Launching Narrative Writing unit: Grade 7 Common Core

Building Our Community What is your role in education? What is your passion? What is something few people know about you?

Framing Activity

Writer’s Notebooks Getting a Community Started (Donald Graves) http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=222430 A Peek Inside My Notebook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZE3_j6a59w

Concept Framing The launching unit is all about community! For our purposes today however, you will need to wear many hats - think like a student, a teacher and possibly even a facilitator if you are charged with taking this work back to your school or district.

Launching Writing Learning Progression

Unit Purpose PRODUCT PROCESS This unit, like the workshop in general, is predicated on the idea that writers and readers learn a great deal about their skills and their thinking along the way. The end of unit project is only one of these steps and shouldn’t be the only thing carrying weight in the minds of students and teachers. More conversation at end of unit with formative and summative assessments. PROCESS

Principles for Success Writing Models for Students Getting a Community Started – Graves A Peek Inside My Writer's Notebook - Ayres Reading and Writing Community Expectation that lay foundation for all units Here are some practical things to get us started. Some non-negotiables of successful workshop classrooms.

Notebook Development

Yes, WE must also write! In order to teach these units well to our students, we must be writers ourselves! Write as yourself, but push yourself to utilize the strategies and tools of each session.

Concept #1 Generating ideas while becoming a community and establishing workshop routines

Writers learn how to generate ideas for Narratives (Memoir) by first thinking of places that matter to them.

My Map Book

Writer’s generate to create and play with ideas Generate a map(s) of your own. Look for significant places (memories) in your mind to represent visually. Label your image with the important memories and details. What “big ideas” does the story seem to be about?

Generating – Quick Write Using an inspiration from your map, jot down the story in your notebook.

Writer’s generate to create and play with ideas Practice the genre of your grade level 6th – personal narrative with an emphasis on building skills to engage the reader by sharing both the writer’s perspective and experience in meaningful ways. 7th – memoir with an emphasis on an event that had a profound impact on your life and who you are because of this event. 8th – narrative poem with an emphasis on personal expression and sharing an ideas that matters.

Creating a Memoir What is a memoir? How is it different than a personal narrative? Other ways to generate personal stories that could get to memoir writing? Session 2 Memoir Topics

Writer’s work in partnership Creating a comfort level with partnerships is essential to this unit and those ahead. Take the time to build this community. Turn to your shoulder partner and share a bit of what you are doing with them. You may consider sharing one of the following: A place on your map Why you chose to expand your thinking in this particular area What you are trying to do as a writer. Partners give one piece of specific, supportive feedback to each other. Where might they stretch out their piece?

Debrief How do writers use their notebooks to generate, gather and record ideas for writing? What strategies do writers use to figure out how to express their stories that matter?

Writing Immersion and Drafting Concept #2 Writing Immersion and Drafting

The Bigger The Moment, The Smaller You Write (Ralph Fletcher) Session 3 Memoir writers explore events or series of related events that remain lodged in memory and reconstruct those events to reflect personal significance. The Bigger The Moment, The Smaller You Write (Ralph Fletcher)

What am I going to Write about? Practice using these tools to organize thoughts into possible seed ideas

Teachers confer to know, understand and assess their students. Questions to allow you to “Research, Decide, Teach” What are you working on today as a writer? Can you show me that part? “Today I’m going to teach you” (1 thing!) What are you planning to do next in your writing?

Debrief What will be difficult for students when determining a memoir topic? What strategies do we use to transform our writing and focus on the significance in our small moments in order to draw a reader’s attention?

Memoir Structure Chart Session 6 Consider this strategy for growing more writing out of students

Drafting Choosing a strategy discussed, draft a memoir of an important place to you based on your map (and for later use in your classroom).

Debrief How might the strategy you tried work for students? What difficulties do you anticipate?

Concept #3 Writers revise and edit and with the understanding that revision is about finding and developing potentially great writing, sometimes by adding more to the heart of the piece, rather than ‘fixing errors’.

Mark 2 places where you would like to think more. Session 9: Revision Mark 2 places where you would like to think more. Possible strategies: Stretch/Squeeze strategy Memoir writers make use of description that creates vivid pictures in the minds of the reader. The most common types of figurative language are similes, metaphors, and personification. What revision strategies would you encourage students to play with?

Debrief How might revision work look different now than in the past? What might be challenges students and teachers will face with revision work?

Conferring What are you working on as a writer? What are you trying to do as a writer? What will you do today in your writing?

Teacher Role TCRWP Conferring Video Clips: Writing in the Moment Conference http://vimeo.com/55954399 Providing Critical Feedback http://vimeo.com/55966102 Two different approaches to teaching similar skills within writing conference.

Debrief How can conferring with others affect the outcome of our stories? How do writers improve writing skills by studying and conferring about work from other authors?

Assessment

Formative Assessments Study samples of student drafts or writers notebooks Examine conferring checklists and revision/editing checklists Questions to consider: How do we use these tolls to guide instruction (plan future mini-lessons, form strategy groups, glean conferring teaching points, etc.)? What other tools do we find helpful as formative assessments?

Summative Assessments Examine assessment rubric and student samples of final drafts Questions to consider: How do we assess growth? How might you translate both the process and product into grades?