Lesson Plan
The Story of My Life
Teacher / Joyce ChangPurposes / 1. to encourage students to exercise their imagination and creativity
2. to encourage students to know themselves and their family, share their feelings, reflect on their lives and plan for their future
Skills involved / Writing
Duration / The whole semester
Grade level / 10-12th
Course material
Facilities (e.g. lab)
Summary of activity implementation: The following handout is given to students at the beginning of the semester. The teacher can choose all of the following assignments or only some of them. Some of the assignments can be incorporated into some lessons in the textbook, for example, "Rites of Passage," "The Annual Letters" "Just a Taxi Ride" and "A Letter to God" (Lungteng Reader, Book 4). At the end of the semester, all the sheets of assignments are put together to make a booklet.
My Portfolio: A Writing Project
1. Front Cover: The title can be All About Me / My Portfolio / (Name)’s Profile / Opening a Door / My Secret Garden / The Story of My Life, or whatever title you like. Put down your name.
2. My Family Tree: Draw a diagram showing your origin by indicating who your great-grandparents, grandparents, parents and siblings are. Use dialogue bubbles or cartoons or a short passage to tell us something interesting about them. Search for the Hanyu Pinyin System (漢語拼音系統) on line to learn how to spell the names and put the Chinese names in parentheses, e.g. Zhong Shan (中山).
3. How My Father Met My Mother: Interview your parents and find out details about their first encounter and how they fell in love with each other. Remember: even if they might not love each other now, they were once very much in love, and that's why you, a wonderful girl, have come into being. Recognize it as an integral part of your life and your self. If you still don't want to write about it, make up a love story about your parents.
4. Acrostic Poem: Use the letters of your English name to begin each line of a poem to describe yourself. Use descriptive adjectives and action verbs. Here is an example for the name Ryan. Reads suspense books for a hobby
Yearns to be a doctor
Actively participates in basketball, football, and golf
Naturally loves trucks and sports cars
5. Bio Poem: Write a bio poem following the format instructions below and use the sample as a guide. Format for the Bio Poem is as follows:
Line 1—Your English name
Line 2—Three of your character traits
Line 3—“Brother or sister of …” (followed by name) or "Daughter of…"
Line 4—“Lover of …” (followed by three people, things, or ideas)
Line 5—“Who feels strongly about …” (followed by three items)
Line 6—Your nickname
Line 7—“Who needs …” (followed by three items you need)
Line 8—“Who gives …” (followed by three items you share)
Line 9—“Who fears …” (followed by three items you fear)
Line 10—“Who would like to see …” (followed by any item, place, or person)
Line 11—“A resident of …” (followed by the place in which you live)
Line 12—Your last name
Alison
Artistic, humorous, adventurousSister of Erica
Lover of reading, writing, and cats
Who feels strongly about family, music, and friendship
Snoopy
Who needs knowledge, wisdom, and witWho gives advice, love, and laughter
Who fears heights, sharks, and loss of freedom
Who would like to see France
A resident of Los Angeles
James
6. My Motto: Highlight a motto that you live by, such as “Where there is a will, there is a way.” Tell us why you choose that motto. Write a passage of at least 120 words.7. Milestones in My Life: List at least 8 things that you did for the first time in your life, when you did it, and how you/ your family felt about them. Use sentences like “I rode a bicycle for the first time in 1992, and I felt exhilarated,” “I first learned English when I was in grade 2, and it was so difficult that I felt like giving up,” or “The first time I went camping was when I was fourteen, and I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep the previous night.”
8. An Unforgettable Day in My Life / A Childhood Memory: In at least 150 words, write about an unforgettable day in your life, how you felt about it and how it influenced you. (1) Begin with a topic sentence that includes the specific incident. (2) Give details about this incident. (3) Conclude with a paragraph telling us why this incident is remembered so vividly and how it has influenced you.
9. I See Myself in the Future: Write a passage that best describes what you will be doing 10 years from now. (1) Begin with a topic sentence that shows how you would like to be employed. Describe the education and training that is required of your job. Include a specific job description of what you do at your work. (2) Write about what difference your job makes in your life and others’ lives. (3) Summarize why you choose this line of work.
10. A Hero in My Mind: Write about someone you admire. (1) State who your personal hero is with a topic sentence. Describe specific character traits that make this person admirable. (2)Give examples showing why these traits are important. (3) State why this person has made such a difference in your life.
11. The Three Best Things About Me: Write a composition explaining your three most outstanding qualities. Explain and give examples telling why these qualities are chosen. (1) Begin with a topic sentence that mentions that you have three outstanding qualities. (2) Explain and give a reason why each quality is outstanding. (3) Conclude by telling how your outstanding qualities have influenced the way you are and how they have affected others.
12. My Favorite Love Story: Relate your favorite love story by summarizing it and recount why you like it.
13. How to…: Write a passage giving tips on how to do something, such as how to deal with shyness, how to stay fit, etc. You may need to get online to find some information. (1) State the problem and why we need to solve it. (2) Give tips on how to solve the problem.
14. If I Were in Charge of the World: What would you do if you were in charge of the world? Write a poem of at least three stanzas with four lines each.
If I were in charge of the world,/ I would help the Middle East peace process,/ The ozone layer would not deteriorate as fast,/ I would help stop pollution.
If I were in charge of the world, / I’d make ice cream healthful, so you can eat it more often,/ I’d make all healthful foods taste perfect,/ There could be a cure for everything…
15. A Letter to God: Have you ever thought of talking to God or praying to Him? Write a letter to God telling Him what you pray for or what you think of Him.
16. How I Would Like the World to Remember Me—My Epitaph: In at least 150 words, tell us what words you would like to be inscribed on your gravestone and why. Begin your passage with the epitaph. You may need to get online (use the search engine Google, and key in the words “epitaph” or “The Epitaph Browser”) to find some examples of epitaphs. (Or you can tell us what song you would like to be sung at your funeral. (Mickey once heard Roy Clark sing the song "Yesterday When I Was Young" before and thought it depicted his life so well that he specifically asked Roy to someday sing it at his funeral. Roy sang the song at Mickey's funeral in 1995.)