Classroom Notes that you might find helpful:

1. Genre-
2. Short Story Elements-
3. Extended Response vs. Essay
4. Recipe Card for Writing an Extended Response
5. 6-Traits

Genre-

The way books, music, or movies are categorized.
Examples: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Fantasy, Rock, Country, Folk, 
Drama, Comedy, 
Action/Adventure

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Short Story Elements-

The narrative elements that are consistently found in a piece of 
literature. 
The elements studied in sixth grade include, character, setting, 
conflict, 
plot, point-of-view and theme.

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Extended Response vs. Essay

The difference between an extended response or "essay" 
question and an 
actual essay is the length of each and the parts included in 
each. The 
extended response is usally a short consise paragraph that 
specifically 
answers a quesion using examples from a piece of text and the 
writer's 
personal experiences. An Essay is a much longer piece of 
writing,usually 
three to five paragraphs that follows one of the following 
formats; 
narrative, persuasive, expository or descriptive.

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Recipe Card for Writing an Extended Response

This is a handy tool to have when answering those pesky end of 
unit science 
and social studies questions :)

Ingredients:
1 Topic Sentence
2-3 Supporting Sentences
2-3 Detail Sentences
1 Concluding Sentence

Directions:
Start with a topic sentence that either answers the question or 
provides the 
background information the reader needs prior to reading the 
answer to the 
question.  Next add a supporting sentence that provides 
information taken 
directly from the text. To your support sentence, add a detail 
sentence that 
offers the reader a connection or inference. Continue to add 
support 
sentences followed by detail sentences as needed. Finally pour 
everything 
into a concluding sentence which (if it hasn't already been) 
answers the 
prompt question.

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6-Traits

The 6-traits to good writing include:
Ideas
Organization
Word Choice
Voice
Sentence Fluency
Conventions
We look at each of the traits individually with short pieces of 
writing and then build them into longer pieces of text. Check out 
the links page for more information.

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