Teacher Feature

1. Teacher Feature Let the Writing Begin Know your FOCUS – what is aspect of your teacher are you writing about?

2. The Lead • 15 to 20 words • Clever play on words OR • Hint at something mysterious or questionable • Make me want to read more • It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. Your child is playing outside and you hear the screech of brakes in front of your house followed by a thump. • Cassandra Lees has found herself in a situation she would have thought impossible just a year ago—unemployed and unable to find work anywhere in Calgary. • ‘Tis the season to be jolly. Ask the man with the white beard, red hat, and that special sparkle in his eye. • The chapel is like no other. Paintings of angels come alive from the majestic ceiling. The stained windows look like rainbows against the morning sunlight. To the left are statues of saints. They seem so real, you can almost feel them breathing.

3. Lead Samples John W. Cox Three times a week, a truck putters 45 miles south from a farm in Sonoma County, headed for Berkeley’s North Shattuck neighborhood, filled with plump, corn-bred, nine-week-old ducks. Andrew R. McGill There’s a story about agrarian author Wendell Berry that food buffs and literary types like to pass around. According to popular legend, when an out-of-state fan asked Berry to travel and speak at a conference, the writer responded with a 14-line poem. It read in part: “In the labor of the fields longer than a man’s life I am at home. Don’t come with me. You stay home too.” Matthew Baker Alice Waters’ appearance isn’t the flashiness you’d expect from a world-class chef. Aside from a dark, striped scarf, she wears little color and little jewelry. Halle Stockton Thousands idolize Mimi Silbert for her contagious spirit and persistent belief in self-sufficiency. Her following includes ex-convicts, former gang members, heroin and crack addicts and prostitutes. Daniel C. Ford Gary Dockery looked around the courtroom soaking in his last few moments of freedom./He was out of chances and standing before a judge seconds away from a life sentence that would write the final chapter to his short, but violent, sad and hate-filled life. Megan G. Boehnke Gary Dockery looked rigidly uncomfortable sitting in his black patterned suit and red tie. Tattoos peeked out from behind the stiff fabric. There were flames on his hands, letters on his knuckles, and other symbols on his neck. But when he started to tell a story about his savior, the 29-year-old former convict, who was facing life in prison for a hate crime only a year and a half ago, relaxed.

4. Quote from Secondary • Insert a student quote or admin quote related to the FOCUS. • Not related to the person in general. • Remember that we are illustrating the unique element about the person.

5. Explain MORE – the next paragraph • Give a three-sentence description of what you mean in the lead. • Describe what the person looks like as you were talking to him. Use them as adjectives • “A petite woman of 5’4” with the smile of a sly cat explains that she loves to eat a sizeable rib-eye steak at least once a week for dinner. She describes it as her “special” time with her 6’2” husband of 12 years.

6. The quote • Insert the most important quote you have from that person. • It must be related to the topic. Don’t just choose something random about his/her life. • “I used to eat only salads for dinner, but now I enjoy a nice piece of cow,” Donner said as she deliberately rubbed her hands together in anticipation of the meal to come.

7. The Incident • Describe an incident that happened to illustrate your focus. You’re telling your teacher’s story. • NYT article • Under Siege in War-Torn Somalia, a Doctor Holds Her Ground

8. More Quotes • One more from the subject – make sure it’s related to the focus

9. The ending • End with a bang – see NYT article • Not a Good Day to Be the Mailman • Leave the reader wanting to know more about the person in general, not wanting to know more about the focus of the personality.