Writing Lesson Plan Template (Adapted from Tompkins, 2013, p.

22)

Lesson plan based on information in ​Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for Middle School
(Culham, 2010)

Grade level​: 8

Ravenscroft Standards​:
● L.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on
meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
● W.3 - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
○ W.3c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence,
signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another, and show the relationships
among experiences and events.

Objectives​:
● Students will analyze a mentor text to determine how an author crafts well-built
sentences.
● Students will create examples of all four sentence types.
● Students will revise their drafts to reflect an understanding of well-built sentences,
clause/sentence types, and overall sentence fluency.
● Students will self-assess their sentence fluency before and after revision.

Materials​:
● Copies of the “Scoring Guide: Sentence Fluency” (Culham, 2010, p. 225)
● Copies of the “Types of Clauses/Types of Sentences” reproducible (Culham, 2010, p.
247)
● Excerpt from ​Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod​ by Gary Paulsen
● Copies of the excerpt and reproducible sentence grid (Culham, 2010, p. 242)
● Google Chromebooks (1:1)
● Student drafts of narrative memoirs

Academic Language​:
● Flow
● Sentence fluency
● Sentence types
○ Simple
○ Compound
○ Complex
○ Compound-complex

Culham, R. (2010). ​Traits of writing: The complete guide for middle school​ (R. Coutu, Ed.). New York: Scholastic.
Ravenscroft. (2017). English Language Arts Learning Outcomes PreK-12th Grade. Retrieved from
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CxkW_tWei2LZmcdjquDFB7VNcSK8I6axktecBJqanws/edit?ts=
5a25ba8d#gid=1518271509
 ● Types of clauses
○ Independent clause
○ Dependent clause

Procedure​:
1. Have the following pre-written (or projected) on the board:
a. I did not want to cause problems with the race. Unfortunately, my dogs had to
wait. We were number 32. Dogs do not wait well. I had harnessed them too soon.
2. Think-Pair-Share: What do you think this story is about? What do you notice about the
sentences? How could the author have made different choices with his sentence
construction? Do the sentences flow together?
3. Give students a copy of the “Scoring Guide: Sentence Fluency” and have them work with
their partners to determine a score (1-6) for these sentences. Have each pair share their
score with the class and discuss reasons why they assigned the score that they did.
a. Have the “Types of Clauses/Types of Sentences” reproducible copied on the back
of the scoring guide and direct students to reference this page when evaluating the
“Varying Sentence Types” section of the guide. Ask them to consider which types
of sentences are featured in this initial example.
b. Scores for these sentences will likely be around a 3-4 due to simple, choppy
sentences with varied beginnings. Students may notice that there seems to be an
attempt to vary the sentence types with the word “unfortunately” and there are no
fragments.
c. Since all of the sentences are simple sentences, ask students what it might be like
if a variety of sentence types were used instead. Assign compound, complex, or
compound-complex to each of the pairs and have them recreate one of the
sentences to reflect a new style. Share. How did these changes impact the flow?
4. Explain to students that the sentences they have been discussing were adapted from
Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running​ ​the Iditarod​ by Gary Paulsen. Distribute
copies of the excerpt with the sentence grid.
a. Read the excerpt aloud, and fill in the sentence grid together. Once complete, the
grid will highlight a varied number of words per sentence, different starts to the
each of the sentences, and one syllable words to end the sentences. Explain to
students that while it is not a rule, single-syllable words at the ends of sentences
typically indicate a final thought. Point out the word “wait” at the end of sentence
2, and ask students what the impact would be if the word were changed to
“linger” (Culham, 2010, p. 241).
b. Think-Pair-Share: Overall, how does this excerpt compare to the sentences from
the warm up? Would you rate it differently on the scoring scale? What types of
sentences were used? Are there clauses present? How does word choice impact
the flow?
5. Students should return to their narrative memoir drafts, which are accessible to them
through Google Drive. They should choose one paragraph or portion of the story to
complete a sentence grid. Are they varying the starts and types of their sentences? Are

Culham, R. (2010). ​Traits of writing: The complete guide for middle school​ (R. Coutu, Ed.). New York: Scholastic.
Ravenscroft. (2017). English Language Arts Learning Outcomes PreK-12th Grade. Retrieved from
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CxkW_tWei2LZmcdjquDFB7VNcSK8I6axktecBJqanws/edit?ts=
5a25ba8d#gid=1518271509
 their word choices effective or would a synonym work better? From this portion of text,
students should also tally how many different kinds of sentences they have incorporated.
6. As their exit ticket from class, students should copy and paste the portion of their
narrative they have analyzed and place it into a new Google doc and share this document
with the teacher. They should include a score from the scoring guide with a brief
explanation of why their draft earned that score. Underneath, students should revise that
portion of text to reflect and understanding an understanding of well-built and varied
sentences that capture a smooth and rhythmic flow. That revision should also be scored
and explained by the student.
7. Teacher feedback should be provided to the student on their Google doc before their next
revision session.

