voice Archives - Page 3 of 5

Eva and Sadie and the Best Classroom EVER!
by Jeff Cohen (Author) and Elanna Allen (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Sadie is ready to start second grade, but her younger sister, Eva, hasn’t even been to kindergarten yet! Sadie knows it’s her duty as big sister to prepare Eva for school. But all this preparation makes Eva nervous—too much homework and no naptime, and how will she ever be able to buy her own lunch at school?

Snippet: Of course, I already know how to do all those things. But Eva doesn’t. And I don’t want her to feel nervous on her first day. That would be sad.

This means one thing. I’ve got a lot of work to do.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Voice The pronoun I is in three of the six sentences on this page. Every other sentence has it.

Of course, I already know how to do all those things. But Eva doesn’t.

The first person voice is the one most people use when they talk. The person speaking uses the word I.

And I don’t want her to feel nervous on her first day. That would be sad.

So how can you tell which voice the STORY has? Look for quotation marks.

This means one thing. I’ve got a lot of work to do.

Every other sentence on this page has the word I, but there are NO quotation marks. This means that there is only one person talking on this page and that person is the narrator. There are no quotation marks on this page because this is a monologue, not a dialogue. It’s not a conversation, it’s narration. We are inside the main character’s head, hearing her thoughts. This is a first person story.

I’m New Here
by Anne Sibley O’Brien (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Maria is from Guatemala, Jin is from Korea, and Fatima is from Somalia. All three are new to their American elementary school, and each has trouble speaking, writing, and sharing ideas in English. Through self-determination and with encouragement from their peers and teachers, the students learn to feel confident and comfortable in their new school without losing a sense of their home country, language, and identity.

Snippet:
I am new here.
SPEECH BUBBLE: Class, this is Maria.

I am new here.
SPEECH BUBBLE: Boys and girls, please welcome Jin.

I am new here.
SPEECH BUBBLE: We have a new student everyone. Her name is Fatimah.

Six Traits Mini Lesson

Trait: Voice This “new kid at school” story created by an established author/illustrator has three main characters! So how do you juggle three main characters? The characters speak one at a time.

The first book page says:

I am new here.
SPEECH BUBBLE: Class, this is Maria.

The second book page says:

I am new here.
SPEECH BUBBLE: Boys and girls, please welcome Jin.

The third book page says:

I am new here.
SPEECH BUBBLE: We have a new student, everyone. Her name is Fatimah.

Trait: Organization This one “character at a time” pattern is continued throughout the book. Readers see each how each new child experiences school on a separate book spread.

Q. How do you develop three stories at one?
A. By using story arc patterns from all three genres!

Notice the repetition? Each child says the same thing. This is an organizing tool that poets use.

I am new here.

It is the teacher who answers and her answer is unique to each new character.

This repeated question and answer pattern is a pattern that “idea” books use. It’s a nonfiction story arc.

Most fiction stories use a problem-resolution pattern as their story arc. This one does the same for its characters. These new immigrants are trying to find their place at their new school and we see that they have accomplished that in the art on the last page of the book.

Q. Why did this book use patterns from all three genres?
A. Books about “social issues” use both fiction and nonfiction patterns, and this one has a poetry pattern as well.

The problem-resolution pattern commonly used in fiction showed us how the characters solved their emotional problem.

The nonfiction (question and answer) story arc and the repetition found in poetry helped the story manage three characters and convey the message.

The finished book looks simple, but it’s not. There is a lot of organization going on underneath to make it work.