This module focuses on how to write narratives about real or imagined experiences or events about memories of growing up. It develops students' understanding of narrative structure and using figurative language.
Simile Metaphor Description Narrative Structure Memory
In this module you will be learning about how to write about real or imagined experiences or events. You’ll also be learning about how to write narratives, including how to write descriptively and how to sequence the events in your narratives. You will also read and evaluate each other’s stories from the position of both writers (deciding whether and how to revise your own pieces) and readers (reviewing others’ pieces).
Focus Questions
In this learning module, we will focus on the following questions:
What makes an event memorable?
How do I write a narrative?
How do I use figures of speech such as metaphors and similes to enhance my writing?
Comment: What is your earliest memory? Post a comment in which you state what the memory is and how old you were. Read other students' earliest memories. Comment on one by stating why you thought it was interesting. It could be interesting because it is similar or different to your memory or because it is funny, sad or very unusual.
In this module, students:
This initial update is to introduce Community Updates and commenting to the students, to think, discuss and write about their own childhood memories, and post comments on other students’ memories.
Main CCSS Focus
W.7.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS Focus
SL.7.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one ... ) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Learning Intention: To discuss and write about your childhood memories and their connections to your senses.
Think about some other memories from your childhood. You could remember your first day at school, a celebration such as your birthday, a family event or holiday. Have a discussion with a partner and prompt each other’s memories. Then try to identify the sounds, images, smells, tastes and feelings that you associate with your memories in your discussion.
Comment: Post a few sentences in which you describe one of your memories and why it is memorable or important for you. Include any connections you made to your senses. Comment on the memories of 2-3 students. Start with @Name so students know who has responded to them. You can build on their ideas and note similarities and differences between the sounds, images, smells, tastes and feelings that people associate with their memories.
This update continues to build a knowledge community with students discussing and sharing their memories, how they impact on their senses, and also commenting on other students' comments. It will value their experiences and will also stimulate ideas that students might be able to use in their own narratives.
CCSS Focus
SL.7.1c: Pose questions that elicit elaboration and respond to others' questions and comments with relevant observations and ideas that bring the discussion back on topic as needed.
W.7.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
Learning Intention: To demonstrate your understanding of a narrative about a childhood memory.
Read The Bike by Gary Soto.
Then complete the survey: The Bike Comprehension.
This survey is to introduce a model of a narrative text, The Bike by Gary Soto. It will provide the teacher with baseline information about students’ understanding of the focus areas of this learning module including narrative concepts, and comprehension of The Bike by Gary Soto. The text also introduces a childhood memory to stimulate students’ thinking and discussion about what makes an event memorable.
Publishing details: Soto, G. (1990). A Summer Life. New York: Laurel-Leaf Books.
It may be downloaded from Amazon as an ebook. The complete text is available on the web at sites such as ebookbrowse and many other sites.
CCSS
W.7.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
W.7.3d: Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
W.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings.
Learning Intention: To identify what can make your writing about childhood memories more interesting.
In The Bike, Gary Soto tells a story of an event in his childhood. It is memorable for him because of the feelings he remembers of pride, being adventurous and the intense pain. It is also memorable because of what he saw and the sounds he heard, and because of the lessons he learned.
Capturing what makes a story memorable is important so that the author doesn’t just retell a series of events.
Find other stories that are about childhood memories. Gary Soto has written others and/or you may know other authors and stories or you may have watched a film which includes a childhood memory. As you discuss these stories with a partner or in a small group, record what made the events in the story memorable. An example is provided for you based on The Bike.
| Book/Film | Memory | What Makes it Memorable |
| The Bike by Gary Soto | The first day the author, as a five year old, rode out of his street alone, disobeying his mother. He let a boy on a tricycle ride over his leg. | Senses: The feelings of pride and being adventurous and the intense pain, plus what he saw and the heard. Also the lessons he learned about obeying his mother. |
Comment: In 1-3 sentences post some of the ideas of your discussion, including your suggestions of other stories and films about childhood memories and what made the events memorable. Post a link if you have one. Comment on the comments of 2-3 other students, posing and answering questions to extend the discussion.
All young people naturally know how to tell stories – some educational theorists, like Jerome Bruner, even believe that narrative is at the root of all of our thinking. Narrative writing creates opportunities for students to reflect on their own real or imagined experiences, to explore identity by thinking on their own lives or inventing characters’ lives, and to write for and get feedback from an audience of their peers.
Students may refer to their completed Memorable Events Charts when they write their own texts. However, for accountability, students may also be required to submit them to the teacher through "Submissions" in Community.
Other Resources
Texts (These could be used instead of or to complement The Bike; they also include similes and metaphors)
To provide extra support to students, post the following Overt Instruction Update from The Writer’s Toolkit: Strategies for Writing Narratives in the New Media to Community if students need to focus on this aspect of writing at this time. Alternatively, individualized or small group support " may be provided through structured mini-lessons.
CCSS Focus
SL.7.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one ... ) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
SL.7.1c: Pose questions that elicit elaboration and respond to others' questions and comments with relevant observations and ideas that bring the discussion back on topic as needed.
Learning Intention: To understand how you can use narrative structure to tell your story.
Look back at The Bike by Gary Soto. With a partner, identify the narrative structure of The Bike. Use the table to guide your discussion of the orientation, complication, rising action, climax, resolution and coda.
Now that you have identified the narrative structure of The Bike, discuss other stories and films that follow this narrative structure.
Comment: Post a comment of 2-3 sentences in which you describe examples of narrative structures or parts of them. You could share a great orientation or a powerful resolution in a book or film. Is it effective? Why or why not? Comment on the comments of 2-3 students. You might get some good ideas for your own narrative.
In this update, students learn about narrative structure of orientation, complication, rising action, climax, and resolution, identifying their sequence in The Bike and in other texts they have read and viewed. By considering texts that do not follow a traditional structure, they deepen their understanding of narrative structure and explore possibilities for their own writing.
The "Narrative Structure Table" provides definitions to guide student discussions. The discussion is important to scaffold thinking and to encourage students to find evidence in the text. Each student should complete the table, either electronically or hand written. Alternatively, students could also annotate a printed version of the model text, labelling, highlighting and underlining aspects of the text’s structure. Students may refer to their completed charts and annotated texts when they write their own texts. However, for accountability, students may also be required to submit them to the teacher through "Submissions" in Community.
CCSS Focus
W.7.3a: Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
W.7.3e: Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.
Learning Intention: To develop my understanding of narrative structure.
To learn more about narrative structure, read Aesop’s Fable, The Lion and the Mouse.
AESOP'S FABLES
The Lion and the Mouse (Translation by V. S. Vernon Jones)
A Lion asleep in his lair was waked up by a Mouse running over his face.
Losing his temper he seized it with his paw and was about to kill it. The Mouse, terrified, piteously entreated him to spare its life. "Please let me go," it cried, "and one day I will repay you for your kindness." The idea of so insignificant a creature ever being able to do anything for him amused the Lion so much that he laughed aloud, and good-humoredly let it go.
But the Mouse's chance came, after all. One day the Lion got entangled in a net which had been spread for game by some hunters, and the Mouse heard and recognized his roars of anger and ran to the spot. Without more ado it set to work to gnaw the ropes with its teeth, and succeeded before long in setting the Lion free. "There!" said the Mouse, "you laughed at me when I promised I would repay you: but now you see, even a Mouse can help a Lion."
Complete the survey.
This survey may be used to revise or reinforce understanding of narrative structure. It will also provide the teacher with more information about students’ understanding of narrative structure.
Reference: The Project Gutenberg EBook of Aesop's Fables by Aesop.
CCSS Focus
W.7.3a: Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
W.7.3e: Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.
Learning Intention: To start my writing project and to use the Rubric to identify what is important to include.
Project Name: ‘Tell Me a Story’
Description: Choose a moment you remember vividly from your childhood, one that you remember as important in your life. What happened? Did this event change you in some way? Why is it important? Narrate the events of this time so that your readers will understand why it is memorable to you. You may write the story as a personal narrative or transform it into a fictional narrative.
You have received a Work Request in Notifications. Click on this link to open the “Untitled Work” in Creator. Then, change the title, and begin a first draft. Go to About This Work => Project => Description for further project information. When you are ready to submit, click “Submit Draft” below the work. This is the version of your work that will be sent to others for feedback.
Comment: Do you have any questions about how Scholar works? Make a comment in this update. If you think you have an answer to another student's question, please answer it - be sure to name the student you are replying to in your comment by starting with @Name.
Assigning the project to the students at this stage is important to set clear expectations, and also so students understand how the activities that follow will support them.
