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Short Story Writing

Grade 6 ELA

Emily DeLucia-Burk
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Table of Contents

Unit Rationale – p. 2

Unit Organizer – p. 4

Month-at-a-Glance – p. 6

Unit Assessment Plan – p. 18

Resources – p. 22
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Unit Rationale
Overview:
In this unit, students will learn how to effectively organize, express, and share their ideas

in writing. By exploring the form and structure of the short story, students will develop tools and

strategies to enhance the clarity and artistry of communication, while also developing their voice

as a writer. Students will have many opportunities to practice writing and engage in different

aspects of the writing process. The unit is developed so as to provide scaffolded support

throughout, with a gradual increase in student autonomy as they gain knowledge and confidence

in their writing skills. A key aspect of this unit is student self-reflection on their strengths and

areas of growth as a writer, which is then used to create student-driven goals and plans for

facilitating their own growth as a writer. Through this unit, students build crucial literacy and

metacognitive skills, both of which will contribute to their confidence and self-efficacy not only

as a writer, but as an individual.

Essential Questions:

• How can I organize a story so that it makes sense?

• How do writers draw the reader in and make them want to keep reading?

• In what ways am I growing as a writer?

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Literary Learnings:
• Adding descriptive detail
• Establishing context
• Writing with an awareness of audience
• Effectively organizing ideas, details, and events
• Sentence structure
• Editing and revising skills
• The writing process
• Generating ideas
• Story structure and organization
• Comparative and superlative adjectives
• Character and character growth
• Writing conventions

Focused Outcomes Language Arts Demonstrations of

Learning
1.1.4 - assess personal Reading Formative:
language use, and revise Writing • One of the two stories
personal goals to enhance Speaking they have written
language learning and use Listening (chosen by student)
2.2.4c - discuss how detail is Viewing • Paragraph-length
used to enhance character, Representing story
setting, action and mood in • Class discussion
oral, print and other media • Exit slips
texts • Engagement in
2.4.3a - determine purpose writing workshops
and audience needs to
choose forms, and organize Summative:
ideas and details in oral, • Demonstration of
print and other media texts Growth Paragraph
4.1.2a - revise to provide Response
focus, expand relevant ideas • Various editing
and eliminate unnecessary assignments
information • One of the two stories
4.1.2c - use paragraph they have written
structures in expository and (chosen by student)
narrative texts • Writing Portfolio and
4.2.1b - use complex Reflections
sentence structures and a • Final Reflection and
variety of sentence types in conference on growth
own writing as a writer
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Unit Organizer
Opening Developmental Culminating

• Introducing Unit • Self-assessment of writing • Organizing and handing

Outcomes • “Two Stars and a Wish” handout in Writing Portfolios
• Student weighting of to identify two areas of strength, with checklists
rubric components and an area of growth • Writing Portfolio and
• Generating ideas as a • Goal setting for growth as writers Reflections due
class in response to a • Series of Writing Workshops for Monday, April 17
visual prompt Short Story #1 • Exit slip
• Introduce Writing • Pre-writing and planning • Final Reflection due
Portfolio strategies Monday, April 17
• Paragraph-length short • “Narrative Writing Diamond” • Final editing
story due Tuesday, handout assignment due
March 14 • Voting on best book beginnings Tuesday, April 18
• Lesson on Descriptive • Lesson on elements of a good • Preparing to share their
Detail beginning (hook, establish work
• Sketch-to-sketch activity context with character and • Student conferences
using a satisfactory and setting, foreshadowing/hint at with teacher on growth
an excellent student conflict) as a writer (April 18-
exemplar from the PAT • “Beginnings that Make You 19)
• Play “Tell Me More” Want to Read More” • Sharing Short Stories
• Exit slips • Lesson on elements of the middle with Author’s
• Class discussion of a story (building suspense, Chair/Gallery Walk
solving the problem using the (decided by class vote)
rule of three)
• Pacing diagram
• Lesson on character growth and
elements of a good vs bad ending
• Lesson on writing conventions,
sentence structure, and the
editing process
• Highlighter editing
• Short Story #1 due Friday,
March 24
• TEDtalk - What every Teenage
Aspiring Writer Needs to Know |
Isabela Moreno
• Revisit and revise writing goals
• Exit slips
• Class discussion
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• Stations focusing on student-

