Who's in the Driver's Seat?

What is your favorite T.V. show, movie, book? Why is it your favorite? Do you relate to it, is it funny? When discussing audience with my 5th and 6th graders I normally open the discussion in this way. Then I ask them, "What do you watch when your favorite show or movie isn't on?" or "How do you select a book to read?" I wait and usually get the response I am looking for. I flip through the channels or I look at the first few pages. I ask them to visualize themselves sitting on the couch looking for something to watch. It's 8:00 on a Wednesday night and your channel surfing. How do you decide what to watch? Normally someone will say the first thing that catches my attention. I use this example because I want them to realize the importance of audience. The importance of grabbing your audiences attention. From there we begin our discussion of hooks and leads. I use examples from different pieces of literature and discuss how the author hooks their reader and draws them into their story. We create a list of ways to grab our reader's attention in our own writing and refer to it throughtout the year. Does this mean I think "...the writer has less control than the audience over both evaluation and motivation."(80) not at all. I am simply pointing out that good writers capture their audiences attention. If they don't no one will want to watch or read what they wrote. In addition, with PSSA's being on my mind I try to create a picture in their heads of all the 5th graders in the state of PA having to write about the same topic, and then being scored by a handful of people. Which paper is going to stand out and stay in the mind of the scorer? Which paper will they remember after reading 50 about the same topic? Hopefully a connection will be made.