As part of my own development as a middle school Literacy Coach entering a second year in the role, I am examining the incredible genius that is Jennifer Serravallo. We purchased both titles for our Language Arts team, and I will be reentering the blog world by posting about a reading and writing strategy each week.
Our very first unit when we return in late August is a narrative writing unit partnered with reading and analyzing short stories. This first post looks at how to use Writing Strategy 3.37, "Defining Moments", and Reading Strategy 7.4, "What Can Characters Teach Us?". First, any time that we as literacy teachers can help students make connections between reading and writing, we ought to jump at it, so partnering these two strategies made a lot of sense to me. "Defining Moments" has students dig deep into their own life story, mining their life for moments or experiences in life that have impacted them. By encouraging students to see how the plot of their own lives has shaped who they are as young person, we can than explore "What Can Characters Teach Us?" while examining a mentor text. The strategy of "What Can Characters Teach Us?" focuses on having students think about the character's traits and wondering why the character might act a certain way, and then moving that to asking "what can this character teach me about life?" As student generate small moment stories from their own life, they can then begin to develop a character who comes alive, acts in response to that life, and ultimately comes away with an important message about life. In both strategies, the teacher questions drive students to think and make connections. They aren't just doing an assignment for a grade; they are analyzing and evaluating at a high level. Make sure to help them see that connection between their own writing, and the reading that they do.
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July 2018
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