identified areas of growth
(activities are based on each main
category of the rubric (content,
organization, sentence structure,
vocab, conventions. Students will
rank their comfort level/difficulty
with each of the 5 categories and
reflect on their writing goals,
then choose a station that best
supports their growth as a
writer.)
• Daily log and self-reflection on
effort and learning during
stations
• Demonstration of Growth
Paragraph Response due
• Various editing assignments
• Writing workshops for Short
Story #2
• Review of previous lessons
• Lessons determined by formative
assessment of student needs
• Lesson on providing appropriate
peer feedback
• Video - Writing Peer Review
(Peer Critique) TOP 10 Mistakes
• Short Story #2 due Thursday,
April 6
• Adding to Writing Portfolio and
Reflections
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Month-at-a-Glance
Week 1 – March 13-17
Monday, Focus: Introducing Unit Outcomes
March 13 Literary Learnings: generating ideas, the importance of content and
organization in writing
Resources: Narrative Writing Rubric (adapted from PAT), Visual Prompt from
2018 PAT
Activities:
• Note: Set up Writing Portfolio with 6F in Literacy
• Have students cut up the rubric and individually arrange it in order of
importance, then compare with their desk partner. As a class, discuss the
order in which students put aspects of the rubric. Emphasize that content
and organization are worth twice as much as conventions.
• In preparation for tomorrow’s writing assignment, model how to brainstorm
and generate ideas using the PAT image used during last week’s activity.
Discuss and generate ideas as a class.
• Exit slip: “If you saw this picture again and needed to write a story about it,
what would you write your story about?
Formative Assessments: evaluative observation during rubric activity, class
discussion, exit slip
SLO’s: 2.4.3a
Tuesday, Focus: Writing a Narrative Response on a Visual Prompt
March 14 Literary Learnings: generating ideas, short story writing, story structure and
organization
Resources: Visual Prompt from 2018 PAT
Activities:
• Note: Set up Writing Portfolio with 6E in Literacy
• Review the activity on generating ideas in response to a prompt from
yesterday with students, and hand back their exit slips. As a group, have
students discuss and share ideas for a story they could write about it.
• Explain to students that my focus when marking their writing will be on
their ideas and how they organize them, so when writing they should focus
on the sequencing of their story (beginning, middle, end).
• Students will have the rest of the period in the computer lab to write their
stories. This will be due at the end of the period.
Formative Assessments: class discussion
Summative Assessments: paragraph-length short story (added to Writing
Portfolio)
SLO’s: 2.4.3a
Wednesday, Focus: Drawing the Reader In with Descriptive Detail
March 15 Literary Learnings: adjectives, descriptive writing, expanding on ideas
Resources: a satisfactory student exemplar and an excellent student exemplar
from the PAT, “Drawing the Reader In” handout for notes
Activities:
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• Mini lesson: adding descriptive details to writing through expanding on

ideas and word choice (comparative and superlative adjectives,
synonyms). During this, students will fill out the “Drawing the Reader
In” handout.
• Play “Tell Me More” – an image will be displayed on the board, and in
groups of 3-4 students will have 3 minutes to describe it with as much
detail as possible. Groups will then share with the class, and points will
be awarded to decide a winning group (1 point for each adjective, 2
points for expanding on ideas).
• Exit slip: Hand out slips of paper with a simple sentence written on it,
and have students revise by adding descriptive detail it so that it draws
the reader in.
Formative Assessments: class discussion, “Tell Me More” activity, exit slips
SLO’s: 2.2.4c, 4.1.2c
Thursday, Focus: Self-Reflection on Areas of Strength and Areas of Growth as Writers
March 16 Literary Learnings: self-reflection on writing
Resources: “Two Stars and a Wish” handout, goal setting handout, slides on
goal-setting, revised PAT narrative writing rubric
Activities:
• Return student stories from Tuesday with feedback.
• Students will self-assess their work using a revised version of the rubric
introduced on Monday (only content and organization sections, adapted
to reflect the nature of the assignment).
• Using the “Two Star and a Wish” handout, students will identify two
areas of strength, and an area of growth.
• Mini lesson: setting SMART goals
• Students will set a goal related to their area of growth identified earlier.
Once completed, both the “Two Stars and a Wish” handout as well as
the goal setting handout will go into their Writing Portfolio duotangs
(introduced in Literacy earlier this week).
Formative Assessments: self-assessment of writing
Summative Assessments: Writing Portfolio (add story, “Two Star and a Wish”
and goal setting handout)
SLO’s: 1.1.4

