Digital Storytelling: Being Prideful of Ourselves & Our Cultures

Title of Project: Digital Storytelling: Being Prideful of Ourselves & Our Cultures

What makes us unique?

Why should we be proud of who we are?

What different skin colors do we see in the pictures?

Schools and Teachers

Oquenock Elementary School, Udall Road Middle School

Teacher: Vanessa Daige, Jacqueline Turcios, & Sophia Mastrangelo

Co-Teachers: Mary Berger, Erin Gonzeles, Kristine Greene, Lisa Brush, Katrina Faraci, Susan Cosentino

ENL Proficiency Level | ENL Program | Standards | Technology

Appropriate for all English Proficiency Levels | Stand-Alone, Integrated | RL.K.2, W.K.3, SL.K.1, L.K.6, RL.1.2, W.1.3, SL.1.1, L.1.6, RL.2.2, W.2.3, SL.2.1, L.2.6, RL.3.2, W.3.3, SL.3.1, L.3.6, RL.4.2, W.4.3, SL.4.1, L.4.6, RL.5.2, W.5.3, SL.5.1, L.5.6, ELA 6W3, 6L6, ELA 7W3, 7L6, ELA 8W3, 8L6 | Canva, Book Creator

Assessments

Elementary School Grades K-5:

Formative Assessment: Checklist and peer-review
Summative Assessment: Completion of the descriptive writing piece

Middle School Grades 6-8:

Formative Assessment: Checklist and peer-review
Summative Assessment: Rubric for three paragraph essay and finished Canva slideshow with essay

Description

Canva: Sentence Frames (Grades K-3)
- For this learning experience the students will be using this worksheet created on Canva to trace and complete descriptive writing sentences.
Guiding Question Sheet (Grades K-5)
- This will serve as guide for students as they complete their writing
Google Document - Positive Affirmation List (Grades K-5)
- This will serve as a list students can choose from to add to their closing sentence for their paragraph.
Kuraplan: Graphic Organizer (Grades 2-5)
- Students will use this graphic organizer to organize their thoughts and ideas for their writing.
Canva: Descriptive Writing Checklist (Grades 2-5)
- Students will check their descriptive writing piece using this checklist. This will allow for students to accomplish all writing tasks.
Book Creator:
- Students will upload their self portraits and create a digital book, to showcase their art.
Canva: Essay Planner Graphic Organizer (Grades 6-8)
- Students will plan their three paragraph essay before beginning to write. They will be given a sheet with guiding questions and sentence frames. Entering students will be expected to choose descriptive adjectives to plug into a cloze statement graphic organizer. After filling this out, students will begin to write their essays in a Canva slideshow.
Canva: After Writing Checklist (Grades 6-8)
- After finishing their writing, students will check their work using this checklist. This checklist aligns with the rubric and serves as a formative self-assessment.
Google Docs: Rubric (Grades 6-8)
- This rubric will serve as a summative assessment for student essays. This will be introduced before students complete their writing as a guide.

Content

Grades K-5:

I can define uniqueness and demonstrate understanding verbally and in writing.

I can ask and answer questions to better understand my own features and unique attributes.

I can use positive affirmations to celebrate my uniqueness.

Grades 6-8:

I can define uniqueness and demonstrate understanding verbally and in writing.

I can write a three paragraph essay describing myself, my family, and my hobbies.

Language

Grades K-5:

I can form complete sentences to describe myself using descriptive writing.

I can use adjectives to describe physical features, like hair type, eye color, and skin tone.

Grades 6-8:

I can use sentence frames and descriptive adjectives to describe myself in writing.

Technology

I can use Canva and Book Creator to showcase what makes me unique.

Student work

Procedure

Elementary Grades K-5

Day 1:

(5min.) Intro discussion: What does unique mean? What is a self-portrait? What makes someone’s appearance unique? Why are we unique? Why should we be proud of our appearance?
(10min.) Read and discuss books - What differences do you see among these self-portraits?
(5min.) View short video clip - self portrait.

Day 2:

(5min.) Display our exemplar self-portrait & discuss it.
(30min.) Display self-portrait guide on the Smartboard and have students follow a step-by-step guide to complete their own self-portrait.

Day 3:

(15min) Gr.K-1: Introduce sentence frame worksheet and complete it.
(5min) Gr.2-5: Introduce descriptive writing piece, graphic organizer, positive affirmation, and exemplar.
(30) Students follow guiding questions to complete graphic organizer for descriptive writing piece .

Day 4:

(30) Students create descriptive writing piece .

Day 5:

Closing: Students will present their completed projects, including their self portraits and corresponding descriptive writing pieces to the class.

Middle School Grades 6-8

Day 1:

(5 min.) Introduction: What does unique mean?, What is a self-portrait? What makes someone’s appearance unique? Why are we unique? Why should we be proud of our appearance?
(10 min.) Read and discuss ReadWorks article “The Problem With Self-Portraits." What differences do you see among these self-portraits?
(5 min.) View short video clip - self portrait.
(20 min.) Draw self portrait.

Day 2:

(5 min.) Do Now: What is a descriptive adjective? Write an example sentence with a descriptive adjective.
(5 min.) Review writing rubric
(25 min.) Complete graphic organizer (on Canva) for three paragraph essay. Paragraph one will be about describing your physical self, paragraph two will be about describing your personality, and paragraph three will be about describing your family and hobbies.
(5 min.) Share your ideas with the person next to you. Turn and talk.

Day 3:

(5 min.) Do Now: Finish completing your graphic organizer.
(5 min.) Review paragraph structure: topic sentence, three descriptive sentences about your physical traits, concluding sentence.
(25 min.) Write the first paragraph using Canva slides. Students can use sentence frames and guiding questions.
(5 min.) Read your paragraph to your partner. Turn and talk.

Day 4:

(5 min.) Review paragraph structure: topic sentence, three descriptive sentences about personality, concluding sentence.
(30 min.) Write the second paragraph. Students can use sentence frames and guiding questions.
(5 min.) Read your paragraph to your partner. Turn and talk.

Day 5:

(5 min.) Review paragraph structure: topic sentence, three descriptive sentences about family description and hobbies, concluding sentence.
(25 min.) Write the second paragraph. Students can use sentence frames and guiding questions.
(10 min.) Review the rubric again and complete the checklist.

Day 6:

Closing: Students will present their completed projects, including their self portraits and corresponding descriptive writing pieces to the class.

Resources and Other Materials

Reflection

Students will explore their unique identities through the creation of self-portraits and descriptive writing, fostering self-pride and respect for diversity. This lesson plan was effective in promoting self-pride and cultural appreciation through both art and writing. The combination of The Colors of Us and the self-portrait activity helped students explore and celebrate their uniqueness. One challenge to consider is pacing—students may need more time for their paragraph writing as they might require one-on-one support, so I’ll be mindful of that in the future.

This project was designed to engage students in meaningful learning that integrates self-reflection of what makes each of us unique and special. For middle school students a planning page will be utilized to help guide students writing and organize their thoughts. Students will also be provided with sentence frames and guiding questions as needed based on their English Language Proficiency Level. Entering students will fill out a CLOZE graphic organizer and plug in key words. Students will use a checklist to self-assess and peer-assess their work. A challenge that I foresee is pacing. Depending on each student’s English proficiency and learning styles, it is possible that they might require more time on this assignment. Due to this being a K-8 co-planned lesson, I had to make adjustments to make it appropriate for Middle School learners. I integrated the essay portion to challenge students and focus on descriptive writing skills.

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