Lesson 17: Look Both Ways, Narrative Writing, Part 3

Think-Pair-Share

This routine will activate engagement and character recall from Look Both Ways while informally assessing which characters students understand well enough to write about. The goal is not just preference, but justified choice based on character traits and experiences. Encourage students to reference specific moments or qualities from the text to ground their responses. This sets a foundation for W.6.3 (narrative development) by prompting students to begin thinking about character motivation and connection.

Prompt students to perform a Think-Pair-Share using the following prompt.

Say these Directions: Think about this question. Then share your answer with a partner. Be ready to explain your thinking to the class.

• Ask: Which character from Look Both Ways would you most want to sit next to at lunch or spend recess with, and why?

  • I would most want to have lunch with Pia, because she’s really confident and cool, but she’s also kind of sad and needs more friends.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, you’re going to work on ideas for your own original story about you and one of the characters from Look Both Ways. It will be important to use what you know about the character to help you develop your ideas. The purpose of today’s writing is to draft an original narrative scene that will entertain readers while showing what you know about a character from Look Both Ways. Your audience is your classmates and teacher. This writing will help prepare you for the unit performance task, where you will write a full personal narrative.

Language Study

This section activates students’ understanding of the narrative genre and the author’s purpose while preparing them to write their own narratives. Students should connect how the point of view shapes storytelling and how authors use what readers already know about characters to build meaning. Emphasize that students will apply these same techniques—point of view, character knowledge, and voice—in their own writing.

Say these Directions: Think about what makes a narrative story different from other kinds of texts. As a class, discuss why an author might choose to write a narrative and what readers learn or experience when they read one.

• Say: The genre of Look Both Ways is a narrative story. This means it tells a series of fictional accounts, or stories that are not real. Authors often write narratives to entertain, but also to help readers connect with characters and ideas on a personal level.

• Ask: What is the author’s purpose when writing a narrative story? How do you feel as a reader after finishing a narrative story?

  • The author’s purpose in writing a narrative story is usually to entertain or to have the reader connect with a character or an idea on a personal level. After I finish reading a narrative story, I feel satisfied if it has a good ending, but also kind of sad that it’s over. Sometimes, I also feel like I want to know what happens to the characters next.

Explain to students that they are going to begin writing a narrative story from their own point of view that includes one of the characters they’ve read about in Look Both Ways. Share that they will need to use what they know about the character and their point of view to help them develop their own stories. Display or share a copy of the paragraph from “The Low Cuts Strike Again” that begins “For the record, Bit, John John, Francy, and Trista weren’t the only free-lunchers” as a model where all students can see it.

Lead a class discussion about how the model paragraph uses point of view and what we know about the four characters to introduce the story.

• Say: Read the paragraph and think about how the narrator’s point of view shapes what we learn about the characters.

• Ask: What is the narrator’s point of view in this paragraph? How does the paragraph develop this point of view?

  • The narrator’s point of view seems to be someone who knows the four friends but doesn’t know any of their thoughts like the narrator sometimes does in Look Both Ways. The paragraph develops the point of view by talking about the friends needing free lunch and comparing that to other students in the school.

• Ask: How does the narrator of this paragraph use what we know about the characters to continue their story?

  • We know that Bit, John John, Francy, and Trista don’t have a lot of money. The narrator uses this paragraph to compare the four friends to a lot of other students at their school and to talk about the very important ways they are different. We already know that the Low Cuts receive free lunches, but in this paragraph, we also learn that they each have a parent who is a cancer survivor. This becomes very important to the rest of the story.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, you’re going to write your own story about you and your favorite character from Look Both Ways. It can show them acting as they did in the book or in a new way, as long as that new way uses and builds upon what you know about them from the book.

Part A: Developing Point of View (W.6.3.a, W.6.3.b) (10 minutes)

This activity helps students bridge character knowledge with narrative planning by generating questions that reveal both what they know about the character and their own narrator perspective. Emphasize that strong narratives require a clear point of view and purposeful interaction between characters. Guide students to move beyond simple questions and instead develop questions that reflect curiosity, emotion, or relationship-building, which will later translate into more authentic narrative scenes (W.6.3a).

Say these Directions: Think of the character you selected during the Launch. Then, develop questions you would like to ask that character. Use what you know about the character to write thoughtful questions.

