Plot Building

Classroom Ready Materials for Teaching Writing and Literary Analysis Skills in Grades 4 to 8

Arlene F. Marks, Bette J. Walker

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2015
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781475818390
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Teaching Arts & Humanities

The Let Them Write Seriesis a classroom-tested, teacher-friendly resource for Language Arts teachers of grades 4 through 8. The program is organized in nine sections, each presenting a buffet of from five to nine 1- or 2-week modules. Each classroom-ready module consists of a series of comprehensive, easy-to-follow lesson plans complete with reproducible handouts and cross-curricular extensions, together creating a proven successful template for the teaching of writing and literary analysis skills.

Let Them Write: Plot Building focuses on conflict, suspense and narrative structure. Students practice first-drafting, editing, polishing and sharing original scenes and stories built around these three important elements of storytelling. The textcan be implemented in the classroom alone or in tandem with the two other titles in the Let Them Write Series —SETTING AND DESCRIPTION and CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

Also of interest for classroom teachers is the Literacy: Made for All Series

WORDSMITHING: Classroom Ready Materials for Teaching Nonfiction Writing and Analysis Skills in the High School Grades
ENJOYING LITERATURE: Classroom Ready Materials for Teaching Fiction and Poetry Analysis Skills in the High School Grades
STORY CRAFTING: Classroom Ready Materials for Teaching Fiction Writing in the High School Grades

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Section 1: Suspense
• SUSPENSE SKILL 1: Using Settings to Build Suspense
• SUSPENSE SKILL 2: CREATING SUSPENSE WITH TIME: Race between Hero and Villain
• SUSPENSE SKILL 3: CREATING SUSPENSE WITH TIME: Race against the Clock
• SUSPENSE SKILL 4: CREATING SUSPENSE WITH TIME: Near Misses
• SUSPENSE SKILL 5: MAXIMIZING SUSPENSE BY TEASING
• SUSPENSE SKILL 6: MAINTAINING SUSPENSE BY KEEPING THE BALANCE OF POWER
• SUSPENSE SKILL 7: DEVELOPING THE SUSPENSE IN A SITUATION: Using Multiple Techniques
• Section 2: DRAMATIC CONFLICT
• DRAMATIC CONFLICT SKILL 1: UNDERSTANDING DRAMATIC CONFLICT
• DRAMATIC CONFLICT SKILL 2: BUILDING DRAMATIC CONFLICT
• DRAMATIC CONFLICT SKILL 3: CREATING TEXTURE WITH THREE KINDS OF CONFLICT
• DRAMATIC CONFLICT SKILL 4: UNDERSTANDING STORY GOALS AND SCENE GOALS
• Section 3: Story Structure
• STORY STRUCTURE SKILL 1: UNDERSTANDING STORY STRUCTURE: A Change Story
• STORY STRUCTURE SKILL 2: UNDERSTANDING STORY STRUCTURE: A Problem Story
• STORY STRUCTURE SKILL 3: UNDERSTANDING SCENE STRUCTURE
• STORY STRUCTURE SKILL 4: LINKING SCENES
• STORY STRUCTURE SKILL 5: WRITING OPENING SCENES
• STORY STRUCTURE SKILL 6: WRITING CLOSING SCENES—THE CLIMAX