Friday, No School (PL Day)

March 17
Week 2 - March 20-24
Monday, Focus: Writing Workshops – Pre-Writing and Planning
March 20 Literary Learnings: story structure and organization, generating ideas, pre-
writing strategies
Resources: “Narrative Writing Diamond” handout, The Bridge - Short Video
from "The Literacy Shed"
Activities:
• Explain to students that they will be writing a story over the course of
the next week in response to one of two prompts.
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•Review story structure and organization from last week.

•Watch The Bridge and fill out the narrative writing diamond as a class.
•Provide students with time to generate ideas and brainstorm with a
partner.
• Students will then plan out their story using the “Narrative Writing
Diamond” handout.
Formative Assessments: evaluative observation during partner work, class
discussion,
Summative Assessments: Writing Portfolio (add student planning on
“Narrative Writing Diamond” handout)
SLO’s: 2.4.3a
Tuesday, Focus: Writing Workshops – Beginnings that Make You Want to Read More
March 21 Literary Learnings: elements of an introduction, adding interest to writing
through detail, establishing context, story organization
Resources: “Beginnings that Make You Want to Read More” handout for notes
Activities:
• Print out the intro from several different stories and put them on the
walls around the room. Have students walk around and read them, then
stand by sentence that would make them most likely to read that book.
Ask a few students from each group to share why that excerpt interested
them.
• Mini lesson: elements of good beginning (hook, establish context with
character and setting, foreshadowing/hint at conflict), during this
students will fill in their “Beginnings that Make You Want to Read
More” handout
• Using the above handout as a reference sheet, students will write the
beginning of their story.
Formative Assessments: class discussion, evaluative observation of student
writing/engagement in the writing process
SLO’s: 2.2.4c, 4.1.2c
Wednesday, Focus: Writing Workshops –How to Write a Story that the Reader Can’t Put
March 22 Down
Literary Learnings: story structure and organization, descriptive detail
Resources: pacing diagram example, pacing diagram handout, slides on the
elements of the middle of a story (building suspense, creating conflict, solving
the problem using the rule of 3)
Activities:
• Mini lesson: elements of the middle of a story (building suspense,
solving the problem using the rule of three). During this, students will
• Have students fill out a pacing diagram for their story to see how much
space each event will take up. Show an example of a pacing diagram for
the video shown on Monday, and explain that the middle should take up
the most space.
• Time to write.
Formative Assessments: class discussion, evaluative observation of student
writing/engagement in the writing process
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SLO’s: 2.2.4c, 2.4.3a, 4.1.2c

Thursday, Focus: Writing Workshops – Writing the Ending – Why Did This Story
March 23 Matter?
Literary Learnings: character and character growth
Resources: slides on character growth and what not to do when writing the
ending
Activities:
• Discuss frustrating endings to books or movies. Why was it a bad
ending? (Suggestions include making the rest of the book feel pointless,
loose ends/lack of closure, lack of character change/growth). As a class,
generate a few examples of bad endings.
• Mini lesson: how to write an ending to your story that “makes it matter”
to the reader through character growth.
• Time to write.
Formative Assessments: class discussion, evaluative observation of student
writing/engagement in the writing process
SLO’s: 2.2.4c, 2.4.3a, 4.1.2c
Friday, Focus: Writing Workshops – Editing and Revisions
March 24 Literary Learnings: writing conventions, strategies for editing writing, sentence
structure
Resources: “Highlighter Editing” sheet, slides on writing conventions and the
editing process
Activities:
• Mini lesson: writing conventions, sentence structure, and the editing
process
• Students will reread their story, and complete the “Highlighter Editing”
sheet, and make revisions as necessary.
• Formative Assessments: evaluative observation
• Summative Assessments: Writing Portfolio (add completed
“Highlighter Editing” sheet)
• (Possible) Summative Assessments: Short Story #1 due at the end of the
period (students will choose which of their stories to submit for a grade
after writing their second story)
SLO’s: 4.1.2a

