Writing from Scratch

Effective, engaging strategies that will boost your confidence in teaching writing

Writing from Scratch is a positive, encouraging book full of practical techniques for elementary teachers and students to get the most out of their writing time. Award-winning author Shannon Anderson presents specific, skill-based lessons through a running theme of baking and cooking. Each lesson, or “recipe,” will help you serve up effective instruction on writing topics like idea generation, figurative language, plotting, and structure. This book is designed not just to develop student writing, but to develop students as writers. The experiences and guidance in Writing From Scratch will inspire you to plan a year-long curriculum—or jump in mid-year—for writing instruction that will make a difference for students today, and into the future.

• Get practical ideas for incorporating writing lessons into your elementary classroom
• Build writing exercises into content lessons, for added writing instruction
• Inspire students to get excited about writing and explore their identities as writers
• Gain the confidence you need to plan a full writing curriculum

Teachers in K-5 settings, as well as principals and education leaders, will benefit from this hands-on writing instruction guide. Perfect for solo use or as a guide for professional development, Writing From Scratch will have you cooking up fantastic writing lessons in no time!

Author’s Note ix

Cooking Success Tips xi

How to Use This Book xiii

01 Preheating the Oven 1

Author Chair 1

Writers’ Notebooks 2

Writing Folders 2

Procedures 2

Spelling 3

Making the Most of Your Time 4

02 Purposeful Planning 5

Recipe: Apples to Apples 5

03 Main Ingredients for Writing 9

04 Recipes for Reviewing 11

Recipe: Writing 11

Recipe: Songs 16

05 Generating Ideas 19

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words 19

Recipe: ME Page 20

Recipe: Expert List 22

06 Generating Focused Topics 25

Recipe: Zooming In on Ideas 25

Recipe: Narrowing Your Focus 26

07 Adding Ideas: Elaboration Techniques 29

Recipe: Adding Details and Dialogue 29

Recipe: Adding Oomph to Persuade 31

08 Organization 35

Recipe: A Paragraph Has Legs 35

Recipe: A Paragraph as Part of a Patio 37

09 Organizing Fiction Writing 39

Recipe: Two Rectangles + Four Squares Planner 39

Recipe: Narrative Beginnings 42

Recipe: Which Is the Real Intro? 43

Recipe: Crafting Endings 44

Recipe: The Mighty Middle of a Story 46

Recipe: Story Spine Technique 48

10 Developing Characters 51

Recipe: Playing with POV 51

Recipe: Switching POV 52

Recipe: Inside and Outside Descriptions 54

Recipe: Setting the Setting 56

11 Organizing Informational Writing 59

Recipe: Informational Beginnings 59

Recipe: Research Writing 60

Recipe: Text Feature Scavenger Hunt 62

Recipe: Adding Text Features 64

12 Playing with Structures 67

Recipe: How- to Writing 68

Recipe: Alphabet Structure 69

Recipe: Compare and Contrast 70

Recipe: Cumulative Structure 72

Recipe: Diary Structure 73

Recipe: Parallel Structure 74

Recipe: Letters from Around the World 76

Recipe: End- of- Year Letters 78

Recipe: Question and Answer Format 79

13 Word Choice 81

Recipe: Strong Verbs 81

Recipe: Precise Nouns 82

Recipe: Vivid Descriptions 84

Recipe: Sensory Details 85

14 Using Figurative Language Devices 87

Recipe: Let’s Alliterate! 87

Recipe: Noisy Words (Onomatopoeia!) 89

Recipe: Best Hyperboles in the Entire World! 90

Recipe: Personification Stations 93

Recipe: What Is Assonance? 95

Recipe: Similes Are as Easy as Pie! 96

Recipe: Making Metaphors 98

Recipe: Idiomatic Expressions 99

15 Adding Humor 103

Recipe: Pun- tastic Word Play 103

Recipe: Comic Clash 104

16 Making It Flow 107

Recipe: Go with the Flow! 107

Recipe: Transition Types 109

Recipe: Trying Transitions 111

17 Emotion 113

Recipe: Voice Role- Play 113

Recipe: Ewww and Awww Contest 115

Recipe: Show, Don’t Tell 116

18 Grammar and Editing 119

Recipe: Check, Please! 121

Recipe: Dialogue Done Right 124

