1. LEADS, HOOKS, ”GRABBERS,” ATTENTION GETTERS … HOW TO WOW YOUR READERS FROM THE START

2. The Rubric… Content & FormExceeds Standards – 10 Meets Standards – 8.5 Making Progress toward Standards - 7 Not in Evidence – 5.5 Lead (Exposition = character, setting, conflict) Lead grabs the reader’s attention and gives clues about what is coming, including elements of exposition. Lead gives clues about what is coming, including elements of exposition. Lead does not give clues about what is coming. Lead is missing.

3. Fact/Statistic “Thirty seven percent of Americans cannot find Great Britain on a map” (Gallup/Harris poll).

4. Rhetorical Question “How many pints of blood does the human body contain? I wondered this while listening to the continuous drips of my own blood hitting the floor.”

5. Description

6. List Windshield wipers. Disposable Diapers. White out. Medical syringe. The bra. Chocolate chip cookies. Spanx. Car heater. Electric washing machine, the trash can with the foot pedal. What do all these things have in common? They were all invented by women in the last 100 years.

7. Bold Statement “In my first memory, I am three years old and I am trying to kill my sister. Sometimes the recollection is so clear, I can remember the itch of the pillowcase under my hand, the sharp point of her nose pressing against my palm.”

8. Dialogue “Shark!” dad screamed. “Get out of the water!” “What? I can’t hear you.” I calmly replied and kept walking through the murky water. “Get out of the water! NOW!” he yelled frantically waving his arms in distress.

9. Internal Monologue “Be brave. It will be okay. Just BE BRAVE,” I told myself while putting on the hospital gown.

10. Exciting/Intense Moment “I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can’t make your body move fast enough.”

11. A Mystery “Stevie Thomas read the letter once, than twice, then a third time to be sure it was real. Then he started screaming.”

12. Quote ●John F. Kennedy once said, “Do not ask what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

13. Onomatopoiea “Crack! That was the sound of my bone as I slid on the slimy bathroom floor.”

14. Humor/Joke “Most people bring back the usual mementos from their trips: photographs, T shirts, diarrhea.” (by Bryan Walsh in “The Moment” article - Time magazine) MUST be appropriate & readers should find it funny.

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