Language Arts, Writing, Writing Process, Journaling, Traits of Writing

Grade 3- 5

Objective

Students write paragraphs in which they identify how the subject of a story or song influenced their feelings and thoughts.

Directions

1. Show the students a series of drawn faces that each have a different expression that reveals an emotion. As you show them the faces, discuss with them the expressions. Use the following question to guide your discussion: "Does this person feel sad, happy, outraged, supportive, excited, or amazed?"
2. Inform the students that mood is the feeling that the audience has after reading the work of a particular author, listening to a song, or watching a movie.
3. Have students read a story or listen to a song. (Choose a song that has a narrative.) When you have finished reading the story or listening to the song, lead a discussion about how the subject influenced the students' feelings and thoughts. Use the following question to guide your discussion: "Did you feel [sad, happy, outraged, supportive, excited, amazed, scared, or another emotion] as a result of reading the story or listening to the song?" Have students choose specific words, phrases, or sentences from the story or song that helped to influence their feelings. Use the activity sheet entitled "Identifying Mood" to guide your discussion.
4. Divide the students into pairs and have them read aloud the rough drafts of their reviews and identify the mood (if any) that they feel as a result of listening to their partner's drafts.
5. Instruct students to each write a paragraph about the story they read or the song to which they listened. After writing, students should highlight words or phrases that reveal their feelings and thoughts about the subject.
6. Divide students into pairs and have them read each other's paragraphs. Instruct partners to identify specific words and phrases in the paragraph that reveal the writer's feelings and thoughts about the subject.

Portfolio Piece: Have students include their paragraphs in their portfolios and each write a reflection on the importance of connecting with the thoughts and feelings of the audience.
Publishing: Have students write original survival stories. Then have them share their survival stories in groups of four or five and identify the moods of the listeners as the authors share their stories. (Possible feelings: fear, concern, anxiety, frustration, etc.)
Technology Connection: Create a bulletin board of reviews and categorize the reviews according to the feelings of the writers about the subjects being reviewed.
Home-School Connection: Have students look through magazines with a family member and focus on their moods when viewing the advertisements.

Resources

Identifying Mood activity sheet
pencils