Learning Goal: I can vary my word choice

Today you will be spending time on your personal writing. Personal writing is a time to practise your writing skills and techniques, while working on a piece of writing of your choice! It could be fiction or non-fiction, and any genre you can think of!

Today when you work on your personal writing, your goal is to think about varying your word choice.

First, watch the video to find out about how to use different word choice in your writing:

Next, create a quick plan for what you will work on today.

If you are starting a new piece of writing, this is the time to jot down your key thoughts and ideas – remember that your ideas are precious and we don’t want to lose them!

If you are continuing with a piece of writing that you have already been working on, this is the time to:

• Reread what you have written
• Look back over your original plan – is there anything you want to come back to or revise?
• Set yourself a goal for today and what you want to add to this piece of writing in this session. For example, do you want to add in some more character or setting description? Are you going to aim to finish drafting the build up today?

Then, spend a minimum of 30 minutes writing! Think about any writing goals that you could focus on to help improve your writing.

If you are unsure what to write about today, perhaps you could use one of these Halloween themed writing ideas (just don’t make it too spooky):

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Finally,

• Reread what you have written today. Is there anything you want to revise (add, remove or change)? Remember to check if there are any words you have repeated, and think about how you could change them!
• Edit what you have written for correct punctuation, especially full stops and capital letters. You might also think about exclamation marks, questions marks, commas and talking marks. Don’t forget to check your use of paragraphs.

Upload your work to OneNote. If you would like a conference or some specific feedback on this piece of writing, type a message for your teacher next to your work when you upload it.

Learning Goal:

• I can retell a story.
• I can write a story.
• I can write a script.

Today, while there are three learning goals, you will only need to work on e, depending on the writing response you choose.

First, watch the short film below:

Next, either:

• Write a retell of the story in the film. A retell is when you tell the story you just watched as if you were telling it to someone who had never seen it.
• Write a story inspired by the film. Use the ideas in the film or your response to the story to come up with your own story.
• Write a script. Although the film has some music and sounds it has no dialogue. Can you come up with a script of what the dialogue may have been? You don’t need to write a script for the whole story, you may choose a particular scene.

A script contains mainly dialogue and some simple, to the point, sentences describing the actions. The action is normally placed inside of brackets. A script also doesn’t explain emotions, feelings or a character’s reasons for doing something. For example the script when the man first meets the old woman could have looked like this:

       (Man looks down and sees someone holding his arm.)

       Man: Hey, what! What are you doing?

       Old woman: Oh look, it‘s green. Time to go sweetie.

       (Old woman starts to cross the road, pulling the man with her.)

       Man: Hey wait, stop! Let go of me!

       Old woman: We best hurry sweetie, it’s going to turn red soon.

Finally, don’t forget to share what you write with your teacher via OneNote.

Learning Goal: I know how to use paragraphs

Today you will be spending time on your personal writing. Personal writing is a time to practise your writing skills and techniques, while working on a piece of writing of your choice! It could be fiction or non-fiction, and any genre you can think of!

Today when you work on your personal writing, your goal is to think about how you are using paragraphs to organise and break up your writing.

First, watch the video to find out about paragraphs:

Next, create a quick plan for what you will work on today.

If you are starting a new piece of writing, this is the time to jot down your key thoughts and ideas – remember that your ideas are precious and we don’t want to lose them!

If you are continuing with a piece of writing that you have already been working on, this is the time to:

• Reread what you have written
• Look back over your original plan – is there anything you want to come back to or revise?
• Set yourself a goal for today and what you want to add to this piece of writing in this session. For example, do you want to add in some more character or setting description? Are you going to aim to finish drafting the build up today?

Then, spend a minimum of 30 minutes writing! Think about any writing goals that you could focus on to help improve your writing.

If you are unsure what to write about today, you can choose one of these images to inspire you. Choose one of the places and look carefully at all the detail in the photo. These could be settings for a story, you could write a description of what you can see, you could create a poem based on the feeling from the place, or write a persuasive advertisement convincing people to come here:

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Finally,

• Reread what you have written today. Is there anything you want to revise (add, remove or change)?
• Edit what you have written for correct punctuation, especially full stops and capital letters. You might also think about exclamation marks, questions marks, commas and talking marks. Don’t forget to check your use of paragraphs.

Learning Goal: I can revise and edit my mystery story to ensure all key story elements are included. 

First, read or listen to the information below. 

Next, before you begin to revise your own story, take a moment to log onto Story box library and take a moment to read along with Littlelight written and illustrated by Kelly Canby https://storyboxlibrary.com.au/stories/littlelight 

Thinking about this mystery story, we have provided a completed checklist as a guide for you to ensure the key features of a mystery story are included in your own piece of writing. 

Checklist Littlelight

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Then, using the mystery story writing checklist  and the mystery writing word mat + your knowledge of the genre, you will make any final revisions or edits to your story today.  

Checklist Littlelight Ingredients for a Mystery Writing Checklist

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Ingredients for a Mystery Writing Checklist Mystery Word Mat

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Finally, revising a story requires a focus on making changes to improve the flow and sequencing of your writing and should be completed before a final edit and publishing. 

Don’t forget to; 

• Add sentences and words (think about how you will build tension and suspense) 
• Remove words and sentences that do not add to your story 
• Move words or sentences if they are in the wrong place and don’t follow a logical sequence 
• Substitute words or phrases if they are repeated (what will I change to engage my readers) 

Challenge: If you are happy with your story it might be time to complete a final edit then publish. You might like to be creative in your approach to publishing for example you might like to; 

• Create a set of illustrations for your mystery story and present this in a video as you read your story
• Record an audio clip 
• With your parent’s permission you night use an app like Puppet pals to record your story with an avatar  
• Create an illustrated book 

Work sample to upload to OneNote: Revised mystery text 

Learning Goal: I can draft a mystery story including the key elements of the genre. 

