Choice of Types:
Since I teach the college composition class here at Onamia High School, I have the wonderful opportunity to teach my Comp I students seven different styles of writing. Although I have always had good intentions of creating examples, I have only done bits and pieces along the way to clarify issues students have had with the assignments. Since I always start with narrative writing and description writing, I thought this would be a good chance to try these styles and create mentor texts for my composition students. (Since I also use these styles of writing with both my eighth and my tenth graders, more focused practice on my part can only enhance my teachings to those students as well.)
Topics of Consideration:
Since I have already created assignments that I use with my composition students, I will work from those assignments to decide on my topics.
Narrative Assignment Example from Fall of 2014:
Description Assignment Example from Fall of 2014:
I have begun a mind-map on Mindomo to help me make a decision about my topic for a personal narrative. Please click HERE to see my working mind-map. (Please remember that it is a work in progress, so not all thoughts will be fully developed.) I am currently considering writing about one of the following: the car accident I was in as a child, my mom getting a new car, quitting basketball, becoming a teacher, my brother becoming a priest, getting married, not being able to have children, or the car accident I was in a few years ago.
For a description piece, I am would like to continue working on the piece I started in my writer's notebook on February 2nd, using Fletcher and Portalupi's (2007) Craft Lessons: Teaching Writing K-8. The craft lesson I focused that writing on was "Using Sensory Details" (p. 62). This lesson called for the use of imagery. I have already created prewriting and a brief descriptive narrative.
Mentor Texts:
Although fictional, I love the opening lines of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003). I would like to explore parroting Hosseini's words as a lead for a piece of writing. Hosseini wrote, "I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years" (p. 1). Hosseini does a masterful job of setting up the emotional connection to the protagonist with this opening paragraph, and then allows the reader to discover the character's true nature throughout the novel. I would like to work with creating emotional connection through mood, tone, and characterization.
One text that I use with my composition kids is 75 Readings: An Anthology by Buscemi and Smith (2004). This anthology is a compilation of famous essays written in eleven different styles. I will focus on the chapters dedicated to narration and descriptions. The essays that I use with my students include: Salvation, by Langston Hughes; Coming to an Awareness of Language, by Malcom X; The Death of the Moth, by Virginia Wolf; and Marrying Absurd, by Joan Didion.
Another text we use is Progressions: With Readings, by Barbara Fine Clouse (2005). Some mentor texts I have used from this book include: Goodbye, Hunting, by John Bowe; and A Link to the Living, by Patsy Garlan.
I am also looking at using On the Back of the Bus from Ralph Fletcher's Mentor Author, Mentor Texts (2011).
Craft Lesson Ideas:
I am currently looking at using the following craft lessons from the texts for this course:
from Georgia Heard's Finding the Heart of Nonfiction: Teaching 7 Essential Craft Tools with Mentor Texts (2013):
Writing with Focus (pp. 41-50)
- Asking Questions (p. 43)
- Finding Audience and Purpose (pp. 43-44)
- Distilling information into a six-word memoir (p. 45)
Writing with Imagery (pp. 51-59) and Precise Language (pp. 76-94)
- Turning facts into scenes (p. 59)
- Sensory Words (p. 77)
- Concrete Nouns and Active Verbs (pp. 80-81)
- Avoiding weak word construction (p. 82)
- Using Figurative Language (p. 85)
Leads (pp. 60-67) and Endings (pp. 103-107)
- Trying different leads (pp. 61-63)
- Trying different types of endings (pp. 104-105)
from Ralph Fletcher's Mentor Author, Mentor Texts (2011):
Memoir
- Recreating a disturbing incident (p.60)
- Layering to flesh out skimpy writing (p. 82)
from Ralph Fletcher and Joann Portalupi's Craft Lessons: Teaching Writing K-8 (2007):
Details and Imagery
- Using sensory details (p. 62)
- Using surprising imagery (p. 98)
Leads and Endings
- Crafting a lead (p. 77)
- Lessons on strong endings (pp. 81-84)
Setting
- Using details to describe setting (p. 43)
Voice
- Writing with Voice (p. 64)
- Creating a dramatic scene (p. 65)
I will narrow these down as I make more decisions about what precisely I will be writing for this portfolio.
Questions and Concerns:
The assignment seems pretty straight forward. I appreciate the added pocket for teaching; this will require me to look more closely at how I could use this material in the classroom. I am concerned about choosing to work in two different styles. Do you think that splitting my focus will make my final project less successful? Secondly, as I have chosen to focus on narrative and descriptive writing, will it be a problem that I am not researching material on any subjects, but rather the styles in which I have chosen to write?
The rubric seems clear except for the fact that I can't seem to figure out how the assignment is worth 120 points. I am not overly concerned as I have always felt that complete work will get a good grade, but I can only find reference to 60 points.
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