Project objective: To create an expanded, annotated bibliography of children's literature that will serve both students and teachers as models of good literature for narrative writing.

Project objective in terms of teacher and student benefits:
The suggested bibliography offered by the state of North Carolina in its handbook for teaching narrative writing to fourth grade students needs to be (and soon will be) updated. The prompt has changed over the years from "Tell about what happened when...." to "Tell about a time...."

• Teachers will benefit from having a broader selection of books to use as models of good narrative writing in all categories and, specifically, the category of time.

• Students will benefit from reading and hearing stories where the events take place in one clear moment in time, which is what the state now asks them to do.

Those of us who work directly with fourth grade writers know that a bibliography of good writing models is invaluable as a resource; it makes a difference in the quality of the writing produced when the students are exposed to good books. The list, however, is several years old, and it is hard to find TIME to do the research and reading necessary to identify new books that will better serve both teachers and students.

The main reason for this bibliography:
The students want to write stories that go on for days, months, even years. They need models of a clear moment in time, so they know how to write about A TIME.

And:
We want to read some different books.

Why use this bibliography:
Using good literature to illustrate writing traits is a proven strategy for helping students improve their own writing. Students internalize techniques used by authors and incorporate them into their own writing.

One way, the suggested way, to use this bibliography:
The books in this bibliography should be read aloud to the students and discussed. Read a book for the sheer pleasure of hearing the story.

·        Discuss the book to bring the students into the story and help them realize the potential for stories in their own lives.

·        Many students cannot see themselves as characters in a story. Before they can produce good writing that the reader can "see," they must learn to see themselves as having experiences to share.

In Children Talking about Books, Borders and Naylor suggest three prompts for starting such a discussion.

• What did you notice about the book?
• How did it make you feel?
• What does the story remind you of in your own life?

During the discussion make reference to the author’s treatment, playing with words, of the specific writing trait you want them to learn:

• How words hook the reader in the beginning.
• How words develop focus, support, and elaboration.
• How words build into sentences and paragraphs and, finally, an organized story with a logical progression of ideas:
  a beginning, middle and an ending using transition words to connect everything together.
• How sentence fluency makes a story flow.
• How precise word choice show actions, things and feelings.
• How words bring a story to an appropriate ending.
• How words help readers hear a particular writer’s style—or voice—and personality, or make the writer sound like someone else.

In addition to reading selections from the suggested bibliography, or when reading a book of one’s own selection, the teacher must model writing both for and with students, so they can experience the thinking required in the process of choosing and using the right words. By observing and experiencing this process, children will construct and apply knowledge about language that will make their writing powerful.

Suggested Bibliography of Reference Books
Ray, Katie Wood. 1999. Wondrous Words: Writers and Writing in the Elementary School. Urbana: NCTE.
Fletcher, Ralph and Joann Portalupi. 1998. Craft Lessons. York: Stenhouse.
Fletcher, Ralph. 1993. What a Writer Needs. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Lane, Barry. 1993. After the End. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
McClure, Amy and Janice Kristo. 1996. Books That Invite Talk, Wonder, and Play. Urbana: NCTE.
Sorenson, Marilou and Barbara Lehman. 1996. Teaching With Children’s Books. Urbana: NCTE.
McClure, Amy and Janice Kristo. 1994. Inviting Children’s Responses to Literature. Urbana: NCTE.
Hall, Susan. 1990. Using Picture Books to Teach Literary Devices. Phoenix: Oryx Press.
Ammon, Betty and Gale Sherman. 1996. Worth A Thousand Words. Englewood: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.
Comprehension Skills:
Wilhelm, Jeff. 1997. You Gotta’ Be the Book. Urbana: NCTE.