GRAB your READER

In writing, we have been working on many ways to make our writing more creative, and fun for the reader. One way to do this is by starting our piece with a grabber. A grabber is an opening sentence (or sometimes two!) that immediately captures the reader's attention. It flows naturally into the beginning of the piece. For example, lets say I was writing an expository piece about an animal that I would choose as a class pet. I might write something like this:

Some classrooms have gerbils, some have fish, but if I could choose a pet for my classroom I'd be way more creative than that! If I had my choice, we would have a monkey as a classroom pet.

Do you see how the grabber (in purple) immediately captures your attention? It leads right into the beginning (in grey), which tells us what the expository piece is going to be about.

There are many different strategies for writing grabbers. Here are a few we have been working on:

• SCENERIO


• VOICE


• MYSTERY


• OPINION


• ONOMATOPOEIA


• DIALOGUE


• GLOBAL STATEMENT/SPECIFIC STATEMENT


• RHETORICAL QUESTION


• FUNNY STATEMENT

Behavior Buck Challenge: Read the prompt below and comment with 2 different grabber/beginnings that would go with the prompt. You will earn $50.00 Behavior Bucks for finishing this challenge.

We have all lost something, or know someone who has lost something.

Before you begin writing, think about a time when you or someone else lost something.

Write to tell what happened the time you or someone else lost something.