19 Revising 127

Recipe: Advise and Revise 128

20 Assessment 131

Recipe: Writing Review Rubric 132

Recipe: Rubric- Ready 134

Recipe: Collaborative Conferences 136

Recipe: Teacher and Student Conferences 137

21 Creative Writing Exercises 139

Recipe: Quote- tastic! 139

Recipe: Write It Down, Pass It Around 141

Recipe: You’ve Got 30 Seconds! 142

Recipe: Ode to Food 144

Recipe: Cookbook 145

Recipe: Vote for Me! 147

Recipe: Stick with the Script! 149

Recipe: I Didn’t Know That! 151

Recipe: Weighty Words 152

Recipe: Picture Prompts 153

Recipe: Squiggle Story 155

Recipe: Fractured Fairy Tale 156

Recipe: Tiny Teacher 157

Recipe: Branching Narrative Story 159

Recipe: Newscast 161

22 Poetry 163

Recipe: Rhyme Time! 163

Recipe: Haiku 165

Recipe: Cinquain 166

Recipe: Shape Poems 168

Recipe: Fingerprint Poem 171

23 Other Writing Forms 175

Recipe: Daily Journaling 175

Recipe: Writing from the Wild 177

Recipe: Biography Projects 179

Recipe: Career Exploration Projects 180

Recipe: Class News 182

Recipe: Goal Setting 184

24 End- of- Year Publishing Project 187

Mentor Text List 191

A Note to Teachers 193

Acknowledgments 195

About the Author 197

Index 199

SHANNON ANDERSON is an award-winning children’s author, educator, and speaker. She taught for 25 years, from first grade through college level, and was named one of 10 Teachers who Awed and Inspired by The Today Show in 2019. Anderson currently teaches at Franklin College as an Instructor of Education.

WHET YOUR STUDENTS’ APPETITE FOR WRITING WITH FUN “RECIPES” AND EASY-TO-USE TECHNIQUES

There comes a point in every teacher’s career when we realize that ready-made lesson plans and one-size-fits-all activities aren’t sparking students’ passion for writing. Just as homemade cookies are better than store-bought, writing lessons that are tailored to students’ particular needs and interests are always going to be more engaging. Writing from Scratch: Lesson Plans to Boost Your Classroom Writing Instruction is a “cookbook” for crafting writing lessons that will not only get students writing, but help transform them into writers.

Great writing instruction doesn’t have to be difficult. In this book, award-winning educator Shannon Anderson shares simple ideas for incorporating writing into any elementary classroom. “Cooking demonstrations” give you step-by-step instructions and examples for using each technique. Flip through to the topics that interest you most and teach students how to:

• Brainstorm writing topics
• Add details and dialogue
• Create settings and characters
• Write letters, diaries, poems, how-tos, and more
• Use devices like metaphor and hyperbole
• Incorporate humor and emotion
• Edit and revise their work

You’ll also discover fun creative writing exercises, planning tips, and guidance on setting young writers up for success. Writing from Scratch is a great supplement for elementary teachers ready to cook up great writing lessons.

“Writing from Scratch is one of the best resources I’ve come across for any educator looking to inspire young writers. Shannon Anderson provides practical instruction that helps students not only become better writers, but more joyful ones.”
—Trevor Muir, Teacher, Author, Speaker

"During Shannon Anderson's 25+ years of teaching her expertise and creativity created enriching environments for student writers to thrive. Educators will find the lessons in Writing from Scratch appetizing and students will eat them up!"
—Dr. Diana Bartnick Schmidt, Professor Emerita of Education, Franklin College

“Unique and energizing, Writing from Scratch is a creative approach to a traditional topic—a must-have resource for educators that’s guaranteed to grow young students into confident, engaged writers. Anderson's text is solid and provides elementary teachers with an easy-to-use treasury of explanations, strategies, scaffolding, and examples that are fun and effective.”
—Dr. Jeanneine P. Jones, Professor Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Charlotte