If — Conditional Subordinator + Drafting the Resolution

All-9-subordinator round-robin: each child says one sentence using a different subordinator (WHEN, BECAUSE, ALTHOUGH, SINCE, BEFORE, AFTER, WHILE, UNTIL, IF). Teacher records on board.

• Cue each child with the next conjunction
• Affirm and gently correct comma

Our last subordinator: IF. IF is a CONDITION — it sets up a possibility. 'IF you ask kindly, the librarian will help.' (Fronted, comma.) 'The librarian will help IF you ask kindly.' (Back, no comma.) Now back to narrative. Today we write the RESOLUTION — the fourth box on MG-2. The resolution shows how the moment SETTLED after the peak. Resolution is not a moral or a lesson — it's a soft ending that lets the reader catch their breath. Sometimes the resolution names what CHANGED inside the narrator. Sometimes it just shows the next breath, the next quiet moment. Watch a model. (Teacher writes) 'AFTER we finished, Grandma cut the loaf in half. She handed me one warm piece. "You did it," she said simply. I held the bread and let the steam touch my face. THAT was the day I learned that brave hands shake at first.' Notice: AFTER subordinator opens; simple dialogue; sensory detail (steam); a quiet reflection that names what changed inside (brave hands shake at first).

• The resolution doesn't fix everything. It just names that something shifted.

  model 'When the sun started to set, Dad packed the rods. We walked back along the pier in our wet sneakers. He didn't say anything about the empty bucket. AT THE END, I realized I was glad we came.' AFTER-style ending with reflection.

  prompt Resolution model for the fishing pier: how does this moment settle?
• IF sets up a condition for the future.

  model 'IF I practice every day, I will go to the recital again.' (Fronted, comma.) Or back: 'I will go to the recital again if I practice every day.'

  prompt Use IF in a complex sentence: 'I will go to the recital again.' Combine with condition.

• Does IF carry a TIME, CAUSE, CONTRAST, or CONDITION meaning?
• What is the job of a RESOLUTION paragraph?

M-3-F-WR-11-A Chart

11x17 anchor split: top half MG-3 with IF (green card, CONDITION) highlighted; bottom half a RESOLUTION anchor — green RESOLUTION box from MG-2 enlarged, with the four ingredient cues: (1) something settles (action/sensory), (2) optional dialogue, (3) named what changed (abstract noun or feeling), (4) softness. Worked example: 'After we finished, Grandma cut the loaf in half. "You did it," she said. I held the bread and let the steam touch my face. That was the day I learned that brave hands shake at first.' Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

MG-2 Chart Physical / non-image

Personal-narrative 4-box anchor poster: four labeled boxes in a 2x2 grid — ORIENTATION (blue, with a who/where/when icon), COMPLICATION (yellow, with a problem/uh-oh icon), PEAK or REALIZATION (red, with a heart-pounding icon), RESOLUTION (green, with a settle-back icon). Below each box: a sentence-frame ('It was ___. I was ___.' / 'But then ___.' / 'That was the moment ___.' / 'After that, ___.'). Print-ready 11x17, dyslexic-friendly font.

MG-3 Chart Physical / non-image

Subordinating-conjunctions anchor chart: nine cards in a 3x3 grid color-coded by meaning category. TIME (blue): WHEN, AFTER, BEFORE, WHILE, UNTIL. CAUSE (yellow): BECAUSE, SINCE. CONTRAST (red): ALTHOUGH. CONDITION (green): IF. Each card has a sentence example ('WHEN the bell rang, we hurried inside.', 'BECAUSE the soup was cold, Mom complained.', 'ALTHOUGH I was scared, I climbed the rock.', 'IF you ask kindly, the librarian will help.'). Bottom rule: 'A SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION joins a SUBORDINATE CLAUSE to an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE. Front + comma; back = no comma.' Print-ready 11x17.

• Reread your draft. Draft paragraph 4 (resolution) — 2 to 4 sentences. Show how the moment settled. Use at least ONE subordinating conjunction (any of the 9).

  scaffold MG-2 + MG-3 at desk
• Annotate: underline the subordinating conjunction; circle the abstract noun or feeling that names what changed.

  scaffold Annotation legend

M-3-F-WR-11-B Illustration

Reference image of a Grade-3 4-paragraph narrative draft with each paragraph color-coded in the left margin (blue=orientation, yellow=complication, red=peak, green=resolution). The text is hand-written in clean Grade-3 print on single-line paper. Green-pencil annotations visible: subordinating conjunctions underlined; one sensory detail circled per paragraph; abstract noun starred. Print-ready 8.5x11, classroom annotation style.

• Read your resolution paragraph aloud. Partner names: how did the moment settle?
• Now your full draft is 4 paragraphs. Update status-of-class tile (move to REVISE).

• Hold up your full 4-paragraph draft for the class to see.
• Predict: tomorrow we focus on dialogue mechanics — commas and quotation marks.

• Read your full 4-paragraph draft aloud at home. Ask: 'Did it feel finished?' If not, what was missing — orientation, complication, peak, or resolution?