Week 3* - March 27-31

Monday, Focus: Reflecting on Your Growth as a Writer
March 27 Literary Learnings: reflection on growth as a writer
Resources: What every Teenage Aspiring Writer Needs to Know | Isabela
Moreno
Activities:
• Watch the above video, and ask students to share their main takeaways.
• Students will receive formative feedback on Short Story #1 (no mark
assigned yet).
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• Students will revisit the writing goals they made during week 1 of the
unit, and reflect on their progress. Students may revise their goals as
necessary. Once complete, this will go into their Writing Portfolio
duotangs.
• Exit slip: Students will respond to the prompt “What is one part of your
story that you are proud of?” on a sticky note. (Examples of potential
areas will be provided on the board – i.e., word choice, creative ideas,
an attention-grabbing beginning.)
Formative Assessments: class discussion, exit slip
Summative Assessments: Writing Portfolio (add reflection on writing goals)

Tuesday, Focus: Focusing on Student-Identified Areas of Growth – Introduction/Day 1

March 28 Literary Learnings: content of writing, organization of writing, sentence
structure, vocabulary, writing conventions
Resources: self-assessment of daily reflection sheets, visual and written
prompts, texts to edit and organize, highlighters
Activities:
• Introduce and explain how the next few classes will look to students.
• There will be 5 stations set up throughout the room with activities based
on each main category of the rubric (content, organization, sentence
structure, vocab, conventions).
• Students will rank their comfort level/difficulty with each of the 5
categories and reflect on their writing goals, then choose a station that
best supports their growth as a writer. Encourage students to choose the
stations that they indicated were the most difficult for them.
• Halfway through the period, notify students that they may now choose
another station, or continue at their current station.
• Potential station activities:
o Content – creating a mind map of ideas in response to a visual
or written prompt
o Organization – ordering sentences to make a story
o Sentence structure – using different coloured highlighters to
identify compound, complex, and simple sentences
o Vocab – in partners: write down adjectives to describe an image,
then compare lists
o Conventions – edit sentences for errors
• At the end of class, students will fill out a daily reflection sheet in their
Writing Portfolio duotang with the stations and activities they did, and
rank their effort in this class as well as how much they feel they
learned/benefited from these activities out of 5 stars (differentiation:
listing the stations/activities and having students circle which one they
did and colouring in stars to rank their effort and learning; written
description of the stations and activities they did, and adding a rational
for their rankings).
Formative Assessments: evaluative observation
Summative Assessments: Writing Portfolio (add work and daily reflection)
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SLO’s: 1.1.4, 2.2.4c, 2.4.3a, 4.1.2a, 4.1.2c, 4.2.1b

Wednesday, Focus: Focusing on Student-Identified Areas of Growth – Day 2

March 29 Literary Learnings: content of writing, organization of writing, sentence
structure, vocabulary, writing conventions
Resources: daily reflection sheets, texts to edit
Activities:
• Explain the different activities and stations available to students.
• There will be 5 stations set up throughout the room with activities based
on each main category of the rubric (content, organization, sentence
structure, vocab, conventions).
• Students will reflect on their writing goals and feedback on their story,
then choose a station that best supports their growth as a writer.
• Halfway through the period, notify students that they may now choose
another station, or continue at their current station.
• Potential station activities:
o Content – “What Happened?” – students are given a conflict and
must work backwards to create events which led up to this
o Organization – students choose a character trait to work with
from a list, and create a series of events which would show this
o Sentence structure – revising simple sentences to complex
sentences
o Vocab – replacing boring words with descriptive/vivid words
using a thesaurus
o Conventions – practice adding quotation marks appropriately
• At the end of class, students will fill out a daily reflection sheet in their
Writing Portfolio duotang with the stations and activities they did, and
rank their effort in this class as well as how much they feel they
learned/benefited from these activities out of 5 stars (differentiation:
listing the stations/activities and having students circle which one they
did and colouring in stars to rank their effort and learning; written
description of the stations and activities they did, and adding a rational
for their rankings).
Formative Assessments: evaluative observation
Summative Assessments: Writing Portfolio (add work and daily reflection)
SLO’s: 1.1.4, 2.2.4c, 2.4.3a, 4.1.2a, 4.1.2c, 4.2.1b

