Haley Mayer

Writing Unit
04/27/2015
Purpose: Character Perspective & Voice
Grade Level: 2
Standards:
W.2.3
Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of
events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words
to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure
CLL Goals:

Acknowledge differences in the points of view of Voice for each character when
reading dialogue aloud
Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information
presented orally or through other media
Write narratives in which they recount a well elaborated event or short sequence
of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use
temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.
With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and
strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

Mentor texts:
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by, Judith Viorst
Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude by, Kevin OMalley
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by, Jon Scieszka
Day 1
Topic: Introduction to voice and creating character voice
Mentor Text: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by, Judith
Viorst
Teacher Action:

Read aloud Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Stop on pg. 12 (Alexander is at lunch- looks miserable). Asks questions

pertaining to Alex such as:
o How would you describe Alexander/his personality? (sad, bad luck,
miserable,
o How does the author show Alexanders emotion by her word choice?
o If I didnt show you the pictures as I read, do you think you still could have
pictured Alexander and his expressions/the story?
Finish reading the mentor text.
Explain voice to students and the relationship to characteristics of the
characters. (Voice is the authors way of showing each characters thoughts,
emotions, and personality. Writers use voice to emphasize a characters
perspective or personality. What do you think it means to write with voice? (listen
to a few responses) What ways did Judith Viorst give Alexander voice? What
emotions did Alexander show by his words in the story? How would this story
have been different if the author didnt write the way she did/write with a specific
voice?)
Think, pair, share- Make a list of the characteristics of writing that indicate a
strong voice on a poster in front of the whole group. (Possible examples- shows
writers personality, sounds different from other authors, shows feelings and
emotions of characters, words come to life, shows heart of the story)
Tell students you will make this a checklist for them to use with their own writing
so they can use it to monitor the voice in their stories.
Tell students that in the next lesson they will practice using voice for different
types of emotions.

Student Action:

Listen to read aloud, participate in discussion questions.

Think, pair, share during discussion after read aloud (voice checklist)

Differentiation:

Students will be working as a whole group to develop the checklist and listen to
the read aloud. Students could be sat in the front or at a desk if needed.

Day 2
Topic: Creating voice and conveying emotion
Teacher Action:

Review Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Ask students what feelings were conveyed through the authors writing for
Alexanders character. (Miserable, bad luck, sad, depressed, mad, etc.)

Review the voice checklist that was created by the students in Day 1 and explain
how they could use them for their writing in the next couple of days. Pass out a
laminated copy for each student to use.
Group students into partner groups for the writing assignment.
Pass out one-half sheet of paper to each group and one strip with a given
storyline on it. Each paper will have two different emotions on it that the
students will use to write for a given storyline (sad, excited, nervous, happy,
annoyed, miserable, tired, worried, etc.)
Next, give students 15-20 minutes to write two short stories using the given
storyline and emotions being conveyed.
Teacher will participate and model/explain his/her own writing for the writing
activity (example below).
Partners will then share their writing if they choose.
Discuss how the different emotions were conveyed in each story. How did that
affect the story overall? Authors use of words? Character development?

Student Action:

Students will participate in discussion questions and review of mentor text.

Students be partnered up and together will write 2 stories (1 for each emotion)
given a storyline for 15-20 minutes (using voice checklist).
Students will then discuss and critique teachers model of writing and share their
own if they choose

Differentiation

Teacher will pair students up based on ability

Teacher will also provide additional assistance individually if needed
Students may receive storyline and emotions based on ability

Teacher Model/Example
Two emotions- furious, excited
Storyline- a man went to the grocery store, but they were out of milk
Furious:
A man named Marcel was going to the grocery store after work one day. He needed
milk, eggs, and bread so he could make breakfast for dinner. When he got to the store,
he noticed a big truck in the parking lot that many people were gathering around. He
asked a person standing by the back door, Whats going on? The guy said the driver
locked the keys in the car and cant unload the back. Whoops, thats not good for
him! thought Marcel. He continued into the grocery store and picked up the eggs and
the bread. Next, he went to the milk isle, but to his surprise, all of the milk was gone!
Marcel was confused. How could all of the milk be gone? he thought. Then he
remembered the truck parked outside was that of Anderson Erickson. The milk is in the

back! He was so frustrated that he even peaked into the back hallways to find any
bottle of milk. He needed it for his breakfast. Ugh! He was so mad! Now, what am I
going to make if I dont have any milk? He then decided that grilled cheese sounded
good, but he needed cheese. Marcel walked over to the cheese isle and, oh my, what
did he see? Nothing! The cheese was all gone too! He decided he needed to get into
that truck. He walked back to the parking lot and picked up a huge rock. No, stop!
yelled the police officer rolling down the window. I need milk! Let me in! Marcel yelled
back. Its open, its open. Help yourself, the police officer said back. Its ABOUT
TIME. Marcel angrily replied. He grabbed the milk and stomped all the way home.
Excited:
A man named Marcel was going to the grocery store after work one day. He had a
great idea of what to make his sister for supper. She LOVED tomatoes, so he thought
to make her favorite spaghetti and breadsticks. Marcel needed to get sauce, noodles,
and breadsticks at the grocery store. He walked in and immediately was startled!
Balloons were flying from the sky and paper confetti was falling on his head. What is
going on? Marcel thought. Congrats! You won the contest! You were the 1,0000 th
person to shop here today! Yippee! the crowd yelled. Marcel instantly got excited and
started jumping up and down. He won a trip to Italy, a year of supply of milk, and
$10,000! Wow, Im not going to make my sister spaghetti tonight, Ill take her to Italy
for the real thing! Marcel said aloud. He was so happy and anxious to get home to tell
his sister the big surprise. The next day, Marcel and his sister flew to Italy and ate
spaghetti every day!

During the model, the teacher will be able to highlight different features of the
writing sample such as, font changes, dialogue, and word choice to make the
authors and characters voices come alive.

Reflection of Writing Model

The model I created was actually more challenging than I had anticipated. It took me 34 minutes of brainstorming and thinking about what I wanted to write before I started
any writing. I would assume students might need that much time or longer to think of
ideas of their own writing for certain activities. Once I began to write, however, it seems
like a simple task and wrote with ease. It is important to be mindful and remind yourself
that second graders probably will not have that experience, especially on an open-task
such as this one. If I were to change anything, I would modify the explanation of the
activity to include more brainstorming time for the students and more structure to the
storylines. Although open storylines would allow for more creativity and endless options
to write, some students might find that task too daunting and become discouraged
before even trying to write something. Overall, I enjoyed the activity and think it would
be even more enjoyable working with a partner.

Day 3

Topic: Creating voice and different perspectives

Mentor Text: Once Upon A Cool Motorcycle Dude by, Kevin OMalley
Teacher Action:

Remind students how good writers use voice to define and distinguish characters
in their writing. Tell students you will read them a story, but you are not going to
show them any of the pictures. I want you to think about the words the author is
using and picture the characters in your mind
Read Once Upon A Cool Motorcycle Dude aloud to the students. Do not show
students any of the pictures.
Stop halfway through (the page after the boy tells his side of the story).
Ask the students to describe characteristics of the characters that they pictured in
their mind. Write them on a poster. (How did you know which character was the
one talking?)
Continue reading the story, but show the pictures this time. Ask students to
discuss characteristics again- modify list if needed.
Discuss how the author used voice of each character to create the story. Explain
how good writers can use voice to distinguish between two characters in a story.
Teacher will then have the students get out their writing notebooks. Tell students
they will write their own ending to the story. The teacher will try to guess which
character each student chose to write about when he/she reads the story
endings later.
Remind students to use their checklist for voice.

Student Action:

Listen and participate in read aloud.

Participate in discussion after the read aloud.
Use writing notebooks to write an ending to the story on their own.

Differentiation

Students will receive individual assistance from the teacher if needed (small
group or individual)
Students may be given writing prompts from the teacher
Students will be placed in ability groups determined by the teacher

Day 4
Topic: Distinguishing and Analyzing Character Voice
Mentor: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by, Jon Scieszka
Teacher Action:

Have a few students retell the traditional story of the three little pigs and describe
some characteristics of the pigs (nice, scared, harmless, etc.) and then the wolf
(mean, scary, bad, etc.)
Read aloud The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. Stop after page 1. Ask the
students questions pertaining to the voice of the book thus far Who do you think
is doing the talking? How can you tell?
Stop and discuss on the page after the wolf visits and sneezes at the first house.
(How would you describe the wolf in this story compared to the traditional
story? Does giving a character a voice have an impact on the perspective of the
story? How does it make the story more complete?)
Continue to read the story
Discussion after the story: Explain how good writers use voice to show an
opposite perspective of characters. How does the authors use of voice make
you feel about the wolf? In what ways does the author convince you of the
wolfs story? How does the authors use of humor, creativity, and/or persuasion
in this story convince you of the wolf?
Have student take out their writing journals and write about whether or not they
believe the wolf. Remind them to use reasons pertaining to the authors voice
and perspectives.

