Great Expectations Start With Great Beginnings!!!!!

Supposedly, E.B. White, created 12 different leads for Charlotte’s Web. He finally decided to start the book with the question, “Where’s Papa going with the ax?” This question

hints at the dilemma that will encompass the entire book. Teaching students to write good openings is a challenge, but inspiring them to create the just-right opening for their stories takes a lot more. Most kids I had in class were totally convinced their first opening was absolutely perfect. Using mentor texts can provide openings that students can imitate for their own stories. These books can give kids a variety of ideas and help convince them that maybe their openings could be a little more perfect. If I were still teaching, I might try having my kids spend a couple of days just trying out a few different openings and then choosing the one they like best (just like E.B. White).

Stating or Overstating the Problem Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

“It all began when Floyd’s kite became stuck in a tree. He tried pulling and swinging, but it wouldn’t come unstuck. The trouble really began when he threw his favorite shoe at it. And that got stuck too.”

Oliver Jeffers opens the book by making Floyd's problem seem BIG. And by creating the word unstuck he emphasizes how BIG the problem is. Floyd tries throwing things at the tree (like his shoes, his bicycle, and the kitchen sink) to shake the kite loose, but they also get stuck. When he gets a ladder, you think, ‘”good idea, maybe he’ll climb up to get it,” but he just throws the ladder at the tree and one more thing is stuck. Floyd finally gets the kite out of the tree, but……

.

Add a little confusion…. Alice the Fairy by David Shannon

“My name is Alice. I’m a fairy. I’m not a Permanent fairy. I’m a Temporary fairy.

You have to pass a lot of tests to be a Permanent fairy.”

David Shannon’s opening introduces his fairy-loving character, Alice. Then he slightly confuses his readers by talking about temporary and permanent fairies – as if there is such a thing. Alice is a temporary fairy because she can do some things that a fairy can do like change her dad’s cookies into hers, make leaves fall from trees, and make her wand disappear (by turning out the light). But she struggles when she tries to make her dog walk on the ceiling, and she really can’t turn her bath water into strawberry jello. She decides she probably has to go to Permanent Fairy School to learn how to do those things. Alice figures she’ll probably be a temporary fairy forever.

Tease your reader with what will happen: Nugget and Fang by Tammy Sauer

In the deep, deep ocean lived two best friends. Nugget and Fang. They did everything together. They swam together GLUG They swam under GLUG-GLUG. They swam all around. GLUG-GLUG-GLUG Life was close to perfect…

Tammy Sauer immediately introduces Nugget and Fang who are best friends even though Nugget is a minnow and Fang is a shark. Their life in the deep deep ocean was close to perfect... until Nugget had to go to school. At minnow school, Nugget learns that minnows are supposed to be afraid of sharks. When Nugget explains to Fang that “Sharks are toothy. Sharks are scary,” and that “Sharks and minnows can’t be friends,” it broke Fang’s heart. So Fang decides to prove to the minnows that he can be their friend. After a week of coming up with amusing ways to befriend the minnows, it looked like there was no hope. It wasn’t until Fang rescued the minnows from a huge net with his big sharp teeth that life became pretty perfect once again.

Proclaim the moral: Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell

Molly Lou Melon stood just taller than her dog and was the shortest girl in the first grade. She didn’t mind. Her grandma had told her, “Walk as proudly as you can and the world will look up to you.

Molly Lou Melon’s grandmother told her to stand tall, smile big, sing clear and believe in herself. So although Molly Lou Melon is short, has buck teeth, and had a voice that sounds like a bull frog, she tries to follow her grandmother’s advice. Then she moves to a new town and has to say goodbye to her friends and her grandmother. On her first day at her new school, Ronald Durkin starts to make fun of her and bully her. But Molly Lou Melon follows her grandmother’s advice and makes a friend of Ronald Durkin. In her letter to her grandmother she says, “I wanted to tell you that everything you told me was exactly right.”

Make Your Character a Little Bit Weird: Say Hello to Zorro by Carter Goodrich

Mister Bud had it pretty good. Everything was just right. He has his own house. His own bed. His own toys. His own dish. But most of all…he had his own schedule. And everybody stuck to the schedule.

What kind of dog has a schedule that everybody follows? Mister Bud obviously. He has wake up time, nap time, rest time, dinner time, etc. And everyone knows to follow his schedule. Then disaster strikes. A stranger comes home at "make a fuss time" and throws everything off! Zorro is little bit bossy and Mister Bud wants nothing to do with him. But when the dogs discover they like the same things (like chasing the cat and napping), everything becomes more fun…as long as everyone follows the schedule.