Writing a Catchy Introduction

Jane and Ernie just got back from the International Olympiad, a worldwide sporting event! Now, it’s time for Jane to write her cover story about it! But, with all that fun and excitement, where should Jane begin? Let's help our gold-medal author with "Writing a Catchy Introduction." You may already know that a narrative is a type of story that entertains or tells a reader about real or imagined events. Every story has to start somewhere! We call the beginning of a story an introduction. It is important to write introductions to our stories that are catchy! This means they are instantly interesting or memorable to our readers. The first sentence of our story is where we, authors, try to grab the reader's attention so that they want to keep reading! There are many ways to write a catchy first sentence, but in first grade we will learn about three: a question, like “Have you ever?” “What would you do if?” or a sound, like brrng, psst, whoosh, or other words in this list! Or a fun fact, starting with: You may not know that! Once you have brainstormed and planned your story, you can start drafting your catchy hook! Jane wants to write a story about seeing the gold medal ceremony for diving. Since she's ready, let's help her draft some options for the story! If she starts by asking a question it should be about winning a medal. She should pick one of the question starters and then finish the sentence! Jane writes, "What would you do if you won a gold medal?" If she starts by writing a sound, it should be about a sound you might hear during diving. She should pick a word from this list and then finish her sentence, maybe like this: Splash went the water! Or, if Jane wants to begin with a fun fact, it should be something that is interesting and true about the Olympiad. She should begin with the starter, "You may not know that" and then finish the sentence with her fact, maybe like this: You may not know that gold medals are not really solid gold! While Jane picks which catchy hook to use for her first sentence, let's remember! Today we learned how to write a catchy introduction for a story. This is usually the first sentence of our story where we, authors, try to grab the reader's attention so that they want to keep reading! You can try it too by writing: a question, a sound, or a fun fact! "Ernie, I think I've got it! Our readers won't be able to put it down!" "That's great news, Jane." "So, Ernie what's it like diving from so high up?"