Categories of Leads Typical: Yesterday, Mom and I went to the pet store for rabbit food. We saw this box of new puppies. We went

Categories of Leads Action: I slammed the car door and ran into the pet shop to buy rabbit food. I grabbed a box of rabbit pellets and then stopped in my tracks. I knelt down by a box of cocker spaniel puppies. The tiniest one waddled over to my hand and started to lick my fingers. Dialogue: I was sitting in my bedroom listening to the radio when I heard Mom’s voice. “Laura, I’m going to the pet shop. We need rabbit food. Wanna come with me?” “Yes,” I hollered back. Soon, Mom and I were in my favorite store, Noah’s Bark. It was then that I saw the puppies. “Oh, Mom, look at these puppies. Look how this cute little black one is nibbling my fingers.” “They are so cute,” my mom answered as she picked the black puppy up and held it in her arms. “I suppose you want this puppy.” “Mother, you are kidding me, aren’t you? I thought you hated dogs.” Reaction: (a character thinking) I couldn’t imagine where Mom and I were going. She just told me to get into the car without any explanation. Why does she have this little smile on her face? Why is Mom behaving so strangely? Why are we stopping in front of my favorite pet store, Noah’s Bark?

Additional Categories Setting the mood: It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. No. Wrong word, Jonas thought. Frightened meant that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen. Frightened was the way he had felt a year ago when an unidentified aircraft had overflown the community twice. -Lois Lowry, The Giver • Amazing facts: Try to imagine a star so big that it would fill all of the solar system within the orbit of Earth, which is 93 million miles from the sun. A star so turbulent that its eruptions would spread a cloud of gases spanning four light-years, the distance from the sun to the nearest star. A star so powerful that it glows with the energy of 10 million suns, making the brightest ever observed in our galaxy, the Milky Way. -John Noble Wilford, At the Core of the Milky Way, the Brightest Star Ever Seen

Additional Categories Spoken words: “Your father has met with an accident.” -Avi, The Barn It was my first morning in high school. I have seven notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache. -Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak Presenting a question: Have you ever imagined what it would be like to play in the NBA? To glide down the court, matching strikes with the greatest basketball player in the world? To hear the roar of the crowd as you throw down a dunk or swat an opponent’s shot into the bleachers? It’s every kid’s dream. And for the fortunate few who make it to the NBA, it’s a dream come true. -Joseph Layden and James Preller, NBC Game Day