Mood: The feeling you have when listening to or reading a story
1. Discuss words that describe a mood for a story, chapter or written piece. Make the list on the board. Ask students to choose one word and give a few sentences orally that could be used to support that word. ie. mysterious "He was confused. That hallway wasn't there only a minute ago. What's going on here?"
2. Read a short selection from one of the Edgar Allen Poems or stories. If you want spooky, you can't do better than Poe! Choose selections from other stories your students may have read in class, or on their own. Decide the mood. Discuss that mood will most likely change throughout a story. Another great book is "The Best Christmas Pagent Ever". The first paragraph is terrific!
3. Write different types of mood on slips of paper, fold and put in a hat. Ask students to pull our a slip of paper and write a paragraph that would show that mood. Exchange with a partner and ask them to read the selection, then guess what mood is being conveyed.
4. Show pictures from the Internet. Ask students to write one word to describe how they feel about that picture. List the words on the board and discuss.
How about some great videos about teaching Mood (and tone)
This short video is an illustration of pictures and words that describe the tone. It would be great to use in an opening lesson.
If you need some good pictures to use with your lesson, check out the sites below:
This is a terrific Pinterest page with loads of great writing pictures...great for mood!
Writing Picture Prompts
50 Picture PowerPoint
If you need a great resource to test and evaluate your students' writing, check out the resources below by clicking on the cover.
