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Content Sequencing

Based on the Posner and Strike sequencing scheme (Morrison, et al. 1998), I propose that narrative writing should be taught in a learner-related sequence. Narrative writing is familiar to students because most students learned to read by reading narratives, so we will use narrative "Mentor texts" to rebuild familiarity with narrative techniques and then transition into utilizing those techniques.

 

The  strategy  for  learner-related  sequencing  is  based  on  five learning concepts  (Morrison  et  al.,  1998).  These  are  identifiable  prerequisite, familiarity, difficulty, interest  and  development. My narrative unit will be sequenced according to these concepts.

a. Identifiable prerequisite:  

  • The unit will start with the reading of several narrative texts. This will give the students a "common core" of literature to which we can refer later on in the unit.​

b. Familiarity: learn the familiar information and then progress to the most remote.

  • Among these texts are well-known stories. We will pull examples of narrative techniques from these stories (among others):

    • "To Build a Fire" by Jack London​

    • "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    • "The Reef" by Samuel Scoville, Jr.

    • "Home" by Anton Chekhov

    • "Marigolds" by Eugenia Collier

    • "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain

    • "Thank You Ma'am" by Langston Hughes

    • All of these stories can be accessed at commonlit.org

 

Learning METHODS - more detail:​

  1. Padlet: Students will use padlet.com to collect examples of narrative techniques in the stories we read. Example here: Link to Padlet

  2. Students will practice writing setting and character descriptions using Google Docs.

  3. Students will practice writing dialogue using Google Docs​

    • Students will start with character description(s) using caricatures and then add dialogue:​

  4. Students will upload their practice writing AND their finished narratives to portfolios using Google Sites or the Assessment portfolios provided by the SCCPSS LMS ItsLearning. Example portfolio: Google Site.

  5. Examples of portfolio requirements can be found here.

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  • Students will be taught how to identify narrative techniques in stories before attempting to write narratives on their own. We will use the acronym D.A.D (Description, Action, Dialogue):

    • Vivid descriptions, especially those using action verbs and details phrases (participial, absolute, appositive).​

    • Intense action - often used to build suspense, to move the story (pacing).

    • Realistic dialogue - dialogue that builds characters' personalities, non-generic.

c. Difficulty

  • Students will practice narrative techniques in isolation before putting them all together, and before weaving them together.

    • Students will write descriptions of landscapes, of paintings, of scenes from their imaginations.​

    • Students will describe characters using caricatures of famous people: movie stars, singers, politicians.

    • Students will practice dialogue using these characters they've described. They will practice varying dialogue tags, utilizing proper dialogue punctuation, indentation.

    • THEN, students will put these skills together into a story, adding the action to make their stories flow.

d. Interest​​

  • Students will be able to write about any topic that interests them:

    • when they choose landscapes or scenes to describe.​

    • when they choose caricatures for description.

    • when they choose a story to tell.

e. Development

  • Each students will be met "where they are." Some students will be more advanced than others, but the expectation will be growth in this writing genre, not complete mastery.

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References:

Morrison, G., Ross, S., Kalman, H., and Kemp, J.(1998). Designing Effective

          Instruction.New Jersey: Prentice Hall

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