you were to write a fiction story

based on your own life what would
you write about and why would you
write it?
Use the Authors Purpose chart to
guide your thinking.

Learning Target:
I can read a memoir and use it to
revise my own piece of writing.

Knots in My Yo-yo String

Answer the following questions in your
notebook:

Why do you think the author uses such detailed

descriptions in this piece?

What clues from the story tell us how the author

feels about the ball game?

Look at the quotes in the poem Goal to Go. How

do quotes help us understand how people feel
about the content?

Why do you think the author (and other people)

are drawn to football?

Why do you think that the author tells us about

writing four novels that never got published?

Why do you think the photographs of Spinelli as a

boy are used to illustrate this selection?

Revision Checklist:

What is your purpose in writing this piece?

What is your topic?

Is there a clear beginning, middle, and end?

Do you include relevant details?

Does the order of your details make sense?

Is there an interesting beginning and end?

Make Your Writing Shine!

STAR Steps
Substitute Overused words, common

nouns,
Take things out Unnecessary

repetition, irrelevant details

Add Details, descriptions, expand

ideas
Rearrange Sequence and order to

make a better flow

2 minute mysteries