Chautauqua Oral Family History Project Description

A Connie Gotsch Arts Foundation funded project in collaboration with McKinley Elementary School, SJC High School, Farmington High School, San Juan College, Piedra Vista High School & University of New Mexico.

Approved by McKinley Elementary School by Principal Merilee Dexel in conjunction with Fifth Grade Teachers: Falynn Burns, Karen Jim, Jena Roberts-Tomlinson

Project Duration: October 3-December 5, 2017

Standard: Tell a story or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts, relevant, descriptive details to support story; speak clearly in dramatizing story.

Concepts

1. Story Elements

• Dialogue-Character’s voice and language

• Character Description

• Setting & blocking-place of story and how movement unfolds

• Monologue & Dialogue – what character thinks and feels & what character says to others

• Experiences-smells, tastes, sounds as if the listener were there

• Figurative language-descriptive language in telling your story

• Flashbacks –remembering the past

2. Chautauqua storytelling, character, pretending, biography (ppt presentation with audio)

3. I AM (from) Poetry (6 word Autobiography)

4. Interviewing Skills-asking family member questions about their life, sequencing events, accurate information

5. Focus on oral history of families including family artifacts (pictures)

6. Writing Process of writing workshop

a. Prewriting: Brainstorming- potential characters (at least 3) - webbing ideas about characters and story excerpts for each. Share characters with group members. Decide on THE family character for Chautauqua.

b. Drafting: Draft story of chosen Chautauqua character guided by story elements

c. Process follows with Revising, Editing, Conferencing & Performing

d. Conference with UNM storytelling coach & peers will be ongoing

e. Learn the meaning and spelling of Chautauqua

f. Writing Support-with Four Square & Six Step Vocabulary

g. Rubric of story elements for students to self-check & Coach

h. Written story finalized as a guide for youth storytellers to follow during their oral delivery practice

i. Record Chautauqua character with picture, illustration and audio for digital story

Assessment

1. Oral Delivery Chautauqua Rubric (final Performance)

2. Evidence of interviewing skills (learning about the life of a family member-biographical genre)-performing their family character in character

3. Chautauqua Character for their families and recording their character for digital movie with picture, illustration, audio

4. Complete Rubric in

5. Evidence of Storytelling Elements- identify story elements in Chautauqua story

6. Evidence of Writing Skills –completed final draft of their Chautauqua story

Logistics

1. Send Letter to Parents about project and need for photograph of Chautauqua character and interviewing a family member

2. Invitations to parents of the Chautauqua Family Storytelling Night at Totah Theater Dec. 5, 2017

I will lead coaches through the process each week as we meet before and after our sessions at McKinley School to prepare and debrief

Project Schedule (October 3-December 5, 2017)

October 3: Kick Off Project

Chautauqua Performance by Beatrice, the Cat to showcase a Chautauqua storytelling performance.

Assessment: Audience Feedback questions will be completed by audience participants following the performance (below)

Storytelling coaches and 5th graders will begin to draft their I AM poems. Storytelling Coaches will share I AM (from) Poems as a way of introductions and building community with third graders.

Storytelling Coaches will work with students each week in developing their Chautauqua character and coaching for storytelling presentation and written story. Coaches will be responsible for developing weekly lesson plans for working with their young storytellers.

CHAUTAUQUA PERFORMANCE AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

(Beatrice the Cat)

What did you like best about Beatrice’s performance?

What did the Beatrice do or say that was especially believable?

What did you learn about Beatrice?

If you met this Beatrice in real life, what would you ask, do or tell him?

October 10- Introduce I AM POEMS & 6 word Autobiographies (continued)

(Frances’ 6 Word Autobiography = Fancy Flights of freedom from Philly)

Introduce UNM Coaches

Coaches will share a little about themselves. Q&A.

Coaches begin to draft their I AM Poems

Write I Am poems

Share Kim Weitkamp’s Potholder story – to illustrate Storyteller

Introduce Storytelling Elements – use Beatrice & Kim’s stories as examples to name the Storytelling Elements

Practice: Create group story together as a class. Each group Brainstorms a character (class decides on one character; see "Bob the Eagle" below)

Each group will think about one story element to contribute to the story about the character.

In each group: One person will scribe each group’s contribution and a final draft of the story will be organized and presented the following week.

October 17- Brainstorm 3 family characters

WRITING PROMPT: In your family who is a storyteller you like to listen to? [ALL write together]

Continue to draft I Am Poems & 6 Word Autobiographies & Share out

[Coaches will type out I AM Poems to have for next week.]

Share Kim Weitkamp’s Potholder story – to illustrate Storyteller

Introduce Storytelling Elements – use Beatrice & Kim’s stories as examples to name the Storytelling Elements

Practice: Create group story together as a class. Each group Brainstorms a character (class decides on one character)

Each group will think about one story element to contribute to the story about the character.

In each group: One person will scribe each group’s contribution and a final draft of the story will be organized and presented the following week.

Finalized group story with class

Begin to Brainstorm 3 family characters they could tell about (four square, graphic organizer)

Objective 1: Web/Map/Outline your own choices of three potential Family CHARACTERS with supporting ideas for each character.

Objective 2: Facilitate students to Web/Map/Outline (Four Square) choices of three potential Family HEROES with supporting ideas for each character.

This will be a visual map or web of their thinking about ideas for three possible characters. You are helping them think out loud about family characters who they can story about. The most important part of this process, after they map out their ideas about their three characters, will be in sharing (talking out loud) with you and their peers. (You will take note of how much details, interest, enthusiasm, etc. students demonstrate in the sharing of each of their potential characters.)

