Activities
Descriptive Writing
Descriptive Writing describes a person, place, or thing by creating a better mental image. I will explain that it tells how someone or something looks, acts or feels. Adjectives and adverbs play an important role in creating the picture in the reader’s mind. Good descriptive paragraphs take into account the five senses: smell, taste, touch, sound and sight. A descriptive paragraph includes a topic sentence that introduces the main idea. In this curriculum, the students will be introduced to an artwork. The paragraph also has supporting sentences. The supporting sentences give facts and details. The details of the artwork come from answering the questions who, what, where, when, and how. In a closing paragraph of a descriptive writing, the student restates the topic sentence, and a writer’s opinion.
I will show students Mystery Canyon Passage, Acrylic on Canvas, by Shonto Begay. With guidance, I will ask students, what do you see? What do you think it feels like being in that canyon? With guided questions, I will help student create a list of descriptive words, mainly adjectives. I will explain to the students that an adjective describes a noun or pronoun. It tells what kind, how many, or which one. For this activity, the students will be encourage to use their five senses to tell describe what they see, what they might hear, or what they might feel. After that, I will guide students how to use a descriptive writing format to write a paragraph.
Narrative Writing
In fourth grade students are expected to write a narrative writing piece. According to the Arizona State College and Career Proficiency Standards, students are expected to:
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective techniques to add descriptive details, and clear event sequences. The students are expected to introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. They need to use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations and manage the sequence of events. They need to include details to convey experiences and events precisely. Finally, they need to provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
In the image “Casino”, there are two Native Americans facing a slot machine. The image itself has many details and colors. However, the image is familiar in many Native American communities. Children as young as my fourth graders are familiar with casinos and slot machines. They may not understand the idea of gambling, but I want them to be able to interpret the painting. I want them to be able to answer who, what, when, where, why, and how. In the narrative I want them to be able to explain what the image conveys in their mind. Most children associate casinos with hotel rooms, swimming, or some type of entertainment specifically for children. Some offer game rooms, and rides. I want them to write a narrative about their experiences.
Compare and Contrast
Comparing and contrasting two or more characters within a fictional text is another skill that Fourth Grade ELL students are expected to acquire. This demand requires students to use higher level thinking. The students with the aid of a Venn diagram will compare and contrast the images of Andy Warhol’s iconic painting of Campbell Soup can with Ryan Singer’s Sheep is Good Food. The written portion will compare how Campbell soup would compare to a can of mutton stew. We will explore what the soups might taste like, feel like, smell like, or look like if they had them in front of them. The higher-level thinking will allow students to make inferences while comparing and contrasting the two art pieces.
Comments: