Activities
Lesson 1: Walking in the shoes of personal acquaintances
Objective: At the beginning of the year, I have an engaging, expressive activity to get the students to tell me who they are. This assignment serves the purpose of getting to know the student as well as an assessment of their writing ability at the beginning of the unit and year. This unit works best at the start of the school year for that very reason. Students will create a book describing themselves through the voices closest to them: family, friends and inanimate objects. As a matter of academic philosophy, I always provide a model and scaffold assignments through the planning and first draft of unfamiliar activities. The Delaware State Standards for English Language Arts met are 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.4f & 4.2c.
Materials: Who is Melvin Bubble? by Nick Bruel, notebook paper with margin lines visible on both sides, overhead projector or chalkboard that will not be erased for the length of the unit, one 11x17 sheet of paper for each student, scissors for student use 28 and clear tape.
Model: Day 1 - Who is Melvin Bubble? by Nick Bruel is an excellent picture book demonstrating the art of voice. In this book, Bruel allows close, and not so close, acquaintances to describe Melvin Bubble. Each voice, description, and relationship to Melvin is distinct. It is easy to pull out the manner in which the author conveys the nature of the character and relationship to Melvin. Using a projection device, allows the students to see the book as I read, for the pictures are beneficial. I will not focus on them while dissecting Bruel's use of voice. I recommend to anyone trying this unit to focus on the written craft only, or, I have found, students count more on the pictures than the words for their understanding on how to create voice. This takes about half of my seventy minute period. It may be advantageous to create a list of the techniques on the board to help the students remember how Bruel created his masterpiece. I will leave this list up for the remainder of the unit, adding to it while reading each piece of literature. At the end of the year, as kids were gauging the seconds till summer vacation and I was beginning to plan this unit, my classes volunteered to test out this activity. In its trail run, I quickly realized that a structured prewriting activity was necessary to help students find the voices they wanted to use.
Prewriting: To think through the process, I will start with a two column chart on paper with the pink margin line: this is essential. The students will title the left column persons/characters and the right column descriptions. The left column will be easy, but the right column will be a little more difficult to develop because it requires the student to think of the one or two personal traits they wish for that character to describe. Traits need to connect to the relationship they have with that person or thing. I will model this process. The descriptions will need to be only one or two word attributes. After the students have sufficient time to complete four or five different characters and the descriptions, I will stop them, and introduce and model the third column in the planner. Before the pink margin line, the students will write one or two words describing the character's attitude or personality. This was the step that I found most beneficial when I had the students write and revise when we did a trial run. It will be easy for them to write about themselves, but the characters will become indistinguishable without first helping the students see that the character has to have their own distinct personality. For some of my students with special needs we needed to come up with a list of personality describers first from which to choose. This planning process will be begun in class and finished as homework.
Writing and Revising: Day 2 & 3 - I recommend opening the class by reviewing the ways in which Bruel put voice into his composition and the task the students have before them. I suggest that they work on one character at a time so that they do not confuse the different voices of the characters. Since it is modeled after a picture book, the sections will be only three to five sentences long. I will remind them that each word is precious. The students will write it out in one go and then check if every word really did its purpose: showing the author's attribute and the character's voice.
Revision is crucial. The students will not place the name of the character on the page or anywhere in the piece. The students will pass their piece to a friend and have the peer figure out who the character was that was describing the author. If it is indistinguishable, then the author needs to revise. The exact person will not need to be stated, but the relationship should be obvious (e.g. parent, sibling, friend). Furthermore the peer reviser will indicate what techniques signified that relationship. In this way, the students will be reminded of ways to incorporate voice in the piece.
The process of writing and revising will be completed at least four times; thus four distinct characters describe the author. The final page of the book is the student's description of themselves detailing in their own voice the things their characters said about them using five or six sentences.
Editing and Publication: Day 4 - The final step of the writing process will be editing for conventions and publishing. At this time students who seem to master the techniques Bruel used may be introduced to how conventions can be altered to create voice. Since this is a hook for the rest of instruction, I did not and plan not to do this myself. But it is an option here.
The students will make books. I recommend that the books not be illustrated though the students may come back and illustrate them at the end of the unit. It takes too much time for an opening activity and does not increase the teacher's awareness of how well the student can create voice in their writing.
