Title of Mini-lesson: Turning the Lights On--Setting

Teaching Point: Students will be able to define and describe setting and how it helps shape the story.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the
text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.A
Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize
an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

Connect/PURPOSE (What, Why, When) (1-2 minutes)

Last week, we practiced showing who our characters are instead of simply telling, which made our writing much
more interesting. Today we will be practicing showing on the setting of our story as well.

Can someone volunteer to remind us all what setting is? (Time, place, environment)

Why is providing a detailed setting in your writing important? (It gives background information about where a
place is or what it looks like, helps you to understand the situation better, sets the mood)
It helps the reader to see and understand the story better.

Model/Demonstrate/Teach/Provide Information (How) (3-5 minutes) (I do)

I am going to read an excerpt from the book Holes by Louis Sachar, which was one of my favorite books when I
was in elementary school. Has anyone read it?

As I read these paragraphs, imagine what Camp Green Lake looks like. Think about how the author helps you
form mental imagery with words and draw what you hear. Listen for any details that catch your attention.

How did the description of Camp Green Lake make you feel? How did it set the mood? Are there any examples
of details you really liked about it?

What might be some problems the characters in this book could face because of the setting?
The setting could make extreme heat or dehydration a problem for the characters, or maybe they’ll run into
trouble with a yellow-spotted lizard. At the same time, the setting that the author created makes problems like a
massive flood unlikely. The setting affects your characters, the situations they face, and how they react.

Engage/Guided Practice (2-3 minutes)(we do)

I will either play a video of Monsters Inc (pausing when Sully, Mike, and Boo fall into a new room in a new
place) or print out some images, and the students will take turns describing a detail about each place.

Link to Independent Work (1-2 minutes)

You guys saw some awesome details in those scenes. Now we’re going to do it with our own pictures.
Independent work (30-60 minutes) (you do, I watch) Workshop Time

Adapted from Lucy Calkins and Beth Neville, Resources for Primary Writing, Unites of Study for Primary
Writing,: A Yearlong Curriculum, Lucy Calkins, Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH
Permission to copy for single classroom use
Think of your favorite place, imagine something new, or use one of these printed pictures to fill out this
worksheet. What details do you want to include to show your reader the setting you’re creating?

When you’ve thought of your details, use them to write a few sentences describing the setting you’ve created.

Students will use the greenscreen to insert themselves into their setting. They can read their paragraph, react to
their setting, or anything else appropriately creative. They can then insert the video into Book Creator and label it
with their original written setting.

(Give 5 minute warning to finish up for sharing time at 15 minutes left.)

Sharing (2-4 minutes)

Students will share their greenscreen videos on Book Creator.

Close (1-2 minutes)

Why is setting important?

What was your favorite part of setting to imagine and write about?

After clean-up, remind student that they will use the setting to help create the stories we will write next
week.

Teacher Reflection –
What specific evidence do you have that students did/did not meet today’s learning target?

Which kinds of details did students incorporate?

Setting Planning

Adapted from Lucy Calkins and Beth Neville, Resources for Primary Writing, Unites of Study for Primary
Writing,: A Yearlong Curriculum, Lucy Calkins, Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH
Permission to copy for single classroom use
 1. What is the time period? (past, present, future)

2. What are the weather conditions? (cold, snowy, warm, dry, windy…)

3. What colors would you use to set the mood? (bright, dark, mix…)

4. Please list five (5) objects or natural features that you would like to include in your setting.
(rocks, trees, water…)

5. Think about the experiences you would like your characters to have. What else would you
include in the setting? List two (2) ideas here.

On the back of this paper, use your details to write a few sentences about your setting.

Holes by Louis Sachar

PART ONE YOU ARE ENTERING CAMP GREEN LAKE 1

Adapted from Lucy Calkins and Beth Neville, Resources for Primary Writing, Unites of Study for Primary
Writing,: A Yearlong Curriculum, Lucy Calkins, Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH
Permission to copy for single classroom use
There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. There once was a very large lake here, the largest lake in Texas.
That was over a hundred years ago. Now it is just a dry, flat wasteland. There used to be a town of
Green Lake as well. The town shriveled and dried up along with the lake and the people who lived
there. During the summer the daytime temperature hovers around ninety-five degrees in the shade—
if you can find any shade. There's not much shade in a big dry lake. The only trees are two old oaks on
the eastern edge of the "lake." A hammock is stretched between the two trees, and a log cabin stands
behind that. The campers are forbidden to lie in the hammock. It belongs to the Warden. The Warden
owns the shade. Out on the lake, rattlesnakes and scorpions find shade under rocks and in the holes
dug by the campers. Here's a good rule to remember about rattlesnakes and scorpions: If you don't
bother them, they won't bother you. Usually. Being bitten by a scorpion or even a rattlesnake is not the
worst thing that can happen to you. You won't die. Usually. Sometimes a camper will try to be bitten by
a scorpion, or even a small rattlesnake. Then he will get to spend a day or two recovering in his tent,
instead of having to dig a hole out on the lake. But you don't want to be bitten by a yellow-spotted
lizard. That's the worst thing that can happen to you. You will die a slow and painful death. Always. If
you get bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard, you might as well go into the shade of the oak trees and lie in
the hammock. There is nothing anyone can do to you anymore.

Adapted from Lucy Calkins and Beth Neville, Resources for Primary Writing, Unites of Study for Primary
Writing,: A Yearlong Curriculum, Lucy Calkins, Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH
Permission to copy for single classroom use