Thursday, Focus: Focusing on Student-Identified Areas of Growth – Day 3

March 30 Literary Learnings: content of writing, organization of writing, sentence
structure, vocabulary, writing conventions
Resources: daily reflection sheets, prompts, list of transition words, student
exemplar
Activities:
• Explain the different activities and stations available to students.
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• There will be 5 stations set up throughout the room with activities based
on each main category of the rubric (content, organization, sentence
structure, vocab, conventions).
• Students will reflect on their writing goals and feedback on their story,
then choose a station that best supports their growth as a writer.
• Potential station activities:
o Content – creating attention-grabbing sentences or building
suspense
o Organization – students brainstorm as many creative solutions
as possible to a problem presented
o Sentence structure – in partners: students are given a list of
transition words and asked to create sentence stems, then switch
with a partner to finish the sentences (each beginning must be
different)
o Vocab – in partners: each student receives a different picture
prompt to describe with as much detail as possible, then
switches with a partner and tries to draw the picture based on the
description.
o Conventions – edit student exemplar for errors
• Halfway through the period, notify students that they will now be asked
to practice applying what they have learned this week by editing a
student exemplar text.
• At the end of class, students will fill out a daily reflection sheet in their
Writing Portfolio duotang with the stations and activities they did, and
rank their effort in this class as well as how much they feel they
learned/benefited from these activities out of 5 stars (differentiation:
listing the stations/activities and having students circle which one they
did and colouring in stars to rank their effort and learning; written
description of the stations and activities they did, and adding a rational
for their rankings).
Formative Assessments: evaluative observation
Summative Assessments: Writing Portfolio (add work and daily reflection),
Editing Assignment
SLO’s: 1.1.4, 2.2.4c, 2.4.3a, 4.1.2a, 4.1.2c, 4.2.1b

Friday, Focus: Focusing on Student-Identified Areas of Growth – Show How You’ve

March 31 Grown
Literary Learnings: content of writing, organization of writing, sentence
structure, vocabulary, writing conventions
Resources: selection of visual prompts
Activities:
• Students will write a paragraph response to one of 3 prompts, focusing
on the aspect of writing from the narrative writing rubric that they
identified on Tuesday as their most significant area of growth.
Summative Assessments: Demonstration of Growth Paragraph Response
SLO’s: 1.1.4, 2.2.4c, 2.4.3a, 4.1.2a, 4.1.2c, 4.2.1b
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*Note: This plan is subject to change, as the lesson foci will depend on the areas of growth
identified for students after assessing their first stories. These days have been planned
around aspects of writing that are central aspects of short story writing. The timing of the
Editing Assignments will vary depending on student needs.

Week 4 - April 3-7

Monday, Focus: Short Story Writing - Pre-Writing and Planning
April 3 Literary Learnings: review of elements of story structure and organization, pre-
writing and planning
Resources: “Narrative Writing Diamond” handout
Activities:
• Introduce the second short story writing assignment, and the student’s
choice of prompts to respond to.
• Quick review of literary learnings from week 2 (story structure and
organization, elements of an introduction/middle/end, building
suspense, creating conflict, solving the problem using the rule of 3,
character growth).
• Students will have time to generate ideas, then plan out their story using
the “Narrative Writing Diamond” handout or another form of planning.
Formative Assessments: evaluative observation of student writing/engagement
in the writing process
Summative Assessments: Writing Portfolio (add story planning)
SLO’s: 2.4.3a
Tuesday, Focus: Short Story Writing - Drafting
April 4 Literary Learnings: establishing context through character and setting,
organization of events and details
Resources: computer lab
Activities:
• Quick review of establishing context and organizing events and details
to show character growth.
• Students will have time to write their draft in the computer lab.
Formative Assessments: completion of story draft, evaluative observation of
student writing/engagement in the writing process
SLO’s: 2.2.4, 2.4.3a, 4.1.2c
Wednesday, Focus: Short Story Writing – Peer Feedback
April 5 Literary Learnings: revising and editing, conventions
Resources: Writing Peer Review (Peer Critique) TOP 10 Mistakes (student
created video on giving effective peer feedback)
Activities:
• Watch the video with students.
• Go over expectations for the peer feedback process. Provide a template
for verbal peer feedback that includes something the writer did well and
something that they could work on (connected to rubric and specific).
• Allow students to choose a partner to work with, then set a timer for 10
minutes. At this time, ask students to find a new partner to provide
feedback.
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• If time, students can begin editing and revising their stories.

