Pictures for Writing Leads

Talking Lead

This lead begins with dialogue.

Example:
"Quick, hit the floor!" my dad yelled. "Whatever you do, don't look up!" my mother added as I dropped to the floor and slid myself under my bed. It was a terrifying night for my family when we discovered a bat in our house.

Write a lead in the comment section about:

• Opening a present
• Going on an airplane for the first time
• Finding out your best friend is moving

Action Lead

This lead involves the reader by starting with an exciting event or some kind of action.

Example:
I threw on my favorite red dress and scrambled down the stairs as fast as I could. It was my 8th birthday, and I couldn't wait for the party to begin.

Write a lead in the comments section about one of the following:

• Your favorite activity in Phy. Ed. class
• A spy
• An athletic event (game, sport, play)

Lead #1- The Lighthouse

Writing Leads- Leads are an important part of writing. This is the writer's chance to create interest in the story that is to follow. A good lead should excite the reader in someway and keep them reading. A lead is not the whole story. Just an opening paragraph, page, or chapter.

Write a strong lead for this picture.

Lead #2- The House on the Rock

Write a strong lead for this picture.

Leads #3 The Path

Write a strong lead for this picture.

Leads #4- Elephants at the Watering Hole

Write a strong lead for this picture.

Scary Leads

Homework: Finish all spelling assignments, complete vocab notebook for the week, and Tic-Tac-Toe reading activities (not GATES reading group). For math do 5.2 the front side only, skip #3.
Tomorrow the kids receive their Blue Ribbon Tie-dye t-shirt and we will be assembling our class banner with items that represent ourselves, our hopes, and our dreams. Have a great night.


Write some more leads. Make them scary this time.

Leading Examples of Leads

Below are some of the lead highlights that we've compiled this week. They were inspired by the 4 pictures posted under the "Leads" label.

zach b:
As I was swimming in what I thougt was an empty body of water I looked up to see at least ten elephants staring at me as if they were going to attack. I tried to stay still but they apparently saw me and charged.

zhylene.e
As i was walking through the woods.I saw a huge cave i went in then all of the sudden.I heard a loud noise.Then I looked at behind me there was a a group of huge elephant following me.

By: Megan M.
I was running through the jungle then
I stumbled on a rock in to the river then I stood up and saw a huge herd of elephants.

matt b. I am running through woods all of the sudden I come to a path.It looks like it never ends.At one point I thought I was being watched.Then I hear a stick crack.

lilli
As I was waking threw the dark woods I was alone at night I heard A screaming noise in the woods but I saw A bat leading to A dark scary PATH!

by jack w

It was normal day and there was one hour left of school and a kid past me a note it said there was an old path in my neiborhood so after school I went down the path and all of a sudden I saw some rustling in the bushes so I went to go check it out and looked above to see the most terrifing thing I EVER SAW I WAS SO SCARED I COULD NOT MOVE.

rahni w.

One day i was walking. in a dark forest all alone. i saw a old shed i opened the door. their was nothing in it i steped out. of the shed and kept walking and mist started to apair. i felt a cold hand on my shoulder i turned around. i screamed and started running and i fell.

By Leo

I was riding my bike on a bike path when I fell down a hill that was never there.Then I heard a ton of ghostly sounds.Then I screamed!

Molly:I wake up on a raft floating in a lilypad garden when I suddenly crash into a giant leaf I look around this time cautious. Then I relax again and look at my surroundings. Leafs,leafs, and a girl.

-By Kate Henley
I was floating along a river filled with shallow, muddy water. I was half awake, yet it felt like I was fully asleep. I dozed off dreaming of wonders, gold and silver. I heard a frog croaking in the distance and woke slightly. In my blurry view, I saw a dark green figure coming towards me. I rubbed my eyes, thinking that it was a figment of my imagination. The blurry figure was coming closer, until I realized it was a leaf. A large lillypad leaf spattered with red clay.

Lead #1- Elephants at the River

Write a strong lead for this picture.

Lead #2- The Path

Write a strong lead for this picture.

Lead #3- The Hydrant

Write a strong lead for this picture.

Lead #4- Girl Among Plants

Write a strong lead for this picture.

Leadoff Batters and Leadoff Sentences

In baseball, a leadoff batter is the table setter. Someone who gets on base, gets the crowd excited, and gets the pitcher nervous. A leadoff batter sets the tone and often foretells how the game is going to go.

The same is true for writing. A strong lead draws a reader in and keeps the reader reading.

Here are some samples from well-known books:
From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling:

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved with anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense."








From Jeanne DuPrau's, The City of Ember:

"When the City of Ember was just built and not yet inhabited, the chief builder and the assistant builder both of them weary, sat down to speak of the future.
'They must not leave the city for at least two hundred years,' said the chief builder. 'Or perhaps two hundred and twenty.'
'Is that long enough?' asked his assistant.
'It should be. We can't know for sure.'"



From Kate DiCamillo's, The Tale of Despereaux:

"This story begins within the walls of a castle, with the birth of a mouse. A small mouse. The last mouse born to his parents and the only one of his litter to be born alive.
'Where are my babies?' said the exhausted mother when the ordeal was through. 'Show to me my babies.'
The father mouse held the one small mouse up high.
'There is only this one,' he said. 'The others are dead.'
'Mon dieu, just the one mouse baby?'
'Just the one. Will you name him?'
'All of that work of nothing,' said the mother. She sighed. 'It is so sad. It is such the disappointment.'"

Click here for some student examples of writing leads from last year. They practiced by writing interesting leads and poor leads.