• Say: Write the name of your character in the middle of a piece of paper, or draw a quick picture of what you imagine them to look like. Then write some questions you would like to ask the character around their name or image. If you have time, also think about why you chose those questions and how you think the character might answer them.

  • Questions for Pia: When did you start skating? Do you get hurt a lot? Did your mom ever try to get you to stop skating? How did it feel the day your sister died? Do you still feel that way sometimes? I chose these questions because I want to know how she and her mom handled things after her sister died.

• Ask: What will your point of view be within your story? How did writing these questions help you better understand your own point of view and how you’ll interact with the character you chose?

  • In this story, I’m another kid from Pia’s school who wants to be her friend because I think she’s really cool and also sad. I’m not really sure how to talk to her, and I might make her mad before I finally make friends with her. Asking the questions helped me develop that point of view because I started by asking what I was curious about, then thought about why I’d be so curious and how she might react to someone being that interested in her life.

• Ask: What kinds of details might you use in your story to help show who you are, who the other character is, and how you both belong in the story?

  • I would add details like how I’m nervous talking to Pia and how she’s acting kind of annoyed at me. Maybe I’m sweating, and she’s looking at me kind of sideways. But then I ask her a really good question that shows I know about skateboards. Her face would change, and she might even pay more attention.

Students should leave this section with a clear narrator role and a set of purposeful questions that shape their story direction. Check that students can explain how their questions reflect their point of view and anticipated interaction with the character. This ensures they are prepared to begin drafting with intentional voice, perspective, and character alignment, rather than disconnected ideas.

Part B: Begin Writing (W.6.3.a, W.6.3.b) (20 minutes)

Allow students to use the remaining time available for Learning in Action to begin writing their stories. Set the expectation that students will complete only one paragraph today, but they are welcome to write as much as time allows.

Say these Directions: Begin writing your story. Aim to complete one paragraph today. You may write more if you have time.

• Say: Spend about 20 minutes beginning to write your story. Work to complete one paragraph, but it’s great if you can write more. Focus on three things: your purpose for writing (are you informing or entertaining?), your own point of view (are you the narrator, or are you creating one?), and what you know about your chosen character from Look Both Ways.

  • “Hey!” I said, probably sounding too enthusiastic. “Hey,” Pia responded, much less so. “So . . . how long have you been skating?” I asked. I had planned to nod at her skateboard when I asked that, so it didn’t sound like I was spying on her or anything, but she didn’t have it today for some reason. Oh, no. Sure enough, she glared at me as I’d asked about something way too personal. “What are you, from the school paper?” I just wanted to be her friend, and I’d messed it up already.

As students draft, they should prioritize clarity of point of view, consistency of character portrayal, and basic narrative structure over length. Students should demonstrate an emerging ability to sequence events, include relevant details, and reflect their narrator’s perspective (W.6.3, W.6.4). Look for evidence that students are using what they know about the character to guide dialogue and actions. This draft serves as an early step in the writing process (W.6.5), so focus feedback on strengthening ideas and coherence rather than perfection.

Lesson 17 Writing Rubric: Narrative Paragraph — Character Study

Writing prompt: Write a narrative paragraph in first person about a time you encountered or interacted with a favorite character from Look Both Ways. Use vivid details and sensory language to show how the moment reveals something about your identity or sense of belonging.

Quick Write

This routine supports metacognition and writing development by helping students identify strengths and areas for growth as they prepare for the unit performance task. Encourage honest, specific reflection tied to today’s writing experience, particularly around point of view, organization, and character development. This aligns with W.6.5 by reinforcing that writing improves through reflection and revision.

Remind students that their unit performance task will be to write a personal narrative. Instruct them to reflect on today’s activity by writing a brief response to the following prompt.

Say these Directions: Your unit performance task will be to write a personal narrative. Think about today’s activity, and then write a brief response to the prompt.

• Ask: What parts of the unit performance task do you think you’ll need the most practice with based on how today’s activity went, and why?

  • • Optional Sentence Starter:

  • “The part of the task I will need the most practice with is ____.”

    • The part of the task I will need the most practice with is organizing my ideas. I have a lot of thoughts, but they come at me all at once, and it’s hard for me to keep track of them. That makes it hard to know which ones will flow well together. I had a lot of ideas about how my character should talk to Pia, but I had to pick just one to focus on.

Provide the following instructions to students:

Reread your paragraph. Add at least one new detail (a thought, a description, or a line of dialogue), and fix any parts that are hard to follow.