Ideal Hideaway Students will describe places they wish they could escape to, to be by themselves.
Read a poem about hideaways such as “Hold Fast Your Dreams” by Louise Driscoll. The BIG Book of Ready-to-Go Writing Lessons © Marci Miller & Martin Lee, Scholastic Teaching Resources
Display pictures of retreats, such as clubhouses, trees, dens, the Bat Cave, and so on. Discuss questions like these: Have you ever wanted to disappear into a special secret place that only YOU know about? What would that place look like? Where would it be? How big would it be? When would you go there? Who else would be allowed in? Duplicate and distribute the idea organizer on page 11, which students can use to help them collect their thoughts and ideas. Suggest that students imagine adapting existing spaces in their own homes.
Have students think about the physical attributes of the hideaway including appearance, size, location, view, shape, furnishing, access, and so on. Help kids add pizzazz! Descriptive words can help writers make hideaways seem all the more unique and valued. Provide a thesaurus, or present new words kids can include. Words like haven, sanctuary, or retreat are more evocative than place or spot. Invite writers to describe the feelings or sensations they get when they are safe within their hideaways. Tone—Does your description make the hideaway sound really special to you?
Have students accompany their writing with sketches or diagrams of the hideaways. Place each completed piece in an envelope. Put the envelopes in a shoebox “hideaway” stapled to a bulletin board. Invite each student to pick an envelope and read about a different hideaway, then return the piece to the shoebox for others to enjoy. Extend by having students write about times when they would have gone to their hideaways.
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