As students begin to draft their work, encourage them to use the Structure tool to organize some of the key ideas they have brainstormed and developed through the Community Updates. The Structure Tool supports students to develop an initial structure for their text, refine the elements of their text, and draft new versions, transforming their ides into well written text. Students should also refer to the rubric as a guide as they write in Creator. If necessary, look through the rubric with students.
For first time users of Scholar, the following Overt Instruction Updates from The Writer's Toolkit: Strategies for Writing in the New Media may be useful to add to Community:
Project Rubric
CCSS Focus
W.7.3: Write narratives to develop real and imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well structured event sequences.
W.7.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose and audience.
W.7.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
Learning Intention: To record ideas about characters, plot and use of similes and metaphors.
Write quick notes of your ideas on paper. Sketch the main characters. Outline the main events of the plot. List some similes and metaphors that you might use, adding some of your ideas from the previous update. You could write down your notes on a mind map.
Discuss your ideas orally with a partner. Get some suggestions from them about how you might deepen a character, or make the plot more gripping, or other similes and metaphors you might use.
Comment: Share one or two good ideas that came out of your discussion with your partner.
In this update students plan their narrative on paper. They can transfer these ideas to Creator, using the Structure tool to outline their work.
As they plan their narratives in this module, encourage students to refer to the Rubric in Creator as a guide. Also they can draw upon the ideas they have developed through the Community Updates on narrative structure, and similes and metaphors.
Use peer discussion to scaffold thinking in the brainstorm.
"Brainstorming Ideas" in The Writer’s Toolkit: Strategies for Writing in the New Media provides a more detailed introduction to this method of generating ideas, including ways in which students might brainstorm individually using the Creator space in Scholar, and in groups using Community.
CCSS Focus
SL.7.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one ... ) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Learning Intention: To understand how coda and language choices communicate author’s purpose.
With a partner, discuss what you think is the author’s purpose in The Bike. As well as entertaining us, Gary Soto communicates his purpose through the moral or coda. What do you think the coda of the story is?
Look back at The Bike and make a list of the words and phrases which the author has included to foreground this coda. For example, the first sentence of the story sets the tone of the story with words with negative connotations such as ‘nowhere’ and ‘shadow’ and foreshadows the conclusion. In the second paragraph, note words and phrases such as ‘hungry dogs’ and ‘red anger lived in their eyes’.
What other words and phrases can you identify in The Bike?
Also identify the sensory language the author uses, especially when the boy rides over his leg. These are deliberately chosen by the author to prepare the reader for the coda.
Comment: Share some ideas for words and phrases that you will include in your narrative and how they will prepare the reader for your conclusion. Comment on the posts of 1-2 other students, building on their ideas.
In this Update students understand author’s purpose and the choices they can as writers make to position their audience and prepare them for the resolution of their narratives. Words with negative connotations are deliberately chosen by the author to prepare the reader for the conclusion and to foreshadow the coda.
CCSS Focus
R.7.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings.
W.7.3d: Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
W.7.3e: Provide a conclusion that follows from reflects on the narrated experiences or events.
Learning Intention: To understand how similes and metaphors use sensory language and make your writing more descriptive.
In The Bike, Gary Soto uses similes and metaphors to make his writing more descriptive. Here are some examples of similes in The Bike.
Here are some examples of metaphors in The Bike.
Metaphors and similes are called figures of speech. A simile uses a direct comparison using words such as like and as.
A metaphor is also a comparison but it states that two things are the same in some interesting ways, even though they might appear very different. The comparison is stronger in a metaphor.
With a partner, discuss what each of these similes and metaphors mean.
Some similes and metaphors are over-used and can make your writing boring and predictable. Similes such as ‘As strong as an ox’ or ‘as busy as a bee’ are predictable and referred to as clichés. Note how Gary Soto’s similes and metaphors are precise, original and unexpected.
Many images are metaphors. Look at the images below. The first one is of two bridges. These bridges could be interpreted as metaphors for connections or communication as the bridges connect places and people and enable communication. What else could they be a metaphor for? Choose one or two of the other images, and with your partner, discuss how you interpret the metaphors.
Soto’s metaphors and similes use sensory language. We can visualize them or we can hear or feel what they are suggesting. For example, you can almost hear the noisy bike and sense how ferocious the dogs are. With a partner find more similes and metaphors in The Bike. Discuss which ones appeal to our senses and what Gary Soto is suggesting in each one. Then, brainstorm some similes and metaphors that you might use in your narrative to make your writing more descriptive and interesting.
