Small Moments: Generating Ideas for Writing

On Monday we began our first Writing Workshop unit of study:  Personal Narratives.  The first part of this unit focuses on studying the Masters for Inspiration and Ideas.  The second part of the unit is on Author’s Crafts:  studying imagery, tension and literary language in Owl Moon.  The unit wraps up with students studying their own authors.  Our first lesson focused on discovering small moments that generate ideas for writing.  Students learned that not just any story is worth telling – but meaningful stories stand out.  As a class we read the first page in Owl Moon and The Leaving Morning.  We discussed how in Owl Moon the author, Jane Yolen, felt that the one small moment when her husband and daughter went on an owling trip was worth sharing.  We also discussed how The Leaving Morning is an unusual way to describe a moving day.  Many students agreed that Angela Johnson, author of The Leaving Morning, most likely has moved in her real life.  We wrapped up the lesson with students brainstorming small moments from their lives that are worth writing about.  Below are the stories we brainstormed.