Assess Learning​:
Students will be assessed using the “Scoring Guide: Sentence Fluency” document (Culham,
2010, p. 225). This is a formative assessment, but sentence fluency will be one factor on the final
rubric for the narrative memoir assignment. Similar lessons should be completed for the other
elements on the final rubric so that students have an opportunity to learn, reflect, self-assess, and
be given specific teacher feedback prior to the final piece.

6 EXCEPTIONAL
A. Crafting Well-Built Sentences​: The writer carefully and creatively constructs
sentences for maximum impact. Transition words such as ​but​, ​and​, and ​so a​ re
used successfully to join sentences and sentence parts.
B. Varying Sentence Types​: The writer uses various types of sentences (simple,
compound, and/or complex) to enhance the central theme or storyline. The
piece is made up of an effective mix of long, complex sentences and short,
simple ones.
C. Capturing the smooth and Rhythmic Flow​: The writer thinks about how the
sentences sound. He or she uses phrasing that is almost musical. If the piece
were read aloud, it would be easy on the ear.
D. Breaking the “Rules” to Create Fluency​: The writer diverges from standard
English to create interest and impact. For example, he or she may use a
sentence fragment, such as “All alone in the forest,” or a single word, such as
“Bam!” to accent a particular moment or action. He or she might begin with
informal words such as ​well​, ​and​, or ​but t​ o create a conversational tone, or he
or she might break rules intentionally to make dialogue sound authentic.
5 STRONG

4 REFINING
A. Crafting Well-Built Sentences​: The writer offers simple sentences that are
sound but no long, complex ones. He or she attempts to vary the beginnings
and lengths of sentences.

Culham, R. (2010). ​Traits of writing: The complete guide for middle school​ (R. Coutu, Ed.). New York: Scholastic.
Ravenscroft. (2017). English Language Arts Learning Outcomes PreK-12th Grade. Retrieved from
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CxkW_tWei2LZmcdjquDFB7VNcSK8I6axktecBJqanws/edit?ts=
5a25ba8d#gid=1518271509
 B. Varying Sentence Types​: The writer exhibits basic sentence sense and offers
some sentence variety. He or she attempts to use different types of sentences,
but in doing so creates an uneven flow rather than a smooth, seamless one.
C. Capturing the smooth and Rhythmic Flow​: The writer has produced a text
that is uneven. Many sentence read smoothly, while others are choppy or
awkward.
D. Breaking the “Rules” to Create Fluency​: The writer includes fragments, but
they seem more accidental that intentional. He or she uses informal words,
such as ​well​, ​and ​and ​but​, inappropriately to start sentences, and pays little
attention to making dialogue sound authentic.
3 DEVELOPING

2 EMERGING
A. Crafting Well-Built Sentences​: The writer’s sentences, even simple ones, are
often flawed. Sentence beginnings are repetitive and uninspired.
B. Varying Sentence Types​: The writer uses a single, repetitive sentence pattern
throughout or connects sentence parts with an endless string of transition
words such as ​and,​ ​but​, ​or,​ and ​because​, which distracts the reader.
C. Capturing the smooth and Rhythmic Flow​: The writer has created a text that
is a challenge to read aloud since the sentences are incomplete, choppy, stilted,
rambling, and/or awkward.
D. Breaking the “Rules” to Create Fluency​: The writer offers few or no simple,
well-built sentences, making it impossible to determine whether or not he or
she has done anything out of the ordinary. Global revision is necessary before
sentences can be revise for stylistic and creative purposes.
1 RUDIMENTARY

Culham, R. (2010). ​Traits of writing: The complete guide for middle school​ (R. Coutu, Ed.). New York: Scholastic.
Ravenscroft. (2017). English Language Arts Learning Outcomes PreK-12th Grade. Retrieved from
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CxkW_tWei2LZmcdjquDFB7VNcSK8I6axktecBJqanws/edit?ts=
5a25ba8d#gid=1518271509