Formative Assessments: evaluative observation
Summative Assessments: Writing Portfolio (add completed peer feedback
template)
SLO’s: 4.1.2a
Thursday, Focus: Short Story Writing – Editing
April 6 Literary Learnings: revising and editing, conventions, sentence structure
Resources: checklist version of rubric
Activities:
• Quick review of writing conventions and sentence structure
• Provide students with a checklist version of the rubric to check their
work before submitting.
• Students will decide whether they would like Short Story #1 or #2 to be
marked and assigned a numerical grade.
Formative Assessments: evaluative observation
Summative Assessments: Writing Portfolio (add completed checklist)
(Possible) Summative Assessments: Short Story #2 due via Microsoft Teams
(Students will decide whether they would like Short Story #1 or #2 to be
marked and assigned a numerical grade)
SLO’s: 4.1.2a, 4.2.1b
Friday, No School (Good Friday)
April 7

Week 5 – April 17-20

Monday, Focus: Wrapping up the Unit - Reflecting on Individual Growth as a Writer
April 17 Literary Learnings: reflecting on strengths and areas of growth as a writer
Activities:
• Hand back Short Story #2 with feedback.
• Explain and provide students with a checklist for organizing their
Writing Portfolio’s and ensuring that they have all the necessary items.
• Explain the expectations for the final reflection on their goals and
growth as a writer, and have students sign up for conference times
during the following blocks:
o 6F: Tuesday ELA, Wednesday Literacy and ELA (possibly
borrow time from Social Studies)
o 6E: Tuesday Literacy and ELA, Wednesday Literacy and ELA
(possibly borrow time from Social Studies)
• Time for students to work on:
o Organizing and handing in their Writing Portfolios with
checklists.
o Completing their Final Reflection (due before their conference).
• Exit slip: After explaining the process of each sharing format, have
students indicate whether they would prefer to do an author’s chair, a
gallery walk, or a combination of the two to share their work with
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peers, and how likely they would be to share their work with each
option via sticky note.
Formative Assessments: exit slip
Summative Assessments: Writing Portfolio and Reflections (with checklist)
and Final Reflection due at the end of the period
SLO’s: 1.1.4
Tuesday, Focus: Wrapping up the Unit - Demonstrating Individual Growth as a Writer
April 18 Literary Learnings: conventions, sentence structure, vocab
Resources:
Activities:
• Introduce and explain Final Editing Assignment: students will be
presented with a copy of the paragraph-length story that they wrote at
the beginning of the unit and asked to edit it using the “Highlighter
Editing” sheet used previously throughout the unit.
• Meet with students for conferences.
• Time for students to work on:
o Completing their Final Reflection.
o Completing the Final Editing Assignment.
• If finished, students can work on any revisions they would like to make
to the stories they plan to share with the class on Thursday.
Summative Assessments: Final Reflection due before conference, Final Editing
Assignment due at the end of the period, Conference on Growth as a Writer
SLO’s: 1.1.4, 4.1.2a, 4.2.1b
Wednesday, Focus: Wrapping up the Unit - Preparing to Share
April 19 Literary Learnings: reflecting on strengths and areas of growth as a writer,
revising work for an audience
Activities:
• Meet with students for conferences.
• Students are encouraged to work on any revisions they would like to
make to the stories they plan to share with the class on Thursday.
• If finished, students can quietly read.
Summative Assessments: Conference on Growth as a Writer
SLO’s: 1.1.4
Thursday, Focus: Wrapping up the Unit - Sharing Short Stories with Author’s
April 20 Chair/Gallery Walk (use double-period?)
Literary Learnings: sharing writing as a part of the writing process, being a
respectful audience/reader
Activities:
• Bring a treat for students (note allergies).
• Expectations for when students are sharing their work, and what being a
respectful reader/audience looks like.
• Explanation of and instructions for the sharing format chosen by the
class.
• Throughout the period, students have the opportunity to share any of the
stories they have written throughout the unit.
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Formative Assessments: engagement and participation in the sharing of stories

