13 Understanding Writing Terms and Techniques

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Understanding Writing Terms and Techniques

Start-Up Activity

Find a brief article or story that illustrates three or four techniques listed on pages 101-104. Explain these techniques to your students. Then have them listen for them as you read the text. See if they can pick out examples of the techniques you have introduced.

Think About It

“Figurative language adds pizzazz. It raises work above the plain, the dull, the ordinary.”

—Ellen Hunnicutt

Page 100 from Writers Express

Developing a Sense of Style

Often, students struggle to understand what style is in writing. You can compare it to hairstyles or fashion. Students express who they are through their styles of hair and clothing, and they express who they are through their writing style.

Walk students through the tips on this page to help them understand how writing style develops. Then have them do the "Express Yourself" activity at the bottom of the page.

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Page 101 from Writers Express

Using Writing Techniques

This page and the three that follow focus on techniques that can improve the style of students' writing. Each technique has a different effect on style, on the reader, and on the power of the writing.

Present each technique to your students. Then have them write their own examples that demonstrate each. You can also use the minilesson to explore a bit more about anecdotes.

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Page 102 from Writers Express

Using Writing Techniques (Continued)

Present "Details," "Dialogue," and "Exaggeration" to your students. Then have them pick a narrative writing topic and create a paragraph. Tell them to use strong details, dialogue, and exaggeration to make their paragraphs entertaining.

 

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Page 103 from Writers Express

Using Writing Techniques (Continued)

Teach your students about "Idiom," "Metaphor," and "Personification." Then have them write an example of each.

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Page 104 from Writers Express

Using Writing Techniques (Continued)

Teach your students about "Sensory Details," "Simile," "Specific Nouns," and "Vivid Verbs." Then use the minilessons to help students try out these techniques themselves.

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Page 105 from Writers Express

Modeling the Masters

Use this activity to help students explore the style of their favorite writers. Go through the "Guidelines for Modeling," and then demonstrate the process with "One Writer's Experience." Afterward, have students try the process using the minilesson activity.

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Page 106 from Writers Express

Understanding Writing Terms

Have your students skim through the terms on page 106, looking for words that are unfamiliar to them. Lead a discussion of each term that they bring up. If students wonder about the term "Diction," have them complete the minilesson activity.

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Page 107 from Writers Express

Understanding Writing Terms (Continued)

Ask students to close their books. Then pick one of the terms from the page and ask if anyone knows what it means. Compare student definitions with the definition in the book. Then choose another term and repeat the process.

You can also have student explore the ideas of "Focus," "Freewriting," and "Parallelism" with the minilessons.

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Page 108 from Writers Express

Understanding Writing Terms (Continued)

Since most of the words for the writing process appear on this page, discuss "Process," "Prewriting," "Revising," and "Proofreading." Then do the minilesson "Thinking About a Process." Ask students to name processes that they know how to do.

For more on "Transitions," see the other minilessons.

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