Teaching Young Writers to Craft Realistic Fiction

Ready-to-Use Lessons, Mentor Texts, & Ongoing Assessments

By Jenny Mechem Bender

Seasoned writing teacher Jenny Mechem Bender echoes what most primary teachers already know: our young students long to write fiction! In this thoughful resource, Bender provides detailed, step-by-step instructional support for a complete, four-stage unit of study on realistic fiction that will help our youngest writers craft stories with meaning, focus, and detail.

• Includes reproducible weekly planning sheets, record-keeping systems, story maps for three- and four-part stories, rubrics for both teacher use and student self-assessment, a sample letter to parents explaining the writing program.

• Provides a complete realistic fiction unit of study across eight stages, beginning with "Getting Ready for the Unit" and culminating in "Editing, Publishing, and Celebrating." Each stage follows a predictable pattern for easy navigation and implementation.

Grades K-3, 144 pages