To lead in to the primary lesson topic I ask the questions "What is your favorite story?" and "What is a story and why do we tell them?." This asks the class to start generating an understanding of the purpose of a narrative.

Students are then asked to read a story for gist and answer what the purpose of the story is--to teach a lesson--and what that lesson may be. They are then asked to read that story again and determine its features: How many parts it has, who the main character is, where it takes place, and what we know about the character.

Students are then shown individual elements of a story, with the teacher eliciting the types of language we use for each part from the class first before providing examples. In this section we cover structure, characters, unexpected problems, the passage of time, writing what a character says, writing what a character thinks or feels, and descriptions.

Students are given a few minutes to think of some story elements they'll want to write about: a character, a setting, a problem for that character and a way they might solve that problem by the end of the story.

Students are given time to write their stories uninterrupted, individually or in groups as class size necessitates, so that they can practice writing fluidly. As students write, I will observe for any mistakes in structure and grammar and highlight important elements that students include, to prepare them for revising their stories for accuracy in the feedback stage. I will observe for any students that are having difficulty or get stuck with their writing and will assist as needed.

Students review their peers' stories using a checklist to determine if each story includes all necessary elements, followed by DEC for any sentences that need to be adjusted for accuracy.