Writing Lesson for Level 2 Students: Developing
Details in Personal Narrative Writing
Guiding Question:
What can we do to become
better at describing things, and also work towards the long- term goal of
providing detailed evidence for our claims?
Description:
This lesson is intended to
capacitate students to develop more detailed descriptions in their writing, while
also maintaining focus on a given topic. Students will begin with some group
activities in the classroom, and then transition to the writing lab where they
will work on their own individual pieces.
Learning Objectives:
Literacy
Students will:
1. Begin to build the ability
to focus on a topic more in depth.
2. Incorporate the five senses while providing descriptive
detail--showing not telling.
3. Become more engaging and
effective writers.
4. Become comfortable writing
10-15 word sentences using descriptive detail.
5. Think more intentionally about how to write
effectively. They will feel more comfortable and competent as writers and
readers while writing and responding thoughtfully to one another's pieces.
Materials:
Lesson handouts and
instructions
Steps:
Brainstorming and sharing as a group- 20 minutes
1. Provide the students with
the objectives of the lesson, and let them know that these skills are key to producing writing that is both interesting
and convincing. Furthermore, in the long run, these skills will be necessary
for the crafting of a strong persuasive GED essay.
2. Remind students that we use
description a lot in our daily lives.
Whether it is when we tell a family member how our day went, or
recommend a movie to a friend, or explain to the doctor what is wrong with our
child, it is important to be able to articulate the experiences we have had. Ask students if they have told
a story or explained a situation to someone in the last couple days that they are willing to share. A follow up question might be whether
students thought that they successfully conveyed the message or image they wanted
to. If so, have them reflect on what it was that they said allowed them to do
that.
Share with students that, similarly,
it is our challenge as writers to find the best words and expressions to convey
to the reader the who/what/where/when and why of a situation--be it real or
not. One way to do this is through the use of detailed description. When we
take the time to provide details
about what we are describing, we ensure that the image we have in our heads is conveyed to the
reader's head. This is the kind of writing we will be working on today.
3. Write on the board the
word "snowstorm" and have the students free associate phrases/ words while you write their answers on the
board. Classify the words grammatically
-- under and then ask students to add to
the already existing list (slippery, icy, freezing, numb, frozen, white mushy, to slip, to fall, to slide, to
make snow angels/snowmen, to glide, to ice skate, to hurl, (snow balls), to play, to run, to rejoice etc.
4. Then, use the information
on the board to cooperatively craft three full (10-15 words) descriptive sentences
with the stems below. Ask students to imagine that the reader does not know
they are talking about a snowstorm, so they are going to have to show it to
them with their words and images. Model the first "see" example:
I see white flakes slowly falling from the
sky to land on the trees' dark branches.
Ask the students what, if anything they like about the
sentence? What does it make them think/
feel? Then, discuss the various components (the use of the adjectives, adverbs
and verbs) of the sentence with the students contributed to creating a more
vivid image in their heads.
Small Group Work: 10 minutes
5. Still working with the
idea of the snowstorm, ask students, in groups, to craft their own cooperative
examples for:
I see ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I feel____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I hear __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sharing and Response Time: 10 minutes
6. When finished with the task,
groups exchange examples, and respond to each others' sentences by sharing what
phrases/ words they liked best in the sentences, and why.
On the board you can write
stems like the ones below, and model using them:
I like when you use the word/
expression ______________________________because________________________.
I like when you describe
_________________________because it made me
picture____________________________.
Assessment:
Collect the group work and
review
Homework:
Ask students to choose a situation or place and describe it
writing a minimum of 3 "I see" " I feel" "I hear"
sentences. The next class will begin
with students reading their sentences to the group and the audience both
"responding" and trying to guess the place/ situation
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