Fleshing out Sketchy Writing

Following up on last week’s idea of a writer’s toolbox –What’s another tool - craft element- in our writing tool boxes?


Fleshing out Sketchy Writing





Ralph Fletcher introduces this element early – K-2, and, of course, carries it on through the upper grades.  For younger kids, he even advises cutting and paste a text like this next text. 

My Grammy lives on a farm.    
She lives in Nebraska.
Right now she is very sick.
Everybody is worried.
I hope she is ok.

You could cut out the first sentence and ask student to picture animals on the farm –e.g. goats.  You could do the same with the next sentence and suggest writing or drawing a map of Nebraska.  Actually do it with the entire story.  He suggests that it’s a great way to add more details.

Katie Woodray in Wondrous Words turns to mentor texts to show kids how authors such as Eloise Greenfield in Honey, I Love and Other Love Poems gives us specific thing/s about a topic. Woodray contends that many of us are good at helping kids find important things to write about that matters to them – like your mother – then we move on to next kid to help him/her “death of a beloved pet”.  But too often the topic was good, but the writing not nearly up to the chosen topic.   She uses mentor texts like Greenfield’s poems to show ten year old Kyle how to develop specific things to write about his mother; below is what Kyle wrote.  Kyle’s paragraph could easily be used as a mentor text to “Flesh out a Sketchy Paragraph”.  For younger students, even “cut and paste” Kyle’s sentences to show how he fleshed out his details.


Mom, I love a lot of things about you. Like you drive when it rains and the way you let my friends spend the night.  I love a lot of things about you. Like the way when I walk in the door you ask me did I have a good day at school and the way you kiss me good night before I go to bed. And the way you wash my clothes for me and the way you give me toys and the way you play with me when I don’t have no one to play with.  I love you mom for lots of things, but most of all you love me too.

Marty

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