Each young storyteller shares the three character choices and a little about each character,

Leave time for questions or clarification by peers or yourself.

Finally ask each one to decide on THE chosen CHARACTER and why

AND SHARE THE CHOSEN CHARACTER WITH THEIR PEERS.

It is in the conversational TALKING and THINKING where their ideas are congealed. As Donald Norman says, "The stories we tell not only explain things to others, they explain them to ourselves as well."

They will be writing and recording their ideas in their notebooks/folders. This is a free thinking-unrestricted-brainstorming stage.

Editing involves mechanics of writing-punctuation, spelling, grammar. Revision involves organization, style, content. They will share their drafts with each other eliciting feedback from each other as writers do. Nurture them as writers, reminding them that good writers share their drafts with

other writers to receive feedback to go back and improve their writing. Share how you revised and edited your own Family Hero Story. They will be refining their final drafts of their stories during the next several weeks. Make sure they keep their drafts in their folders so they can go return to them week after week. Type their drafts to bring back each week. As they read their own words of their own story, they are reinforcing their reading and writing skills.

These are the two goals to accomplish on Monday morning with your 5^th grade young storytellers. Enjoy the company of your young storytellers. REMEMBER TO REFLECT on in your journal about what you are doing and what your experiences.

October 24 –family characters November 28 begin drafts of stories

Students begin describing character, traits, characteristics, personality. It will be raw, rough, bumpy, jagged and that’s OK. We want students to be unencumbered with a free flow of ideas for now. Help them write their ideas down because they are telling the story, we can be their scribe. The goal is to get their ideas down. We will help them pretty it up later! Do not restrict them during this process. Ask questions, be curious, inquire about details, remembering the story elements to guide the telling. Do not worry about the beginning or ending of the story just yet. Focus on the finer, finishing details (beginning and ending, word choices, etc. after all the pieces of the story are complete.

Type their stories for next week with 14 or 16 Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri (or other plain) point font correcting spelling and punctuation. Double or triple space each line for editing the following week. Remember this is a work in progress and students will have many revisions.

In subsequent sessions, flesh out their characters by focusing on an event, incident that storyteller finds interesting, or is enthusiastic about the character. Invite storytellers to consider their language, grammar, vocabulary to improve the telling of the story. Are there better words to use to describe that person, that action? Is this a good place for figurative language? Ask more questions for details filling in where the listener needs to know more in the telling. Begin to record storyteller’s stories and then play back for them to listen to and critique with other students.

Prepare for peer conference, Nov. 15, by Xeroxing 4 copies of each storyteller’s draft story (whatever they have so far).

Nov. 14 PEER CONFERENCE

Conduct Fishbowl of UNM Coaches story first in small groups. Review process of listening and sharing comments that will be helpful to the storyteller. Saying just good about the story is not very helpful to the storyteller. I liked the word you used to describe your cat as not a girl, but a boy, is more helpful. Each storyteller and coach responds for each story with comments. Give comments to the storyteller. (See materials for Storytelling Peer Conference below.)

Young Storytellers complete their Chautauqua Rubric

Nov. 28- Continue writing drafts of stories

Rehearse stories for Family Storytelling Night

Dec. 5 – Family Storytelling Night of Chautauqua Presentations at local Theater

__________________________________________________________________

SIX STEP Vocabulary Process

DESCRIBE – Teacher gives description/explanation

RESTATE – Learner gives description/explanation

ILLUSTRATE – Draws picture, symbol, graphic representation

ACTIVATE – Learner engages in activities to practice and gain more knowledge

DISCUSS – Learner talks about term with others

PLAY – Learner plays with term to reinforce understanding

__________________________________________________________________

RESOURCES

1. Creating Family Timelines by Renee Goularte at

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/creating-family-timelines-graphing-870.htmln

2. Four Corners Storytelling Festival at http://www.infoway.org/storytelling/2014/index.asp

3. Chautauqua Storytelling Rubric at http://www.teach-nology.com/cgi-bin/oralex.cgi

4. Multicultural Resource Blog at http://unm-farmington.tripod.com/315

5. Diversity Blog at http://unm-elds.blogspot.com/

__________________________________________________________________

STORY ELEMENTS

· Character Description-details about the character’s appearance, personality, culture, education

· Setting & blocking-place of story and how movement unfolds

· Monologue & Dialogue – what character thinks and feels & what character says to others

· Experiences-smells, tastes, sounds as if the listener was there

· Figurative language-descriptive language in telling your story

· Flashbacks –remembering the past

Practice with Story Elements:

After introducing the Story Elements, students are invited to write a group story. We decide on a character. Various methods can be used for this activity. In groups, students decide on three character choices-anything: fiction, real….), then each group has to decide to share only one choice. Once the character choices from each group are recorded on whiteboard, projector, etc. then a vote is taken from the generated list and the highest number wins. That’s when we delegate each group to be responsible for a story element revolving around that particular character.

So Character Description group describes Bob, the Bald Eagle. Monologue and Dialogue group, poses some conversations with Bob, the eagle and another character or characters. Figurative Language group, engages in vivid descriptions using metaphors, analogies, onomatopoeia, etc. about Bob, habitat, conflicts involving and any other characters, setting, action.

Each group of the assigned six Story Elements writes their descriptions and then each shares them with the class to be recorded for the final story.

This class decided on "Bob, the Eagle." So, we drafted the story line in class together and then I took that first draft and worked on it to a final copy. I shared my final draft with the class and gave each a copy so we could read together. This way they could see the difference between the draft we composed and the final draft that I completed. I was modeling for them the process they would be experiencing throughout our writing project.