Guide Entry to 25.02.09
This unit teaches students to read like writers by studying several rich and engaging memoir mentor texts as an inspiration to express themselves authentically in writing. Students will study each text with a writer’s eye to note how an author creates an effect on the reader. With the guidance of Ruth Culham’s 6+1 traits of writing, students will begin to sort their learning into ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, and conventions. They will mimic the techniques they have studied in professional writing to write several of their own short personal narratives. Students will then engage in writer’s workshops where they will have the opportunity to share and listen to other students’ narratives. Students will critique each other's pieces and revise accordingly. Through several cycles of reading, noting, writing, and revising, students will learn about and practice each of the writing traits. At the end of this unit, students will revise and lengthen one of the narratives they have written that exemplifies their mastery of the traits. This unit is meant for eighth grade students but can be used in much of middle school and up through about tenth grade.
(Developed for English Language Arts, grade 8; recommended for English Language Arts and Composition, grades 7-12)
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