BEGINNINGS

Have you noticed that students tend to begin their writing the same way each and every time? How about banishing the following words as the first word for any piece of writing:

Hi, Hello, Greetings, One, Once, There, But, And, Because, and I

(Oh, very well, you can use “I” sometimes)

When you disallow these words your children will feel quite lost. Here’s a fabulous way to explore ways to begin writing while encouraging reading and use of the library: have your students bring in favorite books and just read the first sentences of each.

Here is the key to a great first sentence: a first sentence is supposed to make the audience curious. It does not have to tell you much, just make the audience wonder.

From now on, whenever you begin a new read-aloud, stop and re-read the first sentence. You may want to take a second to examine it. Teach your children to always consider that first sentence. There are myriad ways to begin a tale.

Here is a list of ten wonderful first sentences.

Do you recognize them?

“They say Maniac Magee was born in a dump.”
Maniac Magee – Jerry Spinelli

“Ba-room, ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity, baripity – Good.”
Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Patterson

“It was a September morning hazy with summer and now with all the years between.”
A Year Down Yonder – Richard Peck

“When my brother Fudge was five, he discovered money in a big way.”
Double Fudge – Judy Blume

“Although he claimed all his life he was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, Harry Houdini was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1874.”
Houdini – Clinton Cox

“On Friday, June 12, I awoke at six o’clock and no wonder, it was my birthday.”
The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

“As summer wheat came ripe, so did I, born at home, on the kitchen floor.”
Out of the Dust – Karen Hesse

“It was a dark and stormy night.”
A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle

“I am riding the bicycle and I am on Route 31 in Monument, Massachusetts, on my way to Rutterburg, Vermont, and I’m pedaling furiously because this is an old fashioned bike, no speeds, no fenders, only the warped tires and the brakes that don’t always work and the handlebars with cracked rubber strips to steer with.”
I am the Cheese – Robert Cormier

“You don’t know about me, without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer but that ain’t no matter.”
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain

RAISING THE BAR:

For upper elementary students you can banish all pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, or they) as the first word of a piece of writing.

A Tip for Those Who are Struggling: If a student is positively stumped, have them pick any detail from their list of story details and make a sentence out of it. Any detail will serve as a starting place.

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ENDINGS

Please banish the following endings:

…and they lived happily ever after.

The End.

It was all just a dream.

…and he woke up.

To be continued.

If your writers are at a loss as to how to end a story, get out some novels and some non-fiction and consider how favorite writers end their writing. In most cases, the ending can be felt; but there is usually not some huge metaphorical door closing. The key to coming up with a satisfying ending for a story is to resolve the story’s problem in an interesting manner, perhaps with a solution that reveals something unique about the central characters.

Here is a list of ten great final sentences of novels:

“When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house I had only two thing on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.”
Outsiders – S. E. Hinton (It’s interesting to note that this sentence is also the first sentence of the novel.)

“And she felt good having her mother back in charge.”
Anastasia On Her Own – Lois Lowry

“I hear it in the air.”
Sister Sif – Ruth Park

“He had run into Slam.”
Slam – Walter Dean Myers

“Charlotte was both.”
Charlotte’s Web – E. B. White

“’I do Laura,’ said Pa. ‘I am sure of it.’”
Little House On The Prairie – Laura Ingalls Wilder

“My angel, my only.”
Holes – Louis Sachar

“Brian tried several times to tell his father, came really close once to doing it, but in the end never said a word about the man or what he knew, the secret.”
Hatchet – Gary Paulsen

“Come autumn I think I’ll find out.”
Dog Wolf – Alden R. Carter

“And he said it solemnly and joyfully, as if he said the word ‘Amen;’ and he quickly followed it with the word ‘hooray.’”
Then They Were Five – Elizabeth Enright

“I’m going home to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer….”
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling

“It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan.”
Moby Dick – Herman Melville (Sorry, it was just so dramatic. I had to use it.)