2) Reading to Write, Writing to Read, and the Intersection with Scholarship

"Not that the story need be long,

but it will take a long while to make it short."

Henry David Thoreau, philosopher

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word

is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug."

Mark Twain, novelist and humorist

"I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day;

I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way."

Edgar Guest, poet

LESSON ONE: BREAKING DOWN A PERSONAL NARRATIVE INTO ITS PARTS

Objective: By the end of class, you will be able to... self-assess your writing and set goals for future writing.

Let's Get Started! Homework check: complete, descriptive, and colorful Memory Map. Post on our personal Google websites (download as a jpg, save in Drive, insert as image, save).

Notecards: Put your Name on the top line. Beneath it, list all the activities you'll be involved in this year (i.e. sports, music, volunteerism, social groups, etc.).

Mini-Lesson: What elements are in a personal narrative?

Mini-Lesson: How long is a paragraph? 4-7 sentences --- only

Paragraph Writing Template

3 PARTS = Story + Theme + Future Goals (1 paragraph each)

Let's break this down a little more......

1) What elements should be in your Story?

Zoom into a particular, frozen moment in time in which we see you in action, achieved through sensory language
Lots of "I" narrator
Specific description of setting
Characterization (physical appearance, behavior, language use)
A sense of conflict embedded in narration

2) What elements should be in your Theme/ Lesson Learned?

Explanation of what you learned through this story
Description of how you are changed forever by going through this event
Details about how you came to see the world differently through this experience

3) What elements should be in your Future Goals?

Identification of what you still want to accomplish after having this experience
Description of what a college could provide toward this goal
Reflection on the growth you still need to accomplish

Quietly read: "What's the Purpose of the College Essay, anyway?"

Stations: Survey previous students' Story Paragraphs. Identify what is successful, what needs improvement, and why. Use this Stations for Student Samples document to help you track successes, opportunities, and reasons why.

Homework: Design five writing goals you have for this semester, using this Writing Goals Template. Be as specific as you can.

LESSON TWO: REVISITING THE STORY PARAGRAPH

Objective: By the end of class, you will be able to... explore possible approaches for writing a story as concisely as possible.

Let's Get Started! Share your Writing Goals Template homework with your assigned writing group.

Brainstorm successes and opportunities --- and Why?--- in the student samples we viewed last class.

Survey: Literature's Greatest Opening Paragraphs. Why are they so great? Complete the Response Protocol. Enter the best ideas onto this collaborative Google Doc. Discuss.

Each writer picks three events from his/ her Memory Map. Focus Groups, Writing Story Paragraphs

Homework: Write up your Story paragraph, based on the feedback from today's Focus Group session. Be ready to revise tomorrow. Should you use the following documents? Paragraph Writing Template for 4-7 Sentences or Sensory Poem Brainstorming

LESSON THREE: REVISING IS RETHINKING

Objective: By the end of class, you will be able to... revise for the most concise language possible within storytelling.

Let's Get Started! Please open up your Google Doc with your Story Paragraph homework.

Survey: A Scavenger Hunt for Revision

Individual and group writing time. Revise your Story Paragraph. Dr. Carolyn will conference with each student to determine how precisely you have so far met the criteria within the Story Paragraph Rubric.

Optional: Introduction Examples: Personal Narrative Essays....

Homework: Do a final revision of your Story Paragraph. Also, list five lessons you learned from the experience described in your revised Story Paragraph, using the Lessons I Learned Template.

LESSON FOUR: SHIFTING TO THEMES IN PERSONAL NARRATIVES

Objective: By the end of class, you will be able to... post your Story Paragraph on your personal Google website on a new page called "Personal Narrative" and brainstorm ideas for your Lessons Learned/ Theme paragraph.

Let's Get Started! Please open up your Google Doc with your Story Paragraph. You'll begin class today with one more opportunity to refine your sensory language choices.

PART I.

Share your Story Paragraph by swapping laptops. As you do so, suggest areas from the A Scavenger Hunt for Revision. Offer your group of writing companions advice on ways to revise.

Then post your Story Paragraph on your personal Google website. Rename "Test Page" as a page called "Personal Narrative." Please copy and paste your Story Paragraph onto your page. (Note: Please don't paste the url on the page.)

PART II.

Please open up your Google Doc with your Lessons I Learned Template. Have another sharing session.

Next, work through a following series of prompts to help write about themes within a personal narrative.

Please make a copy of The Theme Paragraph of the Personal Narrative and answer each question, to the best of your ability, in 2-3 sentences.

Afterward, visit this website, which contains a series of activities to help you self-reflect on your personality, personal qualities, and ability to apply yourself to future goals. Add in any details to your previous brainstorming that might deepen your self-analysis.

If you finish these activities, you may begin the homework (below)..