SLO’s: 4.3.4b
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Unit Assessment Plan

Final
Demonstration Short
Writing Reflection and
Paragraph- Short Story of Growth Various Editing Story #2
Title Portfolio and Conference on
Length Story #1 Narrative Assignments**
Reflections Growth as a
Response**
Learning Writer
Outcomes
Type F F/S* S S S F/S* S
(Formative/Summative)

n/a OR n/a OR
Weighting n/a 15% 15% 10% 10%
50% 50%

1.1.4 - assess personal language use,

and revise personal goals to enhance X X X
language learning and use

2.2.4c - discuss how detail is used to

enhance character, setting, action and X TBD X
mood in oral, print and other media
texts

2.4.3a - determine purpose and

audience needs to choose forms, and X X TBD X
organize ideas and details in oral, print
and other media texts

4.1.2a - revise to provide focus,

X X X
expand relevant ideas and eliminate
unnecessary information

4.1.2c - use paragraph structures in X X X TBD X

expository and narrative texts

4.2.1b - use complex sentence

X TBD X X
structures and a variety of sentence
types in own writing

*Students will choose their best story to submit for grading. **Content and focus dependant on formative data generated through assessment of student writing.
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Assessment Tool Overview

Triangulation Cognitive
Brief Description Engagement
Assessment (Conversation/ (Taxonomy)

Observation/

Product)

Students will write a paragraph-length story to a visual prompt

introduced and discussed in class the week before. Students

Understand
will be provided with time to brainstorm story ideas as a class
Paragraph-
before going to the computer lab to type their story. The focus P Apply
Length Story
of this assessment is on the quality of the content and the
Create
organization of the student’s ideas in writing. This assignment

will be submitted via Microsoft Teams at the end of class.

Students will write a short story that in response to one of the

two prompts provided. This first short story that students write

will be completed in class over five periods. Students will be Understand

guided through the writing process with each day focusing on

Apply
developing a part of their story in sequence.
Short Story #1 P Analyze
Note: Students will choose to submit either Short Story #1 or
Evaluate
Short Story #2 to be graded as summative, and marked using

an adapted version of the PAT narrative writing rubric which Create

features student-friendly language. They will receive only

formative feedback on their other short story.

 19

Students will write a paragraph-length narrative response to

one of 3 prompts. In their writing, student will focus on the

Demonstration aspect of writing from the narrative writing rubric that they Understand
of Growth identified on earlier in the week as their most significant area
P Apply
Narrative of growth, and have used their time throughout the week

Response completing activities that focus on this area. This response will Create

be assessed using the specific section of the rubric indicated by

the student as an area of growth.

Students will complete several editing assignments throughout Remember

Various the unit. The focus of each assignment will be determined by

Understand
Editing the instruction and opportunities to practice these specific
P Apply
Assignments skills which has been provided based on formative data

generated through assessment of student writing. Analyze

Evaluate

Students will write a short story that in response to one of the

two prompts provided. This second short story that students

write will be completed in class over four periods. Students Understand

will have less structured support and more autonomy when Apply
writing their story and may move through the writing process
Short Story #2 P Analyze
somewhat asynchronously while still attending to the various

stages of planning, drafting, receiving feedback, and editing. Evaluate

Note: Students will choose to submit either Short Story #1 or Create

Short Story #2 to be graded as summative, and marked using

an adapted version of the PAT narrative writing rubric which

 20

features student-friendly language They will receive only

formative feedback on their other short story.

The Writing Portfolio will consist of:

• Student reflections throughout the unit on strengths

and areas of growth as a writer.

Understand
• Student-created goals, and updates on their progress.
Apply
Writing • All student writing generated throughout the unit
Portfolio and (paragraph-length short story, short story #1 and #2, P/O Analyze

Reflections demonstration of growth narrative response) and all Evaluate

related planning, drafting, peer feedback, and editing

Create
work.

This portfolio will be handed in at the end of the unit and

marked for completion (no numerical grade assigned).

