Scaredy Squirrel Craft Table

Created by Stacey Shubitz – Two Writing Teachers January 14, 2010
Craft Move Conversation Skeleton with Student Scaredy Scaredy Squirrel Scaredy
Squirrel Text at Night Text Squirrel
Example Example Makes a
Friend Text
Example
Ellipses Writers use points of ellipses, which are three Day after day he But when he turns on And he
followed by dots that look like three periods in a row, watches, until the spotlight… realizes… It’s a
exclamation( when they want to show that the character is one day… Hungry intruders dog! This was
s) thinking or when they wish to create Thursday 9:37 appear! This was NOT part of the
a.m. NOT part of the plan! plan!
suspense. I noticed Watt used ellipses to
A killer bee
create suspense in all three of the Scaredy appears!
Squirrel Books we’ve been looking at Scaredy Squirrel
together. In fact, she not only uses the jumps in panic,
ellipses to create suspense, but something knocking his
BIG happens after each of the suspenseful emergency kit
ellipses. (Show the examples in each of the out of the tree.
books.) When you want to create some This was NOT
suspense before having something big part of the plan.
happen, you can use ellipses to make your
reader think about what’s going to happen
next just like Watt used those three little dots
in the Scaredy Squirrel books.
Post Script Professional writers work tirelessly on the endings P.S. As for the P.S. As for the fire P.S. As for the
of their books. Endings are important to writers emergency kit, extinguisher, well, a wet doggy
since the last page of a book is the last thing a Scaredy Squirrel squirrel can never be smell, it’s been
reader gets out of the story. If a reader has is in no hurry to too careful. taken care of.
become involved in the world of the story, then pick it up just
s/he wants a satisfying ending. (Talk with the yet.
student about some satisfying endings they’ve
encountered in books and why they’ve liked those
particular endings.) Today I want to show you a
very different kind of ending I noticed in Watt’s
books. She wraps up each of the Scaredy Squirrel
Books very neatly, but I’ve noticed that all of her
books always include a “P.S.” at the end of her
books, which is something we often see in friendly
letters, not in books. “P.S.” stands for post-script,
which means “after writing.” A P.S. is usually a
Material from Scaredy Squirrel, Scaredy Squirrel at Night and Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend is used by permission of Kids Can
Press. © Mélanie Watt
sentence or two the writer of a letter might

include if they forgot to write something down in
the body of their letter. However, a book is
something that takes a lot of time to craft. Let’s
look at the endings in three of the Scaredy
Squirrel Books together and think about why Watt
may have decided to include a post-script in each
of these books. (Study these. Allude to the
humor. Ask the student how s/he might want to
try this purposefully in some of his/her writing.)
Longer lists Many writers include lists in the body of a story. What to do in Scaredy’s Nighttime The Perfect
(without Sometimes writers do this by listing things in a case of an “To Do” List Plan
ending series in a sentence. However, in all of the emergency 1. Count stars Step 1: Toss
punctuation) Scaredy Squirrel Books, Watt usually creates according to (should keep down chew toy
numbered lists, sometimes without punctuation, Scaredy Squirrel: you occupied to distract
inside of her stories. Let’s look at three of the Step 1: Panic for a while) biters
longer lists Watt includes in the Scaredy Squirrel Step 2: Run 2. Play cymbals Step 2: Use
Stories together. (Examine the lists. Talk about Step 3: Get kit (loud, mirror to check
what they have in common. Discuss the purpose Step 4: Put on annoying hair and teeth
they serve for the reader. Talk with the writer kit noise is sure Step 3: Run to
about reasons they might choose to mentor a list Step 5: Consult to keep you fountain
after Watt if the story they' exit plan wide awake) Step 4: Point
Step 6: Exit tree 3. Take up to name tag
(if there is scrapbooking and smile
absolutely, (keeps you Step 5: Offer
definitely, truly well- lemonade
no other option) organized and Step 6: Make
productive) the perfect
friend
Short list Narrative and non-narrative writers often create A few things Side effects of A few items
without lists. They do this to help readers collect some Scaredy Squirrel sleepless nights may Scaredy
punctuation thinking around a particular topic or idea. Watt is afraid of: include: Squirrel needs
used short lists several times in the Scaredy tarantulas energy loss to make the
Squirrel Books. However, unlike a sentence poison ivy forgetfulness perfect friend:
where an author lists items and separates them green Martians drowsiness lemon
with commas, Watt did not punctuate her list. killer bees poor reflexes name tag
Let’s study a few of the lists together and try to germs hallucinations mittens
figure out why she chose not to punctuate those sharks confusion… comb
lists. (Study the lists and talk about possible mirror
reasons she didn’t punctuate the lists. Have the air freshener
child develop a couple of theories as to why she toothbrush

did this before helping the child decide when s/he chew toy
can do this in his/her own writing.)
Strong verbs One way writers help their readers Scaredy Squirrel So he’s very Then he starts
understand what a character looks like or jumps to catch determined to stay chasing his
sounds like is by using strong verbs in their his kit. awake by keeping new buddy.
sentences. Strong verbs, which show action, busy all through the
night.
help a reader create a picture in their mind
about what is happening. Watt did this well
in several places in the Scaredy Squirrel
Books. She used verbs like jumps,
determined, and chasing which are very
descriptive ways to show what’s happening
to the character. Using strong verbs is
something you can try in your writing too!
Using powerful verbs will make your story
stronger since verbs that show an action
precisely describe the characters you write
about will help your reader create a movie in
his/her mind as they read your story.
Sentences Writers often begin sentences with a noun, which He’d rather stay He’d rather stay He’d rather be
that begin is a person, place, or a thing. Many times writers in his safe and awake than risk alone than risk
with a begin sentences with the name of a person to familiar tree having a bad dream encountering
pronoun- show who is doing something. However, if than risk in the middle of the someone
contraction writers want to vary the way their sentences venturing into night. dangerous.
combination begin, they may choose to begin some of their the unknown.
[ADVANCED sentences with a pronoun, which is a word that
OPTION takes the place of the name of a person, place or
could be to a thing. Watt begins several of her sentences
add some about Scaredy Squirrel with the pronoun he. But,
teaching as you’ll notice, she doesn’t just start the
about the sentence with the word “he,” she begins the
use of the sentence with the word, “he’d.” “He’d” is a
conditional contraction. The apostrophe between the letter e
form (i.e., and the letter d stands for missing letters. In this
would)] case the apostrophe stands for the letters w-o-u-l.
Watt put the words “he” and “would” together by
adding an apostrophe, which created the word
“he’d.” Are there places in your writing where

you might be able to join two words together
using an apostrophe in order to differentiate the
way you begin some of your sentences? (Let the
child talk about why s/he might do this not just on
this day, but going-forward.)
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Created by Stacey Shubitz – Two Writing Teachers January 14, 2010

sentence or two the writer of a letter might

child develop a couple of theories as to why she toothbrush

“he’d.” Are there places in your writing where

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