Caroline Baas
November 10, 2007
Instructional Writing Sequence – Sequence and Assessment
Lesson 1: Start Personal Narrative Unit
What: Learn how to “write the truth” and develop a “writing frame of mind”
How/Gateway: Introductory Activities, readings from Lamott, Quote sheet, Assignment
Sheet, etc.
Students will attempt to find their writing frames of mind and get into the “mood” of personal narrative writing by hearing a number of quotes from Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird”. We will discuss “writing the truth” and how important it is to get our feelings out. These things will serve as Gateway Activities to help students accomplish this first “task”. See Appendix A for handouts. Students will also receive the assignment sheet for the final task, which is to create a Personal Narrative.
Lesson 2: Writing Process and Pre-Writing
What: Learn how to engage in the writing process in a meaningful way.
How/Gateway: Importance of Process handout/metaphor (this process gateway activity
Will be ongoing throughout the lesson as students engage in the writing process).
How/Gateway: Writing Strategies Discussion: Relevance and handout (see Appendix A).
Lesson 3: Choosing a Defining Moment
What: Learn HOW to choose a defining moment.
How/Gateway: Personal Narrative Planning handout, discussions, personal examples (model)
Lesson 4: PQS – Peer Review and Sharing
What: Learn how to engage in the writing process and learn how to ASK good questions
and WHAT a good and helpful question is.
How/Gateway: Fishbowl model of PQS, handouts, explanation, discussion about
questions and their nature
Lesson 5: LMC and Individual Conferences
What: Learn how to engaged in the writing process
How/Gateway: Individual conferences with me
Lesson 6: Finishing Touches/DETAIL
What: Learn how to ADD or omit detail, how to add imagery, and what to include and what NOT to include.
How/Gateway: “Around the World” Peer help activity, discussion of detail (what is it?, why do we use it?, etc).
What: How to edit for grammar, etc.
How/Gateway: Peer editing sheets and peer editing strategy (reading backwards, reading aloud, etc.)
SEE APPENDIX A BELOW FOR HANDOUTS
Defining Moments in Our Lives
…one small thing can make a big difference…
Introduction
A personal narrative is your chance to write about something that is actually significant to you…yourself! Think back to the first few days of the school year. We each created “I am From” poems about the things in our very own lives that we hold near and dear. This assignment is along the same lines…but also different.
This assignment will require you to choose ONE major defining moment in your life. After you choose this moment, you will discuss events surrounding this event and how it changed you as a person. What were the events in your life (and feelings) that led to this defining moment? What happened to you after this defining moment?
Part of writing something this important (because it’s about you!), is the PROCESS of how we create something like this about ourselves. Do we just sit down and create an awesome product in five minutes? NO! Believe it or not, when you are writing about something this significant to your life, you go through a journey as you write and even learn a bit more about yourself. The PROCESS is just as important as the final product, because it shows how we met our goal!
Personal Narrative Details
This assignment has 5 important parts:
v 1 brainstorm activity that I gave to you to do
v 3 brainstorming activities of your choice
v 2 rough drafts
v 3 peer reviews of your rough drafts
v 1 FINAL DRAFT
The above 5 parts must be put together and turned in. We will call this your Process Portfolio. You may staple the parts together in a packet, you may bind them as a book, or you may put them in a folder or portfolio/report cover. Including all 5 parts together like this will highlight the PROCESS we went through to meet our goal of writing something meaningful about ourselves.
In addition to the 5 parts that must be in this “Process Portfolio”, you must include:
v Table of contents
v Labels or tabs separating each part (see example)
v Page Numbers (written neatly or typed)
Where will we do all this work?
We will be doing a lot of this work in class, so do not panic. We will have the computer lab a little bit, but you will probably have to spend some time typing at home or in the LMC.
When is the Personal Narrative and Process Portfolio Due?
THE FINAL PORTFOLIO IS DUE ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2007 IN CLASS!
This means that you need to look ahead to figure out what you need to do to make this happen. You will need to:
v Make sure that your printer has ink, that it works, and that there is paper. If it does not, you will need to plan to print here at school on your own time. Or talk to a friend or relative. Do what it takes. Printer excuses are not acceptable.
v PLAN time for yourself to use the LMC if you will need it!
v If you are making a PowerPoint, make sure you have a CD-RW or blank CD-R to save it on, so you can bring it to class. Or, you may email your narrative as an attachment the night before it’s due. If you are going to do this, make sure it works and that you are using a PowerPoint that is compatible with the version of PowerPoint that we use here at school. (See attached sheet for more information about PowerPoints!)
The only excuse for projects not turned in on the due date is if there is a large natural disaster that cracks all computers in the world in half. I know that you are all responsible young adults and I know you can meet your goals. YAY for that!
Rubric for Personal Narrative (Requirements & Points – This is the important part!)