Reflection: Day 5 - Students will begin their metacognitive journal about the techniques they used and which they feel work best for their personality. To make a tetra-tetra-flexagon book follow the directions on http://www.artistbooks.com/flexagons/flexmake.html. The students will title the cover "My Voice: how to write in student's name voice." Scaffolding their examination is critical. The students will label the first two inside pages in the middle "narrative." The left page will be titled "Techniques and examples from my work," and the right page titled "Is it me?" I will model the cognitive process using a think aloud. 29 I will allow the students at least thirty minutes to name their techniques and find examples of their use. If there is not enough time in class, I will allow the students to write their personal reflection on the right hand page for homework. The personal narrative book and metacognitive journal will become the pre- and formative assessment. (See Appendix C for Adapted Six Point Rubric for Voice.)
Lesson 2: Stepping into the "Masters' Shoes"
Objective: After the students find parts of themselves in their familiars, they will read and analyze short memoirs in our anthology, The Language of Literature, to identify some of the techniques that the masters use and use these same techniques to create their own memoirs. This is the bulk of the unit. Delaware State Standards for English Language Arts met by this lesson are 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.4a, 2.4f, 4.2a, 4.2c & 4.3a.
Materials: One copy of The Language of Literature Grade 7 for each student or a copy of "Names/Nombres," "An American Childhood," "Thank You, M'am," "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," "Bums in the Attic," "Good Hot Dog," and "Knots in my Yo-Yo String" (See Annotated Bibliography for more information.), notebook paper with margin lines visible on right and left side of the page, highlighters for every student, projector or chalkboard to add to the voice technique list, tetra-tetra-flexagon journals, and a copier.
Model & Prewriting: Day 1 & 2 - I will explain the change of focus from the students' closer acquaintances to professional writers. The pieces that the students will read during the writing process are culturally diverse, so some of the pieces may include voices with which students are unfamiliar. I will encourage them to try the techniques the authors used or to adapt the techniques to feel more like their home culture. At no point are they to criticize or demean a technique. Cultural sensitivity must be taught and practiced. Relating to the diversity presented is one of the objectives of this lesson.
The pieces listed above may be taught in any order, but I suggest starting with "Names/Nombres," "Bums in the Attic," and "Good Hot Dogs." Their style of imagery, development of ideas, and word choice are strikingly similar or different and help the students to identify the techniques if taught in tandem. In "Names/Nombres" I will pull out the use of ellipses. Julia Alvarez's development of ideas and word choice includes the reader in her world. I will contrast that with "Bums in the Attic" and "Good Hot Dogs." Sandra Cisneros uses many images, but they are more private. They hint at the feelings of the author, and the reader gains a sense of the author's intentions. These pieces are more open-ended with less development of idea, but still strong word choice. I will continue to keep the techniques the masters use on the list with the techniques from Who is Melvin Bubble? I will include examples from the writing in the list.
During the reading half of the period, I will teach the technique of connection and feeling. These are the easiest to master. In connection, students relate the events of the literature to their life, the world or other pieces of literature they have read. Usually the responses come in the form of "this part of the story reminds me of…" I suggest that this simple statement of connection be extended so that the students use the strategy to help their comprehension. "Thus I now understand that the character is…" or "Because of my connection, I get that…" The understanding should not be explicitly stated in the text but an extension, a new dimension. In this way, students will begin to relate not only to the story but also the author's voice and may start to feel more comfortable attempting unfamiliar skills. I will complete the discussion by identifying the techniques the author used to share her personality and tone.
During the writing half of the period, I will talk about the format of a memoir. I will emphasize that this form of personal narrative neither spans a whole life, nor the whole character: it is a snapshot of one instance of life that shows one aspect of a person. I will review the struggle Alvarez shares about her identity in "Names/Nombres," the wish to be rich and compassionate in "Bums in the Attic," and the beauty of a simple life with a close friend in "Good Hot Dogs" by Cisneros. The students will brainstorm a list of the most important moments in their life that they might want to share with others. The students will then meet in groups up to four and in five minutes share their synopses of their ideas. The meetings are for two purposes: one, to begin to excite the students about the communication process and two, to flush out the one idea about which the students are most enthusiastic. I will make sure to keep strictly to the five minute limit. This is not the time to flush out the whole idea but just the one in Peha's words that elicits "passion for topic, strong feelings, honesty, personality, [and] control." 30
Model & Writing: Day 3 & 4 - I will continue the modeling and strategy instruction during the reading half of the period. The students will add predicting and inferring. I will model both using "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" emphasizing that predicting is taking clues from the story to make an educated guess about what will happen and inferring is taking clues from the composition to make an educated guess about how the characters feel or think or behave, the significance of a plot point or component of the setting. It is critical that students not only write their educated guesses but also the clues that brought them to that conclusion. The students will complete the connection and feeling sections in the left column independently. Concerning the right column, I will help the students pull out use of Standard English conventions and textbook English dialect. I will ask the students why Malcolm X writes in this voice.
