Mentor Texts to Teach about Personal Narratives

Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts
Bigmama’s by Donald Crews
When I Was Your Age by Amy Erlich
What You Know First by Patricia Maclachlin
The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino
Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco
Shortcut by Donald Crews
Night Shift Daddy by Eileen Spinelli
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee
Salt Hands by Jane Chelsea Aragon
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Shortcut by Donald Crews
Fireflies by Judy Brinckloe
The Paperboy by Dav Pilkey
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
Saturday and Teacakes by Lester Laminach
The Leaving Morning by Angela Johnson
Mrs. Mack by Patricia Polacco
Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton
Apple Picking Time by Michele Slawson.
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare by Patrica Polacco
Fireflies! by Julie Brinckloe


http://www.thecurriculumcorner.com/wp-content/pdf/mentorpn.pdf

http://www.thecurriculumcorner.com/wp-content/pdf/thingsihavedone.pdf

Personal Narratives- A Unit

                                                  Unit on Writing Personal Narratives

List of Mentor Texts  Remember, your writing units should ALWAYS start by creating a stack of mentor texts.  These are the examples you provide for the children.  A good stack should have between 10 and 20 books.   Children cannot be expected to write what they haven’t been exposed to. Make sure they fully understand the ideas being taught by sharing texts by published authors.  This is meant to serve as just a list of ideas, not a comprehensive list of personal narratives.

Day 1 Noticings 2.W.3  Once you have a good stack of books, you are ready to let the children begin exploring.   Introduce the unit topic to the class and explain the concept of a personal narrative.   Day 1 is meant only for students to explore.  They should be given the chance to look at and make their own observations.  Put the students in groups of 2 or 3 and hand them a couple of books from your stack.  Give them a few post-it notes and ask them to mark what they “notice” about the books.  If students seem confused or stuck, sit with them and help them find ideas.  For some groups these noticings may take all of writing time, other groups will be done exploring after 15 or 20 minutes.  If children need more time to explore, give them another day.  When they are finished, come together as a group and share the noticings.  This is when the teacher begins an anchor chart for personal narratives.  Begin a chart that says Personal Narrative Noticings at the top.

Day 2 Noticings  Noticings on the second day are slightly different.  Students will be given personal narratives and a book with a different style of writing.  On this day students are asked to decide which book is a personal narrative.  For the book that is not, students work to explain why it is not.  You might want to use this Which Book? recording sheet for students if you feel like writing their thoughts will help them organize their thinking better.

Day 3 Choosing a Topic  2.W.5  Once you feel like your students understand the concept of a personal narrative, they are ready to begin trying to write their own!  We have created a brainstorming sheet to get your children thinking of many possibilities.  Doing this at the beginning of the unit helps keep students writing as they finish books.  Have children complete this Things I Have Done page.  When most are finished, allow them to partner up and talk about their ideas.  This may lead to more ideas.

Day 4 Stretching a Memory  2.W.3  Once students have a topic, they need to work on stretching their memory so that it can fill a book.  Begin this lesson by reading Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee.  Help students see how the author took one small event and stretched it into a book. Encourage children to think of one of their ideas from yesterday’s lesson that they could stretch into a book.  Use this Planning Your Story page to teach children to sketch their beginning, middle and end. 

Once students have planned their story, they are ready to begin writing.  Students who write in papers created into actual books tend to write more and create stories that are more like real authors.   Need blank books for students?  Find some here…. http://www.thecurriculumcorner.com/2012/05/17/blank-books-papers/

Day 5  Authors Use Rich Words and Phrases  2.W.3  (Suggested mentor text: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen)  Read aloud the story and discuss how the author uses language to share the story.  The book Owl Moon is full of rich text that helps the reader visualize what is happening!  Choose a favorite passage and read it to the class without showing the pictures.  Have the children describe what they are seeing in their heads.  The teacher may choose to draw what the children are describing.  As a follow up, read another passage from the book and have the children draw what they are seeing in their heads as you are reading.  Again, it is helpful to not show the children the pictures.  When children are finished drawing, have them share their pictures.  Discuss how the words the author chose helped them visualize what was happening.  Another book we love is Apple Picking Time by Michele Slawson.

Day 6  Authors Use Illustrations to Show Emotion  2.W.3   (Suggested mentor text: Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems)  The book Knuffle Bunny is always a favorite in elementary classrooms!  Children love Trixie’s invented language and the author’s pictures.  This book is great for teaching children how authors use illustrations to show how a character is feeling.  Throughout the book, the exaggerated pictures of Trixie help the reader see how upset the little girl is.  Have the students look at the pictures as you cover the words.  Ask them to tell how they think Trixie is feeling on each page and what clues made them think this.  If you feel like students would enjoy a follow up to this lesson, repeat the activity withKnuffle Bunny Too.

Day 7  Authors Use Temporal Words to Show the Order of Events  (first, next, etc.)  2.W.3  A great book to use to show how authors use temporal words is My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother by Patricia Polacco.  (Thanks to Shannon for suggesting this title!)   As you read, make a list of the time order words the author uses.  You can also model this skill with your own writing.  Tell a story of making something or an event while using sequencing words.   Create an anchor chart that includes the different temporal words writers might use in their writing.

Day 8  Authors Use Quotation Marks to Show Speech  (Suggested mentor text: Fireflies! by Julie Brinckloe)  This is a skill that not all children will be ready to try in their own writing.  However, this is a good introduction to quotation marks for all students.  Those who are ready can be expected to test it out as they write their personal narratives.  This book can be read during writing workshop or at a previous read aloud time and revisited for this lesson (this will help keep your writing workshop lesson to a true mini-lesson time.)   Reread a page where the author uses quotation marks in the book.  Show students the marks and have children share why they think they are used.  For classes where this is a new skill, explain the purpose.   On chart paper, model using quotation marks in your own writing.  It is a good idea to use chart paper instead of a smaller book for this lesson so that students can clearly see where the quotation marks and commas are placed.  The chart paper can also be left in the room as an anchor chart.

Day 8  Authors Write Strong Conclusions  2.W.3  (Suggested mentor text: The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant)  For this lesson, it is a good idea to model your own writing about going on a trip or having visitors.  When you end your story, use a simple ending.  After reading aloud The Relatives Came, ask students to suggest ways you might make your ending better and more interesting to the reader.  With your class, rewrite your ending.

Day 9  Authors Use Powerful Adjectives, Adverbs and Verbs 2.L.1   (Suggested mentor text:  Stellaluna by Janell Cannon)   Read aloud the book Stellaluna.  Create an anchor chart to take note of powerful words the author uses throughout the text  We like the idea of using a book book so the students can follow along and help find the words.  We found one at Amazon…

Day 10  Authors Edit Their Work For Punctuation  2.L.2  Write a paragraph from one of your own books on chart paper, remembering to leave out some punctuation marks.  As a class, practice editing the sample for correct punctuation.   During their writing today, have children find instances where they need to add punctuation in their own writing.

Day 11  Authors Edit Their Work For Capitalization 2.L.2    Write a paragraph from one of your own books on chart paper, remembering to leave out some capital letters.  As a class, practice editing the sample for correct capitalization.  During their writing today, have children find instances where they need to add capitalization in their own writing.

Day 12  Authors Edit Their Work With Peers 2.L.1  Partner students and have them read their books to a classmate.  Encourage them to look at every word and make sure the words they are saying match the words they have written.  We suggest modeling this with one student in front of the class first!

Day 13 Publishing  In the younger grades, it is not necessary for students to recopy their words to make a final draft.  Instead, for young writers to publish, they should double check their work and add details to their drawings. Older grades should type their work. 

Day 14 Celebration  Your celebration might be small and be just for the class or perhaps you'll invite parents, too. 

http://www.thecurriculumcorner.com/thecurriculumcorner123/2012/09/02/personal-narratives/

Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare- Personal Narrative

Patricia Polacco, goddess of the personal narrative, wrote Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare. It is the perfect story for grade 5 students to read as an example of a great personal narrative.

The story is about one small moment, but includes a beginning- how the dare started, a middle -what they had to do for the dare, and an end- how the dare ended up.

Polacco's opener 'hooks' the reader and makes them question -why does Trisha not get along with Richie?

The author even allows for a mini-lesson on why the event is special to her- she and her brother still use the nicknames they coined during the dare.

Students mapped out the narrative using a graphic organizer. Then we went back and looked for all those juicy words. Polacco is great at not using the word "said".

The story even involves Canada's beloved sport, hockey.

Exit Slips for Reading

ELO- Self Monitoring: I can ask questions before, during and after I read.

Model - I used chapter 4 of Poppy for a before I read, During my reading and after my reading questions. (Think Aloud)

Exit Slip- In students Readers Response Journal students practiced a before, during and after question for the Read Aloud, Poppy, by Avi.

The exit slip is given either a MP (Making Progress) or NS (Needs Support). Data is entered into the Data Analysis spreadsheet. There will be 4 exit slips on this 1 ELO to provide a mark (grade) for each student in this area.

Owl Moon -Personal Narrative Writing, Self-Monitoring and Making Connections Reading

Hit 4 ELO's in 1 Lesson

Owl Moon

Reading:

I can ask thoughtful questions before, during, and after I read.(SELF-MONITORING)

I can express my opinion about what I read. (MAKING CONNECTIONS)

I can make connections with my reading to self, text, and the world. (MAKING CONNECTIONS)

Writing:

I can stay focused on the descriptive task.

I can use carefully chosen details.

I can use content that is memorable.

I can make the reader feel like he/she is there with me.

I can write and engaging opening and closing.

I can organize my writing in a way that makes sense.

I can use complete sentences.

I can use different beginnings for my sentences.

I can vary the length of my sentences.

I can speak directly to the reader using my own voice.

I can use appropriate words for my purpose.

I can use correct spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.

Using Owl Moon on Hoopla.ca

First: Have students create a question about what they are about to read in Readers Response Journal

Second: Play Owl Moon on Hoopla.ca Have students write down any questions or connections they have while reading in their making connections in Readers Response Journal

Third: After reading, have students jot down any other questions they thought of or connections they can make to the story in Readers Response Journal

Fourth: Have students write down an event that is memorable to them in their Writers Notebook.

Technology Used: Hoopla.ca, Smartboard, MacBook

Latitude and Longitude

Use this World Map to have students create a grid (Great introductory lesson)

Use Ribbon or markers to show the equator (pink) and prime meridian (yellow)

 Orange line (20 degrees North, 80 degrees East)

Green line (40 degrees South, 140 degrees West)

Brown line (80 degrees North, 160 degrees East)

Red line (80 degrees South, 40 degrees East)

Blue line (60 degrees North, 80 degrees West)

*Latitude lines are always listed before longitude lines in coordinates.*

http://www.layers-of-learning.com/a-grid-on-our-earth-an-exploration-on-map-grids/


Play "Battleship" using grids, having students take turns in pairs

Use latitude and longitude maps in back of the book for game boards.

Simon Says: Map Skills
Latitude (arms out)
Longitude (arms up)
Equator- (belt loops)
Prime Meridian (down the center of your body)
Northern Hemisphere (arms curved up)
Southern Hemisphere (arms curved down)