(LESSON DESIGN)
(Final Version)
What?
Our lessons cover the important topic of determining key details; Anna’s lesson will focus on students adding key details to their writing to construct memoirs, while Rachel’s lesson will focus on identifying key details in a literary text. We have both noticed that our students sometimes write stories that provide minimal details. We hope that our lessons will help our students grow as writers and re-tellers. Both lessons are aligned with current classroom curricula as well as the Common Core State Standards for Literacy.
This lesson focuses on adding key details to memoir writing in particular for two reasons. First, when I was talking to my classroom mentor about the writing curriculum and upcoming units, she told me that the students will work on writing memoirs next. Writing memoirs is a logical progression because the students have been writing personal narratives for the past few weeks. Second, I would like to focus on adding key details because although a majority of the students have been able to write personal narratives, from what I have seen, many of the students write a couple of sentences about their personal anecdotes. I would like them to see how providing details can help them expand their writing beyond a couple of sentences that retell basic events.
How?
In our lessons, we will revisit familiar texts by doing a read aloud. I will read two variations of the same “story” to illustrate the difference between stories with vivid details and stories that are very basic retellings. The first story is a picture book memoir called A Chair for My Mother and the second “story” will be a sentence retelling the original story without any details. Since there is a lot of text on each page in A Chair for My Mother, I will read the story aloud to the children instead of doing a shared reading. I am also more interested in having the students listen to the words so that they can identify the key details as opposed to assessing their ability to read the words.
In both lessons, we will lead a discussion to help the students reach the conclusion that providing key details makes stories more vivid. Discussing the two stories allows the students to come up with the similarities and differences. It is important that the teacher is not the one specifically telling the students which story is “better” than the other. The students should be the ones to recognize what sets each story apart so that the students see the value in adding key details into their own writing. I believe discussion, not teacher-led instruction, will accomplish this goal. Next, the students will work collaboratively to identify some of the key details from the memoir. After the discussion, I will transition into a turn and talk so that the students can share their ideas. I think this will be beneficial because the students will get to hear about each others’ experiences and it might spark other ideas. Writing the memoir will be an independent task because each student will write about his or her own life and experience.
Why?
We believe that key details are an integral part of understanding a text, whether the text is informational or literary. We decided to focus on identifying key details because it can help students develop their comprehension skills. This lesson is intended to help Rachel’s kindergarten students because it lays the groundwork for students to be able to identify key details in a text. This will prepare them for first grade when they will practice using key details to sequence texts. My classroom mentor suggested planning a lesson about writing memoirs because it is aligned with the curriculum. Although I could have had my students write a story with key details about anything, I believe that there is value in teaching students about writing memoirs that extends beyond academic curriculum mandates. I hope that facilitating a session about writing about their personal experiences will help my students realize that their own lives and experiences are important, interesting, and worth writing about (Calkins, 1994, p. 12). Calkins (1994) talks about her own mentor who was influential in her life. She came to realize that it was because he was fascinated by what she had to say and believed that she had a unique and powerful story to tell (p. 15). I believe that my students know that I want to learn about their lives. I try to have conversations with my students about their personal experiences, but they are usually in the little moments when we're walking in the hallway or when they're unpacking in the morning. I wish that we could have more conversations about their lives and what they find to be important. I realize that we must follow established guidelines and adhere to the standards, but I think telling the students that I value hearing about their experiences is not enough. I think showing the students that I value their experiences enough to incorporate them into lessons is important.
Our lessons cover the important topic of determining key details; Anna’s lesson will focus on students adding key details to their writing to construct memoirs, while Rachel’s lesson will focus on identifying key details in a literary text. We have both noticed that our students sometimes write stories that provide minimal details. We hope that our lessons will help our students grow as writers and re-tellers. Both lessons are aligned with current classroom curricula as well as the Common Core State Standards for Literacy.
This lesson focuses on adding key details to memoir writing in particular for two reasons. First, when I was talking to my classroom mentor about the writing curriculum and upcoming units, she told me that the students will work on writing memoirs next. Writing memoirs is a logical progression because the students have been writing personal narratives for the past few weeks. Second, I would like to focus on adding key details because although a majority of the students have been able to write personal narratives, from what I have seen, many of the students write a couple of sentences about their personal anecdotes. I would like them to see how providing details can help them expand their writing beyond a couple of sentences that retell basic events.
How?
In our lessons, we will revisit familiar texts by doing a read aloud. I will read two variations of the same “story” to illustrate the difference between stories with vivid details and stories that are very basic retellings. The first story is a picture book memoir called A Chair for My Mother and the second “story” will be a sentence retelling the original story without any details. Since there is a lot of text on each page in A Chair for My Mother, I will read the story aloud to the children instead of doing a shared reading. I am also more interested in having the students listen to the words so that they can identify the key details as opposed to assessing their ability to read the words.
In both lessons, we will lead a discussion to help the students reach the conclusion that providing key details makes stories more vivid. Discussing the two stories allows the students to come up with the similarities and differences. It is important that the teacher is not the one specifically telling the students which story is “better” than the other. The students should be the ones to recognize what sets each story apart so that the students see the value in adding key details into their own writing. I believe discussion, not teacher-led instruction, will accomplish this goal. Next, the students will work collaboratively to identify some of the key details from the memoir. After the discussion, I will transition into a turn and talk so that the students can share their ideas. I think this will be beneficial because the students will get to hear about each others’ experiences and it might spark other ideas. Writing the memoir will be an independent task because each student will write about his or her own life and experience.
Why?
We believe that key details are an integral part of understanding a text, whether the text is informational or literary. We decided to focus on identifying key details because it can help students develop their comprehension skills. This lesson is intended to help Rachel’s kindergarten students because it lays the groundwork for students to be able to identify key details in a text. This will prepare them for first grade when they will practice using key details to sequence texts. My classroom mentor suggested planning a lesson about writing memoirs because it is aligned with the curriculum. Although I could have had my students write a story with key details about anything, I believe that there is value in teaching students about writing memoirs that extends beyond academic curriculum mandates. I hope that facilitating a session about writing about their personal experiences will help my students realize that their own lives and experiences are important, interesting, and worth writing about (Calkins, 1994, p. 12). Calkins (1994) talks about her own mentor who was influential in her life. She came to realize that it was because he was fascinated by what she had to say and believed that she had a unique and powerful story to tell (p. 15). I believe that my students know that I want to learn about their lives. I try to have conversations with my students about their personal experiences, but they are usually in the little moments when we're walking in the hallway or when they're unpacking in the morning. I wish that we could have more conversations about their lives and what they find to be important. I realize that we must follow established guidelines and adhere to the standards, but I think telling the students that I value hearing about their experiences is not enough. I think showing the students that I value their experiences enough to incorporate them into lessons is important.