On day four for reading, the students will analyze "Thank You, M'am," contrasting the use of dialect and Standard English dialect in the two pieces. I will emphasize the way Hughes communicated the tone the reader should use for the dialogue of the characters. I will continue to add to the list of techniques on the board and examples from the piece of writing. At the same time, students will be completing the left column of the two column notes as independently as they can using connection, feeling, prediction and inferring.
For these two days during the writing half of the period, student should be writing about their topic without stopping to revise, share or edit. In this way, their voice can naturally flow from them.
Model & Revising: Day 5, 6, 7 & 8 - I will conclude the modeling and strategy instruction process with "Knots in my Yo-Yo String" and "An American Childhood." Both of these pieces are longer pieces and should take two days a piece. I will add questioning and evaluation to the reading strategies side. I will start with modeling questioning and evaluation of Spinelli's autobiography. Both of these processes seem to come naturally to my students, but they must be pushed to substantiate their judgments of the literature.
Voice in "Knots" and "Childhood" is developed through sentence fluency primarily. In Jerry Spinelli's autobiography, short sentences show his perfectionist, obedient side. They also indicate frustration between teacher and student in an argument. The style then switches mostly to longer, more flowing, almost meandering sentences as Spinelli realizes that chaos in his life brings creativity and imagination. Likewise, sentence fluency represents the unrestrained nature of Dillard as a young tomboy in "An American Childhood." The sentences pick up a staccato pace in a chase, but again become longer as she explores her feelings of joy and exhilaration at the danger and persistence of the pursuer. I will write these strategies on the voice technique part of the board.
Revision is a very important process for these pieces. The first day, students will revise their own pieces, starting off by highlighting any voice they have in their piece. Next they will determine if their writing communicates what they had intended. Does it show a part of their personality, an important moment in their life or a lesson learned? In pencil the students will underline the parts that show their voice. Lastly, the student will read their piece aloud to themselves placing an empty circle face above any text they want to communicate an emotion. After this they will go back to every circle and check that their words express the intonation they intend - paying particular attention the possible uses of one of the voice techniques. I will collect the revised drafts and copy them for the next day so that each student has their original copy and the photocopy of their work.
The second day of revision, the student will pick a peer to read their piece. This day is designated for imagery and idea development. The peer will read silently to themselves to practice and clarify any illegible handwriting, and then read it aloud to the writer. The writer then can see where the reader did not vocalize the intonation correctly and discuss the clues the writer needed to give, to imply the intended inflection. The reader and the writer both have a copy of the work in front of them, but the writer is the only one allowed to write on the rough draft. This way the reader will be limited in his possibility of rewriting the piece for the writer. Lastly, the reader will go through and highlight all the ellipses and images that helped the reader hear the writer's voice and communicate with the composition. This is the only writing on the author's document that is allowed. The reader will use these highlights to discuss with the writer what the text communicated. If this does not match the writer's purpose, they will decide how to fix it. The writer will then become the reader of the other's piece and go through the whole process again. When half the time has elapsed, I will insist that students switch or one student may not get any help revising their piece. I will assign the students to create a new rough draft for the next day. If time and schedule allow, I will collect the new rough drafts and copy them.
Day three of revision will be similar, except the partner pair that worked together the previous day cannot work together again, and the focus of the day is dialect. Students will read the piece aloud to the author, discuss the intonation disparities, highlight and discuss dialect decisions. Then repeat the process switching roles.
Day four follows the same pattern apart from the voice technique of focus. Students will examine the use of various sentence lengths and patterns for a purpose. By the end of these four days, the writer will have conferenced with three separate peers and analyzed the writer's use of three voice techniques.
Editing, Publishing & Presenting: Day 9, 10 & 11 - The final step is editing the piece for conventions and creating a final copy. These three days reading instruction is put on the back burner, and students get the whole period to conference and write their final draft. Day ten and eleven, students will be given the chance to sit in an author's chair and read their work. Students are encouraged to give Alphas and Deltas to the author. 31 Alphas are specific comments on good use of technique and deltas are positive suggestions for change.