Student Action:

Few students volunteer to retell the traditional story of the 3 little pigs
Listen to read aloud and participate in discussion questions
Write in writing journals. Do they believe the wolfs story or the traditional story?
Why or why not?

Differentiation

Students could work in small groups with the teacher for additional assistance
Students may use a graphic organizer to produce writing prompt if needed (I
believe the ________ wolfs story because___________.)

Day 5
Topic: Developing strong voice
Teacher Action:

Review The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs with students

Ask for any volunteers to share writing from previous lesson
Pair students in partner groups by ability
Students will choose a fairytale from a given list and write a new story from the
perspective of one of the bad characters or a side character. (Example- from

the perspective of the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, or a stepsister from
Cinderella, or Frog from The Frog Prince, etc.). Students will choose a unique
voice for their chosen character and produce a writing sample to share with the
class that mirrors or pulls ideas from The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs.
Remind students to use the voice checklist and to make their writing convincing.
Teacher will pull a small group if needed or walk around classroom providing
additional assistance where needed.

Student Action:

Participate in discussion
Volunteers will share writing from previous lesson
Students will work in pairs/groups to write a traditional fairytale from a different
perspective/character

Day 6
Topic: Voice to establish personalities, emotions, differences
Teacher Action:

Review topics from all 5 previous lessons (character descriptions, voice) and talk
about how good writers use voice to make their stories and characters come
alive
Tell students they will write their own stories today choosing between a story from
one perspective, between two characters, or an opposite perspective (just like
the stories they read).
Writing prompts to choose from- (1) choose a main character from any story or
movie, write a story using a strong voice from that character, (2) create a story
using 3 animals and 1 different animal to replicate the story of the 3 little pigs,
use strong voice so we can understand the personalities of the animals, (3)
create two characters to write about, establish different perspectives and
personalities through writing and voice of each character.
Remind students to use voice checklist to ensure strong voice is used in their
writing. Also, mentor texts will be available to use for examples or brainstorming
Teacher will use rubric to assess student writing

Student Action:

Students will listen to teacher instruction

Students will work independently to write their own stories
Students will share stories at a later date

Differentiation

Students will be able to choose writing assignment

Teacher may develop writing prompts for students struggling with ideas or the
writing process
Teacher may model how to get started as a whole group

Assessment
Rubric for assessment of independent writing:
VOICE

Character
Development
(distinguishable
voices,
personality,
unique voice)
Word choice is
lively, engaging,
expressive
Writer conveys
a
message/feeling

Content/Ideas

1
Needs
additional
instruction/pr
actice
Undistinguish
-able
character
voices

No effort for
word choicevery factual
and bland
No
connection
from writer to
reader- little
honesty or
care put into
writing
Did not follow
instructions/p
rompts or did
not finish in
appropriate
amount of
time

3
Developing
skills

5
Meets goals
and
expectations

Several similar or
close voices used
for characters

Point of view is
made clear by
unique voices
given to
characters

Some strong or
interesting words
chosen

Reader can
see or feel
through word
choice
Strong
connection
between reader
and writer.

Slight
connections
made between
writer and reader-

Followed most of
the
prompts/direction
s

Comments

Total

Followed all the

prompts and
directions given

/15

Voice Checklist (example for students to use during writing time):

Strong Voice Necessities:
____ writers personality shines through
____ sounds different from everyone elses
____ strong feelings and emotions from characters
____ unique/variety of word choice
____ writes from the heart
____ characters come to life

References:
Ideas pulled from:
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson1015/rubric.p
df
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/true-story-3-little-pigs-extensionactivities
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/adding-strong-voice-your-writing
http://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/writing/sixtrait/voice/rubric.html
http://writingfix.com/6_traits/voice.htm#mentor_text