<p>Unit of Study : Small Moments</p><p>Teaching Point: Writers begin their story with the weather and/or the time of day by thinking about what happened in the beginning of their story and asking themselves what the weather was like and what time of day it was. Connection: We’ve been working on writing stories about the small moments from our lives. I have noticed that sometimes we have trouble knowing how to begin our stories. (Skill) Today, I’m going to show you that one way writers can begin their stories is by starting with the weather and /or the time of day… By… (Strategy) Thinking about what was happening in the beginning of their story and asking themselves what was the weather like and what was the time of day. Teach: (Skill) Today, I’m going to show you how writers can begin their stories with the weather and /or the time of day. By… (Strategy) I want to write a small moment story about the time I went parasailing. Let me think, how will I begin? (pause) When I went parasailing, it was in the afternoon and it was very sunny and warm. I know, I can start with “On a sunny afternoon, I was on a boat ….” Do you see what I just did? First, I thought about what happened in the beginning of my story and I asked myself what was the weather like and what was the time of day. Then, I started my story with “On a sunny afternoon” because it was a sunny day and it was in the afternoon. Active Engagement: Now, I want you to think about a small moment story from your life that you could write about. (give time to think) Ask yourself, “What was the weather and what was the time of day?” Then, turn to your partner and tell them the time of day and what the weather was like for your small moment story. Link: Writers, today and everyday when you are writing, remember you can begin your story with the weather and/or the time of day by thinking about what happened at the beginning of your story and asking yourself, “What was the weather like and/or what was the time of day in that part of the story?”. Now, let’s go and begin writing our small moment stories.</p>