Reflection: Day 12 - The students will retrieve their tetra-tetra-flexagon journals. The students will fold back the cover so the front and back touch and open the book the new inside, empty page. They will title the pair of pages "Memoirs." The students will title the left page "Techniques and examples from my work" and the right page "Is it me?" I will give students time to highlight the parts in their story where they used the various voice strategies and write them on the left page. I will model the cognitive process using a think aloud for any students still struggling with the process. 32 I will allow the students at least thirty minutes to name their techniques and find examples of their use. If there is not enough time in class, I will allow the students to write their personal reflection on the right hand page for homework. The metacognitive journal and highlighted memoir will become formative assessments. (See Appendix C for Adapted Six Point Rubric for Voice.)
Lesson 3: Beginning to walk in their own shoes
Objectives: Lastly, the students will explore statements of belief in This I Believe, searching for some of the techniques personally studied and discussing the voice of the authors. At this same time, the students will be exploring their own beliefs and identifying one they would like to share. In the format of submissions to the National Public Radio program "This I Believe," students will write their own essays of personal belief using techniques they feel best define their voice. Students old enough to meet the program's guidelines will be encouraged to submit. Others will be selected by the class to be read over the announcements in the morning as a school-wide "This I Believe." A copy of their final product with an appendix in which students describe what parts of the essay best denote their voice will be handed in and scored according to a district-sponsored rubric for voice. This lesson meets Delaware State Standards for English Language Arts 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.4f, 4.2c & 4.3a.
Materials: Computer with internet access, speakers connected to the computer, class copies of "I Will Take My Voice Back," "The Gift of Kindness," "Finding the Flexibility to Survive" and "Be Cool," the class list of strategies to create voice posted or written so that all students can see it, copies of This I Believe submission agreement, brochure and poster 33 or a projector to show the website, copies of the submission agreement forms for parent signature.
Model & Prewrite: Day 1 - Students will produce one final piece using voice. In this piece, unlike its predecessors, writers will be able to pick and choose the strategies they feel work best for their personality. For the reading half of the day, students will receive a copy of "The Gift of Kindness" and "Be Cool." They will read "The Gift" silently first and then aloud to a partner trying to determine what words the author intended to emphasize and the intonation of the piece. Students will volunteer to read the piece aloud with their own interpretation and explain what signals they deciphered from the composition. Then the students will hear the author read their own piece for the National Public Radio database. (See Annotated Bibliography for website address.) The students will discuss as a class how their versions compared to the authors and what signals were missing, misinterpreted or well used. The students will conclude the reading half of the period doing the same thing with "Be Cool."
For the writing half of the period, students will look at the format of the two This I Believe statements and review the directions for creating a statement that can be submitted to the website. I will emphasize the "be personal" aspect. National Public Radio wants to hear voice. I will allow the students to select any prewriting strategy with which they feel most comfortable. This essay is to be as independent as the students can handle.
Model & Write: Day 2 - I will read "I Will Take My Voice Back" and "Finding the Flexibility to Survive" with the students or listen to the authors read it. I will create the familiar two column notes sheet, but instead of the six strategies expert readers use, list the qualities National Public Radio expects in the brochure from the submissions (i.e. tell a story, be brief, name your belief, be positive, be personal). As a class we will discuss and document how well these two essays met the qualifications. On the right side of the two column notes, the students will continue to examine the techniques of voice used to express personality, clue the reader into intonation and show their passion for their topic.
For the writing half of the period, the students have the freedom to write their first draft and begin to revise if they wish.
Revision & Editing: Day 3 - I will give students the freedom to peer revise and edit as needed. I will encourage them to utilize the strategies from class of selective revising and using multiple peers to revise. Editing should be the final step before publishing.
Publishing & Presenting: Day 4 - The students will continue to have access to each other as they complete the final editing and publication. The students who wish to will present the fourth and part of the fifth day of this lesson. Furthermore, individuals who meet or are older than the thirteen age limit for submissions, may get the parental agreement signed and enter their essay online.
Presenting & Reflecting: Day 5 - The students will finish presentations during the reading half of the period and use the writing half to complete the tetra-tetra-flexagon journals. This last section will be titled "Belief Statements." The same titles from the previous two lessons apply. Students will go through the same procedure of highlighting techniques for voice and then documenting them in their journal and finally describing why the techniques they chose for this final essay represented them.
Assessment: I will collect the Reflection Journals and the highlighted belief statements for summative assessments. (See Appendix C for Adapted Six Point Rubric for Voice.) I will use the reflection journal to decipher the students' intentions and attempts at using strategies to promote voice.
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