Campfire Class

My students worked so hard on their mystery stories. There was so much great suspense throughout their writing! We had a campfire in the classroom to celebrate their writing and present their stories. Please enjoy the following pictures of our campfire!

Students also enjoyed reading by the fire in reading class. 

Mystery Story Presentation

Your Name October 29, 2014 Mrs. Oliveira Period ____ Title           This is the heading you need to use for your mystery story. The font should be Arial and size 12. The line spacing should be 1.5. Don’t forget to have an interesting title for the beginning of your story. You can use the picture title, if you prefer.           When beginning a new paragraph, indent. You do not need to skip any additional lines between paragraphs. The indentation will demonstrate you have started a new paragraph.

Once you have finished working through the rubric. Read your story one more time. Make sure the story still makes sense with the revising changes you made. Also, make sure each part of the rubric is completed and correct in your story. We have been working on this for a month, so I expect a perfect (suspenseful) story!

Remember, we will be in the computer lab on Tuesday 10/28/14 to print stories. 

Final Drafts are due 10/29/14.

Reading Class Only

Here is the link for the article on tornado information. Use it to copy and paste information to insert text features, if you choose.

Tornado Article

Sentence Variety

Simple Sentence

I like to read.

Compound Sentence

I like to read, and I also like to write.

Complex Sentence

I prefer to read books that are bestsellers.

Compound-Complex Sentence

Although I prefer to read current bestsellers, I do like to read old Agatha Christie mysteries, and I also like some 20th-century science fiction.

Combining Sentences for Impact

• A story built entirely of simple declarative sentences will appear childish and be boring to read. 
• Think about your audience. What will keep them interested in your story? How can you write sentences that increase interest? Every part of your story should build towards suspense. Don't ruin a good suspenseful strategy with short simple sentences. Add detail, description, and good information to keep the audience interested. 
• Read through your story again. If you use three or four of the same type of sentence in a row, read it aloud (to yourself) to see if it flows nicely, or if the paragraph seems too choppy or too long-winded.

There are many ways to very your sentences; play with variation until you are happy with your mystery story. 

Adapted from: http://examples.yourdictionary.com/sentence-variety-examples.html

Avoiding Dead Verbs

A dead verb lets us know an action has taken place, but it doesn't provide a detailed picture of the action. A list of common dead verbs is shown in the picture below. This list also includes the "ing" forms and contractions of dead verbs. Using dead verbs saps the life out of writing. Once you understand what dead verbs are, you can change your sentences haunted by dead verbs into lively descriptive writing.

Mystery Story Rubric

Here is the link for the full rubric for the Mystery Writing Narrative:

Mystery Story Rubric

Below, I have listed the categories that will be graded and the requirements for a perfect score. Use the link above to view the full rubric including the criteria for approaching standards, below standards, and no credit. 

CATEGORY	10--Meets Standards
Introduction	The author effectively uses one of the leads discussed in class to grab the reader's attention. The lead creatively "sets the stage" for the rest of the story.
Conflict and Resolution	The story is focused on a problem that gradually builds to a definite climax. The story shows at least five ways the problem worsens before reaching the climax. The solution to the problem is easy to understand.
Suspense Strategies	The author effectively uses at least two of the suspense strategies discussed in class (story questions, word referents, initial rationalizations).
Strong Verbs	The author uses a variety of strong action verbs to show the events in the story. No more than 3 "dead" verbs are used.
Dialogue	The story contains at least four lines of meaningful dialogue that provide additional details to the story.
Organization	The story remains on topic and follows a logical sequence of events. The story is appropriately divided into paragraphs as the author transitions between events, settings, characters, etc..
Sentence Variety	The author uses a variety of sentence structures throughout the story.
Mechanics	The story contains no errors in grammar, punctuation, or capitalization.
Spelling/Vocabulary	The author uses challenging vocabulary and spells all words correctly.
Presentation	The final draft of the story is readable, clean, neat and attractive. It is free of crossed-out words. Pages are free of tears or major wrinkles.

Descriptive Words

Retrieved from: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/23/b2/8c/23b28ccb5fc7c03f0fd0a6af2abede9c.jpg

Adding suspense to your story

Suspense—a feeling of intense excitement about how something will end

Three techniques to make your reader wonder, worry, and wait:

• Story Questions-raising questions through a character’s thoughts or dialogue.
• Ex/ What was that?  Did you hear something?
• Unknown Subjects-using nonspecific nouns or pronouns to describe a person or thing before naming it  (Good words to use: it, something, someone, he, she, they, etc.) 
• Sophie allowed her eye to travel further and further down the street.
  Suddenly she froze. There was something coming up the street on the opposite side.
  It was something black . . .
  Something tall and black . . .
  Something very tall and very black and very thin.
  (Dahl, Roald. The BFG. New York: Puffin, 1982.)
• Logical Explanation- dismissing warning signs of a troubling event with a reasonable explanation (False alarms can create suspense in a similar way.)
• Ex/ Casey heard the leaves crunch behind her as if she were being followed.  Determined to face her fear, she turned around, only to see a squirrel scurrying frantically to the nearest tree.

As you write, remember the “Magic of Three” in your story:

• three questions before giving the answer
• three unnamed subjects before giving a name
• three logical explanations before the troubling event

Here is the video we watched in class about slowing down time. Remember you will need to have at least one slow motion scene in your mystery story. 

Ted Ed Video