MultiGenre Memoir: The End

11-10-08

Workday, parent conferences. Students who come in love telling their parents about this project. I think I'll invite parents to come in for an "author celebration" or something. Students will present pieces of the finished project on Wednesday. I am excited, just after looking over the few projects I have. These students are the lowest-performing students at the school for one reason or another, and I say this lovingly. I think that they are quite capable; I never lower my expectations! But for those people who think that these types of projects only work with honors or AIG students--I just wanted you to know. Many of them were in summer school, have been retained, are in group homes, have been at the alternative school. I'm excited because they got excited! Of course there were some bumps, but everyone worked on these! I am going to work on a set of questions that will allow for student input on the project--what did they like, what didn't they like, what suggestions do they have, what are they proudest of, what was hardest for them, etc. Their responses help me do these projects better each time. Overall, YAY!!! This is the first time I've done this project on memoir rather than research. And it's the first time I've done it with 35 students.

11-11-08

Veteran's Day. I've typed a lot. WOW! Sorry. I'd like to find a way to upload the documents I used during this process. I will post again once I've graded the projects and gotten student reflections. I'd like to upload some examples. I need to finish setting up my school website, third time, new format. I hope that this blog and experience can be of some use to someone. I am so thankful to Appalachian State and Dr. Frye for introducing me to multigenre writing in her class for my masters. It might seem daunting, but this type of writing really will change your students. I feel that my students will continue to think about the choices authors make. They certainly understand the writing process. And English was fun! But hard work. NOTE TO SELF: Next time I do this, I do plan on wrestling my way into the computer lab! I know that bringing technology into this project is necessary for 21st century learners, and it will help me avoid the glitter problem! Also, Microsoft Publisher and Works will help guide students in the creation of their genres with the templates available.I also plan on doing another writing project like this after we finish Romeo and Juliet. This time, we will create a multigenre literary response to that text and Tears of a Tiger. I'll keep you posted.

NCSCOS Goals met:

(English I)1.01 Narrate personal experiences that offer an audience:scenes and incidents located effectively in time and place.vivid impressions of being in a setting and a sense of engagement in the events occurring.appreciation for the significance of the account.a sense of the narrator's personal voice.1.02 Respond reflectively (individually and in groups) to a variety of expressive texts (e.g., memoirs, vignettes, narratives, diaries, monologues, personal responses) in a way that offers an audience:an understanding of the student's personal reaction to the text.a sense of how the reaction results from a careful consideration of the text.an awareness of how personal and cultural influences affect the response.4.01 Evaluate the effectiveness of communication by: (When they helped design rubric and through the peer editing)examining the use of strategies in a presentation/product.applying a set of predetermined standards.creating an additional set of standards and applying them to the presentation/product.comparing effective strategies used in different presentations/products.4.02 Read and critique various genres by:using preparation, engagement, and reflection strategies appropriate for the text.identifying and using standards to evaluate aspects of the work or the work as a whole.judging the impact of different stylistic and literary devices on the work.5.01 Read and analyze various literary works by: (Through reading multigenre texts such as Tears of a Tiger and each other's pieces).using effective reading strategies for preparation, engagement, reflection.recognizing and analyzing the characteristics of literary genres, including fiction (e.g., myths, legends, short stories, novels), nonfiction (e.g., essays, biographies, autobiographies, historical documents), poetry (e.g., epics, sonnets, lyric poetry, ballads) and drama (e.g., tragedy, comedy).interpreting literary devices such as allusion, symbolism, figurative language, flashback, dramatic irony, dialogue, diction, and imagery.understanding the importance of tone, mood, diction, and style.explaining and interpreting archetypal characters, themes, settings.explaining how point of view is developed and its effect on literary texts.determining a character's traits from his/her actions, speech, appearance, or what others say about him or her.explaining how the writer creates character, setting, motif, theme, and other elements.making thematic connections among literary texts and media and contemporary issues.understanding the importance of cultural and historical impact on literary texts.producing creative responses that follow the conventions of a specific genre and using appropriate literary devices for that genre.5.02 Demonstrating increasing comprehension and ability to respond personally to texts by selecting and exploring a wide range of genres. (Through their own writings--remember, these projects were a response to the book Tears of a Tiger as students used that as their mentor-text when doing their own wriitng.)5.03 Demonstrate the ability to read, listen to and view a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print literacy texts appropriate to grade level and course literary focus, by:selecting, monitoring, and modifying as necessary reading strategies appropriate to readers' purpose.identifying and analyzing text components (such as organizational structures, story elements, organizational features) and evaluating their impact on the text.providing textual evidence to support understanding of and reader's response to text.demonstrating comprehension of main idea and supporting details.summarizing key events and/or points from text.making inferences, predicting, and drawing conclusions based on text.identifying and analyzing personal, social, historical or cultural influences, contexts, or biases.making connections between works, self and related topics.analyzing and evaluating the effects of author's craft and style.analyzing and evaluating the connections or relationships between and among ideas, concepts, characters and/or experiences.identifying and analyzing elements of literary environment found in text in light of purpose, audience, and context. (Again, this goal was achieved through reading their's and other's pieces and through the writing itself).Competency Goal 6 (Through mini-lessons and teacher and peer conferences)The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.6.01 Demonstrate an understanding of conventional written and spoken expression that:uses varying sentence types (e.g., simple, compound, complex, compound-complex) purposefully, correctly, and for specific effect.selects verb tense to show an appropriate sense of time.applies parts of speech to clarify and edit language.addresses clarity and style through such strategies as parallelism; appropriate coordination and subordination; variety and details; appropriate and exact words; and conciseness.analyzes the place and role of dialects and standard/nonstandard English.uses vocabulary strategies such as roots and affixes, word maps, and context clues to discern the meanings of words.6.02 Discern and correct errors in spoken and written English by:avoiding fragments, run-ons, and comma splices.selecting correct subject-verb agreement, consistent verb tense, and appropriate verbs.using and placing modifiers correctly.editing for spelling and mechanics (punctuation and capitalization).from http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/languagearts/scos/2004/27english1

PLEASE respond with your questions, responses, observations, success, failures, etc.