Leads

Do Now:
1. Place your homework on your desk
2. Detach the last page of packet and place it in your
HW folder
3. Copy down tonight's homework
4. Look at the slide

below and follow the directions:

The man gazed out his hotel window and scoped out the scene along
the boardwalk. A peaceful sight, to say the least, except for the
bench occupied by a row of men in black gowns. One of them held
something in his hands. A phone, thought Thomas. A second later,
his hotel phone started ringing. Before Thomas went to answer the
phone, he glanced once more outside. The men were gone.

What is compelling/ motivating about the lead you just read?

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Leads

Learning Targets:
* I can react to various leads from texts by writing
down my thoughts.
* I can compare different leads from young adult
literature.
* I can develop a lead for my hero's journey story.

LEADS
The lead (beginning or introduction) establishes the
direction your writing will take.
A good lead grabs your reader's attention and makes
them want to keep reading. In other words, it
____________ the reader.
Let's look at some ideas on how to write an interesting
lead. Not every type of lead will work for every writer
or for every piece of writing. You'll have to experiment
with them.

Leads
Model:
Let's look at the lead for The Lightning Thief:
~ Is the setting descriptive, which makes you enjoy the author's style of writing?
~ Is it suspenseful or mysterious, which makes you curious about what's happening?
~ Is there dialogue that helps you connect with any of the characters?
~ Is a character narrating his/her thoughts, of which you find interesting?

This was a compelling lead because

I would change this lead because

Share out your pleasure reading leads

Directions:
1. For 1 minute, one person from each group will read the
lead to his/her pleasure reading book.
2. After the person has read aloud his/her lead, everyone at
the table will respond to the lead by writing for 1 minute
about whether or not it was compelling.

Leads

After you read some of the Great Leads,

star the ones you find compelling.
Which leads capture your attention and why?

Now, it's your turn to choose a lead for your story.

Open up to the writing section of your binder.
On a piece of looseleaf paper, experiment with
different leads you can use to hook your reader.

Leads

Leads