Complete Process Portfolio
v 1 brainstorm activity that I gave to you to do
v 3 brainstorming activities of your choice
v 2 rough drafts
v 3 peer reviews of your rough drafts
v 1 FINAL DRAFT TOTAL:_____/50 (-10 for each missing)
Participation in Class – Staying on task, constructively working with others
v Day 1 _____/10
v Day 2 _____/10
v Day 3 _____/10
v Day 4 _____/10
v Day 5 _____/10
v Day 6 _____/10
v Day 7 _____/10
TOTAL:_____/70
Final Personal Narrative (included in Process Portfolio)
v Final Personal Narrative shows improvement when compared to the beginning
of the Personal Narrative process _____/10
v Specific issues addressed on rough drafts and peer reviews were addressed and taken care of in final product _____/10
v Final uses one defining moment as a focus and then discusses events, feelings, and the author’s transformation surrounding this event _____/10
v Final Personal Narrative includes examples and details _____/10
v Author critically though about themselves and how they were changed by their defining moment _____/10
v Personal Narrative is at least 2-4 pages long (10-15 slides)_____/10
v Personal Narrative is double spaced and typed _____/10
v Personal Narrative has few spelling & grammatical errors _____/10
TOTAL:_____/80
GRAND TOTAL FROM THREE SECTIONS: _____/200 POINTS
Acceptable Final Personal Narrative Forms:
v Regular typed work
v Microsoft PowerPoint
You may choose one of these formats in order to complete your personal narrative. If you choose to do a PowerPoint instead of a typed out paper, making the PowerPoint (design, etc.) will be your LAST STEP. You will engage in the same activities as your classmates in terms of brainstorming activities, peer edit and review, and rough drafts. This means that if you do a PowerPoint, you will still have all of your information written out in paper format, and for your FINAL you will transfer this information into a PowerPoint with design elements. I realize that if you decide to do a PowerPoint, you cannot include the hard copy in your portfolio. Instead you would attach or include the disk that this PowerPoint or on, or indicate that you sent it to me in an email.
Creating a PowerPoint for your final product may sound more fun, and that may be true. You can include design and photos, etc. HOWEVER, keep in mind that we have limited LMC time. If you decide to do a PowerPoint for your final product, you will need to have scheduled time to go to the LMC on your own and work, or you will need to have PowerPoint at home or at an easily accessible place (relative’s house, library, etc.) Please make a decision that will work with you, your schedule and your resources. Thanks!
J
My email address is:
Personal Narrative – Forming Our Thoughts
1. Layla is on the swimming and diving team. She has a very busy schedule and does not have a lot of time to attend practices. Nevertheless, she stays on the swim team. At her meets, she always messes up in the same way, when she is doing the same race. She continuously does this and feels that attending practices would help, but she just has no time to go.
Jamal is on the soccer team. He makes sure to attend all of his practices regularly and even conditions on his own at home or at the gym. He knows that practice makes perfect. Jamal continues to improve at each game he plays, due to all of his practice. When Jamal thinks about the strategies he uses during actual soccer games, he realizes that these strategies are the result of lots of hard work. He realizes that most of his work and preparation does not take place on the soccer field.
What is the difference between how these two people participate in sports?
Why is Jamal always improving while Layla remains the same?
If you look at a sports team, where does most of the work take place? In practices and behind the scenes, or out on the court or field during a game?
How can we connect this concept to writing, or writing our personal narratives?
2. A baby is born and its parents name it Landon. Landon weighs 11 pounds 12 ounces at birth and is a very cute and good-natured baby. As Landon grows, he starts moving more and more. At first he can only move his head, but eventually he learns how to roll over by himself and use his hands to hold toys and bottles. Soon he figures out that if he turns over on his stomach and uses his arms to pull himself forward, he can move around his house without the help of his parents. It’s hard pulling his lower body around like this, and eventually Landon discovers that he can bend his legs, put them under his body, and move them off the floor to move faster. Landon crawls around his house constantly and soon realizes that he can use his arms to pull himself up onto furniture. Soon he is standing next to furniture, just holding on with one hand. He looks like he is going to walk any day. One day, when Landon is 11 months old, he takes his first step. At first Landon was a baby not even capable of rolling over by himself. Now, Landon is walking!
What process did Landon go through in order to walk?
Could Landon have walked without all the little steps he went through?
Why are these steps really important? Are they crucial to his success?
“The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the truth. We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write so very little. But we do. We have so much we want to say and figure out. Year after year my students are bursting with stories to tell, and they start writing projects with excitement and maybe even joy – finally their voices will be heard, and they are going to get to devote themselves to this one thing they’ve longed to do since childhood. But after a few days at the desk, telling the truth in an interesting way turns out to be about as easy and pleasurable as bathing a cat. Some lose faith. Their sense of self and story shatters and crumbles to the ground.
Start with childhood, I tell them. Plug your nose and jump in, and write down all your memories as truthfully as you can. Flannery O’Connor said that anyone who survived childhood has enough material to write for the rest of his or her life. Maybe your childhood was grim and horrible, but grim and horrible is okay if it is well done. Don’t worry about doing it well yet, though. Just start getting it down.
So you might start by writing down every single thing you can remember from your first few years in school. Start with kindergarten. Try to get the words and memories down as they occur to you. Don’t worry [yet] if what you write is no good, because no one is going to see it [yet]. Move on to first grade, to second, to third. Who were your teachers, your classmates? What did you wear? Who and what were you jealous of? Now branch out a little. Did your family take vacations during those years? Get these down on paper. Do you remember how much more presentable everybody else’s family looked? Do you remember how when you’d be floating around in an inner tube on a river, your own family would have lost the little cap that screws over the airflow valve, so every time you got in and out of the inner tube, you’d scratch new welts in your thighs? And how other families never lost the caps?” -Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird