4th Grade: Writing Workshop - Narrative

4th Grade: Writing Workshop - NarrativeUnit Planning GuideUnit Title: Personal Narrative Writing UnitFocused Subject Areas: Reading, Writing,CommunicationGrade: FourthCreated By: Dr. Amy Condon and Dr. Linda MookEnduring Understandings:Duration: 5-6 weeks Personal narratives are a form of non-fictionwriting that tells a story All writing has a beginning, middle and endEssential Questions: How does retelling the sequence of majorevents help me understand what I read? How do writers use narrative writing to makesense of personal experiences? How do authors’ language and words,phrases, conventions, and illustrations affectour understandings of text meanings? How do the beginning and the ending describethe structure of a narrative text? How does dialogue help a reader understandthe story?Stage 1What do we want students to know?*Study the standards:*List standards (See Daily Lessons)*List other content standards to be embedded (See Daily Lessons)Factual KnowledgeStudents will know:1. A narrative writing is astory with a beginning,middle and end.2. Narratives may befiction or non- fiction andusually tell about animportant event in thecharacter’s life. Personalnarratives are non-ficitonand tell about a smallmoment in a person’slife.Procedural KnowledgeStudents will be able to:1. Explain how the author’s choice ofwords, illustrations andconventions combine to createmood, contribute to meaning, andemphasize aspects of a characteror setting.( 4.RL.9.2)2. Determine characteristics ofcrafted text structures anddescribe why an author uses thisstructure. (4.RL.12.2)Conceptual KnowledgeStudents will understand:

3. Narrative stories usethe structural form ofseesaw, diary, circular,photographs poetrytexts, texts with shortmemoirs, an inanimatevoice or a framingquestion. Each structurehas a different intent forusage.3. Determine how the author useswords and phrases to inform,explain, or describe. (4. RI.8.1)4. Write narratives to develop real orimagined experiences or eventsusing effective techniques, wellchosen details, and well-structuredevent sequences (4.W.3.1)5. Demonstrate command of theconventions of standard Englishgrammar and usage when writingor speaking. ( 4.W.4)6. Demonstrate command of theconventions of standard Englishform and use the progressive verbtenses. (4.W.5)7. Write independently, legibly, androutinely for a variety of tasks,purposes, and audiences overshort and extended time frames.(4.W.6)8. Interact with others to exploreideas and concepts, communicatemeaning, and develop logicalinterpretations throughcollaborative conversations; buildupon the ideas of others to clearlyexpress one’s own views whilerespecting diverseperspectives.(4.C.1)Stage 2How will we know that students understand what has been taught and what should they be able to do?*Daily Assessments*Create Common Assessments*Determine expectations and levels of proficiencyProjects, Research, etc.Unit Pre-Assessment: Students will write a personalnarrative. A personal narrative is a true story aboutsomething that really happened to you. Students canrefer back to their brainstorming sheet that theycreated at the beginning of writer’s workshop to helpthem with ideas. Do not take a grade on this pre

assessment but do score it against the end of unitrubric. This information will help you as the teacherfocus on areas of strength and weakness for eachstudent during conferencing and mini lessons.Extensions:Differentiation Considerations:1. Some students may need more frequentconferencing.2. Allow students to have access to word banksor spell checks if they need it.Stage 3What daily instructional strategies, activities, and resources will be used to facilitate student learning?*Instructional Strategies *Literature/Multimedia Resources *Materials *Professional Resources *Field Studies/SpeakersStrategiesList possible things: Procedural Mini Lessons, Modeling, Anchor Charts for writingGradual Release model of “I do, We do, You do” is preferred for this unitTurn and Talk is a valuable strategy to use during writing workshop. Use turn and talk when reading narrativementor texts aloud to students. You can ask some of these questions to help spark student thinking: Where do you think the author got his/her ideas for this book? Listen to this! Let me reread the beginning of this book. Did the lead make you want to read the story? Did you hear any words that you want to remember and use in your writing? Can you picture this character/setting/event in your mind? How did the author help you do that? Whatwords did the author use? Notice the way the sentence flows. How do you think the author did that? Does this writing have voice?Key Vocabulary:sequence, details, events, narrative, closure, concludes, ending, action, senses, dialogue, transition, memory,emotions, lead, paragraphtransition words – first, first of all, in the beginning, to begin with, next, then later, afterwards, eventually, finally, inthe end, lastText Structures From 2nd Grade:Seesaw text structure – predictable balance of information that moves back and forth between chunks that worktogether in some way

Diary text structure – a book or journal where an individual keeps a record of their events, feelings andexperiencesCircular Text structure- cycles through the story one event at a time to end back where the story originated; someare written in narrative style, while some are expository;Text Structures from 3rd Grade:Photo-Poetry Texts: Texts written as a series of poems that accompany photographs which interest them. Usuallythe photos are connected to a central idea, making the collection thematic rather than random (Ray, 1999).Photo-Narratives: Texts written in this way are fashioned to sound like someone is showing the reader a photoalbum and narrating the story of each picture. As each new page is turned and a new photo or picture is revealed,it is accompanied by narration.Series of Short Memoirs: A series of short memoir pieces can each stand alone as single narrative units. The shortpieces appear essentially without transitions between them, just as a collection of short stories would beassembled, with titles between each story. The difference in the structure of a short story collection and in thismemoir structure, however, is that characters, settings, and some plots travel across the stories as they are writtento illuminate a specific life. (Ray, 1999).Inanimate Voice Text: In this way of writing a text, an inanimate “character” has the speaking role that narrates thetext. The decision to fashion a text in this way allows the writer to shift readers’ attention to an unusual,unexpected perspective. The effect is surprising because it truly “brings to life” something that is lifeless,something that we do not expect to speak.Framing Question Text: Text structure writers work off of using a central question at the beginning of the text andthen making the rest of the text a series of responses to that question. The main body of the text is written as asuccession of responses, all of which answer the question in another way, revealing another Revised August 23,2017 44 facet of the information, description, or storyline being presented. Often, the responses will include therepetition of key words from the framing question (Ray, 1999).**** the fourth grade standard requires that students are able to describe characteristics of these text structuresand why the author uses the respective text structure. Be sure to include a variety of text structure selections inyour read alouds.

Mentor Text ResourcesPersonal Narratives:*My Five Senses – Aliki*The Moon and I- Betsy Byars*I’m the Big Sister Now – Michelle Emmert*When I was Nine – James Stevenson*A Chair for My Mother - Vera Williams*Today I Feel Silly – Jamie Lee CurtisDiary Text Structure:*Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider – Doreen Cronin*Diary of a Wombat – Jackie French*Diary of a Wimpy Kid –Seesaw Text Structure:*Someday - Eileen Spinelli*When I was Little: A Four Year Old’s Memoir of her Youth - Jamie Lee Curtis*I am the Dog, I am the Cat –Donald Hall*Rosie and Michael – Judith Viorst*Grandad Bill’s Song – Jane Yolen*That’s Good!That’s Bad! – Margery Cuyler*Fortunately – Remy Charlip*My Mom Travels a Lot – Caroline Fellar Bauer*Tough Boris – Mem Fox*The Mitten – Jan Brett*The Hat – Jan Brett* Lost Paul – Brett Johnson and Celeste Lewis*Do Cowboys Ride Bikes?- Kathy Tucker*Our Granny – Margaret WildCircular Texts:*The Trip back Home – Janet Wong*The Relatives Came – Cynthia Rylant*Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak*The Ox-Cart Man – Donald Hall*Ms. Berlin Walks – Jane Yolen*The Night Pirates – Peter Harris*My Friend Rabbit – Eric Rohmanno*A South African Night – Rachel Isadora*Magic Tree House Series – Jane Pope Osbourne*Grandpa Never Lies- Ralph Fletcher*If you Give a Mouse a Cookie – Laura Joffe Numeroff*A Butterfly is Patient – Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long

Flying Deep- Climb Inside Seep-Sea Submersible ALVIN by Michelle Cusolito and Nicole Wong*Red-Eyed Tree Frog - Joy CowleyPhoto-Poetry:*Brown Angels by Walter Dean Myers*Something Permanent by Cynthia Rylant and Walker Evans*Water Music by Jane YolenPhoto-Narrative:*Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff*Snapshots from the Wedding by Gary SotoShort Memoirs:*Childtimes by Eloise Greenfield* Walking the Log: Memories of a Southern Childhood by Bessie Nickens*House on Mango Street by Sandra CisnerosInanimate Voice Text:*Cry Me a River by Rodney McRae* Mojave by Diane Seibert*Water Dance by Thomas Locker*North Country Spring by Reeve LindberghFraming Question Text:* The Moon Was the Best by Charlotte Zolotow* I Want to Be by Thylias Moss* The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnell* The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow* Cat’s Colors by Jane Cabrera* Momma, Where are You From? By Marie BradbyStrong Leads:*Thunder Cake*BIGMAMA”S*Shortcut by Donald Crews*Crash by Jerry Spinelli (flashback)* On my Honor by Marion Dana Bauer (dialogue)*The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler ( question)*Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos ( action)*The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies ( onomatopoeia)Strong Endings:Professional Resources:

South Carolina State Standards, SC Dept of EducationThe Writing Strategies Book by Jennifer SeravalloWhat You Know By Heart by Katie Wood RayFourth Grade Standards Support Document, Rock Hill, SC School District, 2017Day 1:Pre- assessment( see below forlesson plan sample)*Use school, districtor state determinedrubric for scoringDay 6:Rehearsing storywith a partner;creating first draft These aregreatconferencedays to setgoalsDay 2:Review: What is apersonal narrative?How is it differentfrom other types ofwriting?* Show various textsthat are personalnarrativesMini lesson:Generating a StoryIdea from a memory Creating agraphicorganizer togenerateideasDay 7:Rehearsing storywith a secondpartner; add detailsto first draft These aregreatconferencedays to setgoalsStage 4Daily Lesson PlansWill be reflected weeklyDay 4:Day 4:Generating a storyGenerating a storyidea from emotionidea Read a Read amentor textmentor emotion;generate Create a liststory ideasof emotionsbased onon an anchoremotionschart andhavestudentsdescribetimes whenthey feltthoseemotionsDay 8:Writing a lead; reread mentor textsread in days 2-5;look at leads; Discussthreepossibletypes ofleads – startwith asound, startwith aquestion,start with anactionDay 5:Narrowing down toa Small Moment orSeed idea fromgraphic organizerand emotions listWatermelon:Trip to thestate fairSlice: goingon the ridesSeed: howyou feltgoing on theroller coasterMoving from bigidea “Watermelon “to small moment“seed”Day 9:Adding Dialogue toa storyDay 10:Adding Dialogue toa storyRead a mentor textthat has manyexamples ofdialogueRead anothermentor text thatshowcases dialogue Review withpartnerwheredialogue wasaddedyesterday look forplaces instory to adddialogue witha partner