What do many students think when they first get a writing prompt?

I don’t know what to write about!I don’t know how to start!

= I Information

= Heart Emotions & Feelings

= U Uniquely You

I “Heart” U

Information - Where were you?

- What did you see?- What did you hear?- What did you smell?- What did you taste?- What did you feel (temperature, hands, etc.)

Who was there?What do we need to know about the people

who were there?

Heart• How did you feel?• What were you thinking?• Which emotions were going through your

mind? Your heart?

Uniquely YouStart with what makes this story unique.Start with the lesson you learned in the story.Start with why this story is uniquely yours.

Write an essay about a time when something unexpected happened.

Topic Brainstorming

= I Information

= Heart Emotions & Feelings

= U Uniquely You

I “Heart” U

= I Information

= Heart Emotions & Feelings

= U Uniquely You

I “Heart” U

Use I “Heart” U to pick your topic.

•The day when my friend was arrested for stealing. I U

Austin

Foley’s

Police Officer

Jewelry Department

MeStore Manager

Martha

Martha handcuffed

Police arrive

Martha taken away

Austin jail

I learned…

DON’T STEAL!

It’s your turn!

Go ahead and do your own “tree map.”

•The day when my friend was arrested for stealing. I U

It’s your turn!

Go ahead and do your own “flow map.”

Topic: Write about a time when something unexpected happened.

TIP ONE!

Hook the reader!!

Step Away from These Openings!“Like if I hang around with my friends and they do a lot of bad things, it could probably make me bad to.”

“I am going to tell you a story about a time when I learned something really important.”

“How life can teach you an important lesson.”

“My name is Jan and I hope you will like this essay about a time I learned something important.

InformationShopping with my best friend Martha was one of my favorite activities. On this particular day, we’d had a fabulous time shopping the sales at Foley’s. As we walked out of the store, the unthinkable happened; my friend was arrested!

Heart

It was unthinkable! I couldn’t believe it! How could she do this? After an exciting day of shopping, my best friend Martha was arrested for stealing a pair of earrings right before my eyes!

Uniquely YouWhat do you do when your best friend is arrested? I found out on one Saturday afternoon that will live in my mind forever.

Decide where you’ll begin. = I Information

= Heart Emotions & Feelings

= U Uniquely You

Keep it Going!Refer back to your graphic organizers.Remember to include information, your

feelings, and your unique twist to the story.

Tip two! Make your story come alive

with action verbs!Be verbs:

AmIs

AreWasWere

Look at you rough draft.

Find every time you use the word WAS. Circle it.Replace it with an action verb.

ExamplesMy little brother was running through the

house yelling at the top of his lungs.My little brother ran through the house yelling

at the top of his lungs.The dogs next door are horrible.

The horrible dogs next door barked all night.The game was exciting.

The exciting game caused a heart attack!

Tip #3 Transitions!!!Transitions! Use them!

FirstThenNextLastly

MeanwhileAlso

In addition

Tip # 4 Ba Da Bing!Where did I go?

What did you see?

What did you think?

Example:

I walked…………and saw……….., and I thought……

Tip #5 Finish Strong!!

So what????