organization Archives - Page 8 of 9

Aqualicious
by Victoria Kann (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Pinkalicious and her family go on a trip to the beach for a day of sun, fun, and sand castles! The day gets even more exciting when Pinkalicious finds a mini-mermaid named Aqua while she’s collecting shells.

Snippet:
I was collecting seashells. I found a shell and held it next to my ear so I could hear the ocean.

TURN THE PAGE

Instead of hearing the ocean, I heard a little voice inside the shell.
“Put me down! I’m trying to nap!” the voice said.
“Eeeek!” I screamed. I was scared, but I was also curious. I looked inside the shell. I saw a little face with long hair.
“Can you help me?” said the little voice.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Organization On the first page of the story, we meet the main character and find out that she is at the beach collecting seashells. The scene is set with just two sentences.

I was collecting seashells. I found a shell and held it next to my ear so I could hear the ocean.

On the next page, the main character has a problem. Something unexpected happens and the story begins.

Instead of hearing the ocean, I heard a little voice inside the shell.

Trait: Voice This picture book is written in the first person voice. In a first person story the main character also acts as the narrator. Readers experience the world of the story by seeing what the main character sees. The main character’s inner thoughts show and tell the story.

I was collecting seashells. I found a shell and held it next to my ear so I could hear the ocean.

We find out what happens next with MORE inner monologue. Pinkalicious tells us…

Instead of hearing the ocean, I heard a little voice inside the shell.

In dialogue, EVERY character uses the first person voice. The dialogue tags tell us who is speaking.

“Put me down! I’m trying to nap!” the voice said.
“Eeeek!” I screamed. I was scared,

After she shows us how she feels, Pinkalicious tells us what happens next with more inner monologue.

I was scared, but I was also curious. I looked inside the shell. I saw a little face with long hair.

The story continues with dialogue. The other story character speaks and now there is a new story problem, one that will carry readers through the entire book.

“Can you help me?” said the little voice.

See the book trailer.

Trapped! A Whale’s Rescue
by Robert Burleigh (Author) and Wendell Minor (Illustrator)

Booktalk: In the icy waters of the Pacific, a massive humpback whale unexpectedly finds herself tangled in a net abandoned by fishermen. When a rescue boat and a convoy of divers arrive to help the struggling humpback, a realistic and moving encounter bridges the human and aquatic worlds.

Snippet:
The chug-chug of a motor fills the air.
Rescuers. Are they too late?
Divers drop cautiously into the frigid water.

They know the whale is wild.
One quick roll of her immense body can crush.
One blow from her gigantic tail can kill.

TrappedSpread

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Organization The title of the book, Trapped! A Whale’s Rescue, sets up the way the book will be organized. We know what will happen just by reading the title. The whale will be trapped and then rescued.

This excerpt appears on the page after the whale becomes trapped in the forgotten fishing net. Notice how the events unfold in chronological order.

The sound comes first.

The chug-chug of a motor fills the air.

Then we find out more about that sound.

Rescuers.

At the end of the second line comes that essential, emotional question.

Are they too late?

And then the rescue begins . . .

Divers drop cautiously into the frigid water.

Trait: Organization There is another organization pattern at work in this book. Notice how the text is organized into three line units.

The chug-chug of a motor fills the air.
Rescuers. Are they too late?
Divers drop cautiously into the frigid water.

They know the whale is wild.
One quick roll of her immense body can crush.
One blow from her gigantic tail can kill.

Organizing text into a predetermined number of lines is a poetic device. The Poetry Foundation Glossary defines it this way:
Tercet
“A poetic unit of three lines, rhymed or unrhymed.”

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Keri Recommends.