First, read or listen to the information noted below. 

Next, review your mystery planning sheet,  and sequence of events. Ask yourself if you would change anything now after reflecting on your plan.  

Then, Using your plan, think about the key elements of a mystery story , when and how they are introduced. Make any changes to your plan before you begin writing. 

Finally, begin writing your mystery draft. Don’t forget to use all of your notes and plans to support your writing, tomorrow you will revise your work and ensure you have the key ingredients included in your story! 

Don’t forget the key ingredients! 

• The setting 
• The characters (detective, side-kick, suspects, victim?) 
• The mystery to be solved 
• Clues and distractions 

Challenge: If you finish this, choose a well-known fairytale such as The Three Little Pigs and introduce a new character who may have been the villain instead of the Wolf! 

Work sample to upload to OneNote: Story Draft 

Hello 3/4s,

Today in your small groups you will again be working with your teacher on writing. This week we will be exploring the mystery genre with today’s lesson focusing on creating your plan and a sequence of events for your mystery story! 

Before you come to your small group lesson, please ensure you have the plan you created yesterday and be ready to plan a strong start, middle and end of your own mystery story. 

Please come prepared with your notes, a lined book, a pencil and an eraser. Please make sure that you attend the correct time for your small group focus.

See you soon,

3/4 Teachers

The mystery genre is a genre of fiction that follows a crime from the moment it happens until it is solved. Mysteries are sometimes called “whodunnits” because they turn readers into detectives to figure out the who, what, when, and how of a crime. Most mysteries feature a detective or private eye solving a case as the main character. 

Learning Goal: I can plan a mystery story. 

First, read or listen to the information noted below. 

Next, re-watch short Scooby Doo clip Scooby-Doo! One Minute Mysteries | The Menace of the Manticore | WB Kids and review the notes you made about what you saw, heard and felt as you watched. Think about the key elements we discussed in our small reading groups required to create a mystery story:

• A setting 
• A  mystery to solve 
• A list of suspects 
• A detective or detectives and the clues! 
• A sequence of events 

Then, read the short mystery text Mystery at the beach to generate thoughts for writing your own mystery story later this week! Below that you will also find an example plan to show how that story was created.

Mystery at The Beach (story):

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Mystery at The Beach (planner):

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Finally, using the text and story plan as a guide, draw up a table in your book with the headings setting, problem, suspects, detectives and clues just like the example and start planning your own mystery! Don’t forget to add enough detail to start planning a sequence of events tomorrow. 

Example of planner: Mystery Story Planner Monday (2)

Blank planner you can use:

• Planning Your Mystery (pdf)
• Planning Your Mystery (word document)

If you need some thought starters, here are some images and phrases to get you planning!  

Mystery story thought starters:

1. I peeked through the curtains. There was a limo parked outside with two bodyguards. I heard a knock at the door…
2. I went over to say hello to the cute little baby under the umbrella, but when I reached her, I saw that…
3. We sat around the campfire in eerie silence, nobody wanting to bring up our predicament. Everything was going to have to come out anyway, we might as well get it over with. I was just about to clear my throat when I noticed Sam and Layla standing apart from the group, whispering. What were they plotting now?
4. Estella ran down the trail, her dog, Gerard, several feet ahead of her. A gust of wind ripped through the forest and a loud crack on her left caught her attention. She watched the tree fall, then turned back to the trail, but Gerard was gone…

Challenge: Can you plan to include any ‘red herrings’ or twists to throw readers off the track…

Work sample to upload to OneNote: Mystery planning sheet 

Learning Goal: I can use punctuation correctly in my writing

Today you will be spending time on your personal writing. Personal writing is a time to practise your writing skills and techniques, while working on a piece of writing of your choice! It could be fiction or non-fiction, and any genre you can think of!

Today when you work on your personal writing, your goal is to make sure you are using punctuation correctly.

First, watch the video to find out about different types of punctuation:

Next, create a quick plan for what you will work on today.

If you are starting a new piece of writing, this is the time to jot down your key thoughts and ideas – remember that your ideas are precious and we don’t want to lose them!

If you are continuing with a piece of writing that you have already been working on, this is the time to:

• Reread what you have written
• Look back over your original plan – is there anything you want to come back to or revise?
• Set yourself a goal for today and what you want to add to this piece of writing in this session. For example, do you want to add in some more character or setting description? Are you going to aim to finish drafting the build up today?

Then, spend a minimum of 30 minutes writing! Think about any writing goals that you could focus on to help improve your writing.

If you are unsure what to write about today, you can use the story spinner to give you an idea:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/story-starters/index.html

Finally,

• Reread what you have written today. Is there anything you want to revise (add, remove or change)?
• Edit what you have written for correct punctuation, especially full stops and capital letters. You might also think about exclamation marks, questions marks, commas and talking marks.

Upload your work to OneNote. If you would like a conference or some specific feedback on this piece of writing, type a message for your teacher next to your work when you upload it.

Learning Goal: I can use dialogue in my writing.

First, think of a conversation you have had today. It might have been a brief conversation you had with a parent over breakfast or with a friend over the phone. Maybe it was some small talk with a worker in a shop. It doesn’t matter.

Next, write down in your book what the conversation was like.

Here are some things to think about:

What did you say to each other?

Who said what?

How did you begin/end your conversation?

Then, watch the video below on how to use dialogue in your writing.

Microsoft Stream

Finally, capture the conversation you had using the appropriate conventions.

As a challenge, you might want to revisit a story you have written this week and include the appropriate conventions.