In the final week of the unit, students will share their final

reflection on their growth as a writer during a student-teacher

Final conference. This conference will be a primarily student-driven
Reflection and conversation around open-ended prompts to encourage
Conference on students to reflect on what they have learned and celebrate C/P/O All

Growth as a their growth. Students will self-asses the extent of their growth
Writer and learning, assign a value to their learning, and justify why.

The final grade for this assessment grade will be decided

jointly.
 21

Resources
Student Resources:
Bedley, T. (2009, November 14). Writing Peer Review (Peer Critique) TOP 10 Mistakes

[Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/iBuq4qgRhCc.

I chose to show this video before starting the peer review process as it does a good job of

clearly demonstrating what students should not do when providing peer feedback. It was created

by students in a grade 4/5 classroom and is quite funny, so hopefully it will be engaging for the

students.

Government of Alberta (2023). Provincial Achievement Tests. https://www.alberta.ca/provincial-

achievement-tests.aspx?utm_source=redirector.

I have chosen to utilize various prompts and student exemplars from past PAT exams that

have been made available on the Learn Alberta website in order to prepare students for the types

of prompts they may encounter on the PAT this spring, and to provide them with clear examples

of satisfactory and excellent writing so that they can apply this information to their own work.

Moreno, I. (2019, May 30). What Every Teenage Aspiring Writer Needs to Know [Video]. TED.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF9CGRELYFw.

I chose to show this video to students on the day that they receive feedback on their first

story because it is a very inspiring video of a teen writer sharing the struggles of writing and

receiving feedback. I want students to not be discouraged in their writing journey, and hope that

this video will inspire them as we move forward looking at their writing goals.
 22

The Bridge [Video]. The Literacy Shed. https://www.literacyshed.com/the-bridge.html.

I chose to use this video because it works well to show students how to use the “Narrative

Writing Diamond” graphic organizer for the mini lesson on story structure during the pre-writing

stage for Short Story #1. This video also works well for creating an example of a plot diagram to

visually represent the amount of time that each event of the story takes for the mini lesson a few

days later on creating and solving conflict.

Teacher Resources:

Gonzalez, J. (2018, July 29). A Step-by-Step Plan for Teaching Narrative Writing. Cult of

Pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/narrative-writing/.

This text outlines how to effectively teach narrative to middle school students, and provides lots

of helpful strategies and activity ideas which I have implemented in this unit. It is especially

useful for engaging students in storytelling in a meaningful way through the use of personal

narratives.

Government of Alberta (2023). Provincial Achievement Tests. https://www.alberta.ca/provincial-

achievement-tests.aspx?utm_source=redirector.

I chose to use the Learn Alberta website as a resource for teaching in order to familiarize

myself with the provincial standards for grade six narrative writing, and to ensure that I am

mindful of these expectations when I am coaching and supporting students in their writing. I am

also going to be using an adapted version of the Narrative Writing Rubric used when grading

PAT’s provided by the website.

 23

Tompkins, G. E. (2013). 50 Literacy Strategies: Step by Step (4th ed.). Pearson Education Inc.

This book outlines and describes a series of learning activities and assessments relevant

to ELA instruction. It contains many activities that I plan to use with these students, including

the gallery walk and author’s chair, and also contains information on applying instructional

strategies such using a rubric with students for self-assessment.

Tompkins, G. E., Bright, R. M., & Winsor, P. J. (2018). Language and Literacy: Content and

Teaching Strategies (7th ed.). Pearson Canada Inc.

This book contains many ideas for activities, resources, and assessments for ELA

instruction. I have chosen to use it as a resource due to the quality and number of ideas featured,

and plan to use several of the activities described by the authors, such as the sketch-to-sketch

activity.

Wilson, D., & Conyers, M. (2016). Goal Setting and Planning for Learning. In Teaching

Students to Drive Their Brains: Metacognitive Strategies, Activities, and Lesson Ideas

(pp. 54-70). ASCD.

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX6079400013/GVRL?u=leth89164&sid=bookmark-

GVRL&xid=9f15cc60 .

This chapter outlines practical ways to teach students how to effectively engage in

metacognition through goal setting and planning. As this unit involves a lot of text creation using

class time to work, it is essential that students are able to use class time efficiently. Creating

routines for these class periods near the start of the unit will be crucial.