Writing Models

SENTENCE PATTERNS

1. List
The girl in My Brown Bear Barney (by Dorothy Butler) always takes things with her when she goes someplace. When she goes to bed, she takes…
“a good book or two, our old dog Charlie, an apple for the morning, a big silver flashlight and her brown bear Barney”.
What does each of these things tell you about her?
She takes a book because _________.
She takes a flashlight because ________.
She takes her dog because ________.
Complete the list:
When The Three Bears go to Six Flags they
take __________, __________, __________,
and _________________________________.

2. Days of the Week Story
Cookie’s Week by Cindy Ward. Scholastic, 1988.
Cookie the cat creates a mess wherever she goes.
Suppose Cookie jumped inside of a first grader’s book bag on Sunday night. The next day he rode to school! What kinds of messes could Cookie make at school?
On Monday Cookie __________.
There was __________ everywhere!
On Tuesday Cookie __________.
There was __________ everywhere!
On Wednesday Cookie __________.
There was __________ everywhere!
On Thursday Cookie __________.
There was __________ everywhere!
Tomorrow is Friday.
Maybe Cookie will __________.

3. The Chain-of-Events Story
Spoiled Tomatoes by Bill Martin, Jr.
Write a school story about a ball that sets off a chain of events.
One day at recess, __________ kicked the
ball. The ball disturbed __________ who
____________. This bothered ____________
who ______________. When this happened,
____________ bumped into ___________ and
said ” ______________________”.
Then they all _______________. Finally_________________.

4. Exaggeration
The Tea Squall by Adriane Dewey. Greenwillow, 1988.
Here are statements by the ladies attending a tea party.
“What a winter we had,” said Florinda. “It was so cold that ice cream came out when I milked the cow.”
Jack! The Giant is Back! by Tom Birdseye.
His feet were so stinky that the geese fainted in mid air.
TRY:
His nose was as long as
His eyes were as round as
When he sneezed
His hands were so large that

5. Metaphor
Silver Seeds by Paul Paoilli
The hills were huge elephants in a row laying low and sleeping.
The clouds were creamy scoops of ice cream lying out under a dreamy blue sky.
The ____________ was a what?
doing what?
where?

6. Personification
When the Earth Wakes by Ani Rucki.
When the Earth wakes she throws off her blankets of snow and dances in the soft breezes.
When the rain falls it
When the flowers bloom they
When the wind blows it

7. Attribute Listing
Winter is the Warmest Season by Lauren Stringer. Harcourt, 2006.
All the warm things connected with winter.
Write: Summer is the Coolest Season.

8. Alliteration
Dinorellaby Pamela Duncan Hyperion, 1997.
A stone age Cinderella told with as many words beginning with “D” as possible.
Write a paragraph about a familiar fairy tale character.
Include as many words as possible beginning with the first letter of the character’s name.

9. Descriptive Writing
Toad by Ruth Brown.
“This is the tale of toad. A muddy toad, a mucky toad, a clammy, sticky, gooey toad, odorous, oozing, foul and filthy and dripping with venomous fluid.
Brainstorm more words to describe a toad.
Add descriptive words to this paragraph
from The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen.
The little mermaid went out of her (1)_______
pool where the sea witch lived. No (2)________
grew there, only(3) ____________ sand stretched toward the pool, where the water was like a
(4) ____ She traveled a path of(5) ______ slime.
The trees on either side reached out with
(6) ________arms. Watersnakes wallowed in
the mud showing their(7) ________ bellies.
In the middle of a clearing sat the (8)________
seawitch with a (9)___________ in her mouth, a
(10)_______ around her neck and(11) __________
which covered her hands and feet.

10. Playing with Homonyms
The King Who Rained by Fred Gwynne.
Illustrate the double meaning of a homonym.
Ex: He had a corn on his big toe.
The illustration might show a big toe with a stalk of corn growing from it.

11. The Parody
The Happy Hockey Family by Lane Smith.
A parody of the Dick and Jane stories.
Write a short scene from a classic as
a Dick and Jane parody.
Treasure Island
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Romeo and Juliet
Wizard of Oz

12. Point of view
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Lane Smith.
Told from the wolf’s point of view.
Write a paragraph giving:
The stepmother’s point of view in Snow White.
The wolf’s point of view in Little Red Riding Hood
The point of view of the witch in Rapunzel.
The point of view of the witch in Hansel and Gretel.

13. Personal Narrative
When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant.

14. Patterns
The Shoemaker Extraordinaire by Steve Light.
What would each of the following wish for?
trees, paintbrushes, snails, tomatoes, pigs, stars?
See also: Fortunately by Remy Charlip.

15. Math and Literature
Math Fables by Greg Tang
Brainstorm a list of math words. Use as many as possible in a short fable.

16. Elaboration
See: Hoots and Toots by Larry Shles
Nose Drops by Larry Shles www.hootsandtoots.com
Create a sketch to elaborate on Squib. What else could he be? Write a brief explanation as to how he came to assume the new identity.
Ex: How did Squib get to be “Magic Squib” the famous basketball player?