Some remember the gray, lifelessness of this object. Students begin to see the importance of using all their senses to capture specific details. They also see the connection between the strategies used to refine science observations and the strategies they can apply to their writing. Students again return to their character sketches to see if they can look as closely at their character as they did at the chrysalis. For example, she asks students to write a short skit that will create a scene to follow the end of a short story they've read during the year.
Students select the story and generate a scene based upon what they know about the characters.
They contribute to an assessment guide that describes the expectations for this activity, and as homework, they write their individual versions. At the next class Wells asks students to form groups of three and perform each skit. As students work, they note where more detailed information is needed in each script, where dialogue is weak, where a character's personality has changed from the original story, and where there is too much narrative. They discuss each version using the assessment guide. After each group has performed and discussed the three skits, students work individually to revise their writing based on these conversations.