When
I started my career in teaching, writing workshop was all the rage! Teachers
were excited about getting to know their students using the workshop model. I
quickly learned that the lessons in these units were good ones, but could use
places for reinforcement. Below I have listed the 3
MUST HAVES for PERSONAL NARRATIVE WRITING.
Teaching Personal Narrative is one of my favorite units because I get to see into the lives of my students. We start out the year sharing about our summer vacations and generating ideas together. Then I begin with a MUST HAVE ACTIVITY NUMBER ONE an important lesson that compliments any personal narrative curriculum I have ever used called: “Watermelon verses Seed” topics. We go through topics that had been shared about our summers and I explain which ones are TOO BIG “Watermelon” sized
and which ones are JUST RIGHT “Seed Moments.” Then students practice the idea
using the sort activity below.
Once
we have our drafts done, students begin the revision process. This is when I
break out MUST HAVE ACTIVITY NUMBER TWO that
again complements any personal narrative unit I have ever taught. It is called “Show
not Tell” Scoot. You can also use this as example cards in a whole group
discussion. I post these around the room and students read each one. Then the
record their answers on the “Scoot” recording sheet.
Finally
when we are in the editing stage of writing, I break out MUST HAVE ACTIVITY NUMBER THREE, and you guessed it, that complements any personal
narrative unit I have every used. This activity is called “CHANGING PARAGRAPHS.”
This activity has 5 examples of personal narrative writing that needs to be edited
for paragraphing. Students learn all the reasons why they need to paragraph.
Then they take the examples and place paragraph symbols into the places that
need editing. After discussing these changes together, students learn when and
how to place paragraphs into their writing.