Comment: Metaphors are also common in advertising. Use key words of ‘metaphors’ and ‘advertising’ in an internet search and find some visual metaphors. Post a link in community and explain your metaphor for the image. Comment on the comments of 1-2 other students.
Writing narrative can help students to learn literary techniques more deeply. For instance, while students might learn the definition of a simile while reading a class-assigned novel, narrative writing presents an opportunity for students to create their own similes and to see these figures of speech as integral to the creation of meaning.
In this update students explore figures of speech in context by annotating The Bike by Gary Soto. They may annotate a printed version of the model text, labelling, highlighting and underlining the figures of speech, and referring to their annotations in their discussions.
They also deepen their understanding of metaphors by analyzing visual metaphors, and then finding and posting links to visual metaphors they discover on the internet.
CCSS Focus
W.7.3d: Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
L.7.5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
L.7.5a: Interpret figures of speech in context.
Learning Intention: To give feedback on other students’ works and then revise my own.
Check your Notifications for Feedback Requests: You have received a Feedback Request. Click on this link to take you to the work you have been assigned to review. Go to Feedback => Reviews => Review Work. Rate the work on each criterion and explain why you gave the work that rating. Make in-text comments at Feedback => Annotations. Make an overall recommendation at Feedback => Recommendation.
Submit your feedback once it is finished at About This Work => Project => Status. You will not be able to submit your review until all requirements set by you teacher have been met. These may include a Review, Annotations, and/or a Publication Recommendation.
For more information, see Reviewing a Work and Submitting a Review and Annotations.
The next stage of the writing process is to revise your own work.
Check your Notifications for a Revision Request: You have received a Revision Request. Click on this link to take you to the most recent version of your work. Then go to Feedback => Reviews => Results to see the reviews and Feedback => Annotations to see in-text comments. Once you have incorporated all of the feedback (Reviews/Annotations) from your peers, click “Submit Revision” below the work.
You can also write a self-review, explaining how you have taken on board the feedback you received.
For more information, see The Revision Phase.
Comment: Do you have any more questions about Scholar at this stage? Make a comment in this update. If you think you have an answer to another student's question, please answer it - be sure to name the student you are replying to in your comment by starting with @Name.
This update covers two stages of the writing process in Scholar: Feedback and Revision.
The following Overt Instruction Updates from The Writer's Toolkit: Strategies for Writing in the New Media may be useful to add to Community. They may be used with first time users or it may be appropriate to introduce them in a second writing project so students learn about the features of Scholar over time.
Refer to Analytics to monitor how students are progressing with their writing and reviews.
CCSS Focus
W.7.5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
W.7.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
L.7.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing.
L.7.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation and spelling when writing.
Learning Intention: To identify what is successful writing.
Check Notifications to see if your work has been published and whether works that you provided feedback on have been selected for publication. Published works may be viewed on your and any collaborators' individual profiles in Community.
Comment: Read two or three other people's published narratives. Write a comment about the most interesting thing you learned from reading other people’s writing, or the aspect of their writing that you enjoyed most. What have you learned about writing? Mention the creator and title of the other work, and make a link to that page so the person reading your comment can jump to the page quickly.
Notifications of publication are provided to the creator and all reviewers.
The reflection activity increases students’ metacognition about what makes quality writing by reading and reflecting on other students’ published works.
Ask students to look over other students’ writing—have them read at least two or three other works. Ask them to comment on something interesting they learned from reading others’ work. Refer to the Dashboard to monitor how students are progressing with writing and reviews.
CCSS Focus
W.7.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
Title and Figs 1, 2 & 15: The Bike (Source: Photographs by Chad Heininger); Fig. 3: Rusty's Choice by Styx-Wolf (Source); Fig. 4: Boy on Tricycle (Source); Fig. 5: "Doberman Pinschers black and blue" by David Fisher from Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Edit by User:Pharaoh Hound - Flickr here. Cropped by Pharaoh Hound. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons (Source); Fig. 6: The Lion and the Mouse (Source); Fig. 7: (Source); Fig. 8: Poplet Mind Map (Source: Mind Map by Rita van Haren); Fig. 9: Gary Soto (Source); Figs 10 - 13: Metaphors (Source: Photographs by Phillip Kalantzis-Cope).Fig. 14: (Source).