Homework: Please compose a full second paragraph for your personal narrative in which you explore Lessons Learned/ Themes that arise from the experience embedded in your Story paragraph. Write on a Google Doc. Be ready to workshop it in our next class.

LESSON FIVE: THEMES FROM THE GLASS CASTLE AS MENTOR TEXT

Objective: By the end of class, you will be able to... draw upon mentor models to decipher how personal writing can impart thematic meanings.

Let's Get Started! Review from yesterday's class: Do you have questions about Story Paragraphs? Do you know how to post your writing on your personal Google website?

Please do Close Readings of two of the three quotations at the top of this page. What can we learn from these authors' messages?

Please open The Glass Castle passages and The Glass Castle and Thematic Imaginings: Directions. We'll do a small group collaborative session then a whole class jigsaw. This activity lets us read stories from a published author, and we can use her writing as a mentor to imagine what she would write for a theme/ lessons learned paragraph.

Review: The elements in the second paragraph of a Personal Narrative---

What elements should be in your Theme/ Lesson Learned?

Explanation of what you learned through this story
Description of how you are changed forever by going through this event
Details about how you came to see the world differently through this experience

What areas should you focus on in revision?

Catchy topic sentence
Cohesive flow of sentences
Lots of abstract nouns
Thoughtful closing sentence

What else might we focus on in revision?

Let's look at the Personal Narrative final drafts from last year's seniors. Study their middle paragraphs. Then make a list of three major areas upon which you'd like to work, below your own Lessons Learned paragraph, now that you've seen what these students did.

Homework: Revise your Lessons Learned paragraph one last time. We'll be posting them on our personal Google websites at the beginning of our next class. Optional help tool: Transitional Words and Phrases

LESSON SIX: PRE-ASSESSMENT FOR ENGLISH 12 TERMS

Objective: By the end of class, you will be able to... demonstrate your ability to define key technical vocabulary terminology required in the English 12 curriculum.

Let's Get Started! Post your Theme/ Lesson Learned paragraph on your personal Google website, under your Story Paragraph. (You'll have an opportunity to revise the whole personal narrative when all three sections are done.)

Please log into the following app: English 12 Technical Terminology Quizlet. Familiarize yourself with the format and terms for about 10 or so minutes. Today you'll demonstrate the degree to which you have accommodated technical terminology particular to upper level high school English courses. You will take three quizzes (delete Written Questions), the average of which will be your pre-assessment grade. You'll have multiple opportunities throughout Semester One to elevate your accommodation of the English 12 Technical Terminology.

Homework: 2 Parts...

1) Review the following elements for writing a Future Goals paragraph of a Personal Narrative.

Identification of what you still want to accomplish after having this experience
Description of what a college could provide toward this goal
Reflection on the growth you still need to accomplish

2) Use these ideas to brainstorm ideas for the third paragraph of your Personal Narrative, called Future Goals. Then complete the following sentence starter template. Afterward, use the best of the best to write your Future Goals paragraph.

LESSON SEVEN: COHESION AND THE PERSONAL NARRATIVE

Objective: By the end of class, you will be able to... mold three sections of your Personal Narrative into a cohesive whole.

Let's Get Started! Please open up your Google Doc with your homework: sentence starters for the third paragraph of your Personal Narrative as well as your first draft of your third and final paragraph.

Please take about 15 minutes to swap, offer suggestions for revision, and rethink your approach for your Future Goals paragraph of your Personal Narrative.

Then post your third paragraph on your personal Google website, under the first two paragraphs. Take a few moments to make sure your font is legible, your layout is appealing, and your title is engaging. (P.S. Do you have a thematically-based title? If not, design one.)

Carousel Revision: Please follow the directions on this document, called Carousel Stations for Final Drafts. You'll take on the role of Expert in one are of revision and, subsequently, help your peers to deepen the three paragraphs of their Personal Narrative.

Homework: Revise the three paragraphs of your Personal Narrative into a cohesive whole, right on your personal Google website. Your revision is due at the beginning of our next class. Here is the Rubric for the Personal Narrative.

LESSON EIGHT: CELEBRATION TIME, C'MON!

Objective: By the end of class, you will be able to... synthesize seven lessons of writing instruction by writing one paragraph.

Let's Get Started! Celebration Session for our Personal Narratives!

Next, in order to meet the requirements of our curriculum, each of you must take a post- assessment in Story Paragraph writing to demonstrate what you have learned in this unit. You will only use paper and pen for this assignment.

Sign out a copy of The Writer's Presence, using the book sign-out binder, if you have time. Otherwise, do so in an upcoming class.

Homework: Please read "Take in the State Fair," by Garrison Keillor. Be ready to deconstruct it for rhetorical strategies in our next class as part of a preview of our new unit, "Collaborative Teaching and New Levels of Textual Analysis."

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