10 Writing About Others

Page
44
from
Write One Student Handbook

Start-Up Activity

Read and discuss “Writing About Others.” Invite a visitor into your classroom to share details about his or her life. Afterward, work with students to write a biographical story about the visitor. Then ask students to plan their own stories about another person, either someone they know or someone they have learned about.

Enrichment Activity: Have students write “Who Am I” stories, in which they give two or three details about themselves without stating their names. (They should put their names on the backs of their papers.) Then read the stories aloud and have the class identify the writers.

Think About It

“I tell students to write about those things they know best.”

—Zibby O’Neal

State Standards Covered in This Chapter

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.3

44-45

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.5

44-45

LAFS Covered in This Chapter

LAFS.1.W.1.3

44-45

LAFS.1.W.2.5

44-45

TEKS Covered in This Chapter

Page 44-45 from Write One Student Handbook

Lesson Plan

Ask children to name people they know well. List their suggestions on the board or on chart paper: grandmother, uncle, neighbor, older sister, and so on. Ask for one important or interesting thing about each person named. Select one offering “Uncle Steve goes skydiving” or “Grandmother makes quilts,” for example. Ask for more details about the person’s participation in this activity. List the details on the board or chart paper as the discussion continues.
Now have students turn to “Writing About Others” in their handbooks. Read the “Silly Nick” description. Ask, “What word describes Nick?” Talk about how the description of Nick shows that he is silly.

Classroom Applications

Large Group

Read a predictable story about a specific character, such as Mem Fox’s Tough Boris. On the board, write “Tough Boris is _______________.” Ask the children how they would finish the sentence. Reread the story, asking the children to listen for and volunteer more details about Mr. Boris. As they give their suggestions, write them on the board.
Invite a staff member from your school building (principal, aide, secretary, librarian, cook, janitor, etc.) to visit your class for an oral interview. After a brief introduction, have the visitor share something interesting about his or her life. Then invite the children to ask questions that will help them learn more about this person.
Write a group description of the visitor and, if appropriate, send a copy of it to him or her.

Small Group

Working in groups of three or four, ask the students to complete “Someone I Know.” Have each child write down the name of someone that he or she would like to write about.
Next, they should write down a main idea about the person they have chosen. Then each can take a turn telling about the person. The other members of the group can ask questions, too. This way, writers can discover what their readers want to know.

Individual

Put all the children’s names in a bag. Have each child draw a name. Have students complete the survey “My Classmate” about the classmate they picked. They will have to interview each other briefly. Later, read the surveys to the class, leaving out the name of the person. Ask “Who is being described?”
Assign "Writing About Others" on pages 70-71 of the Write One SkillsBook to help students write their stories about others.

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