Learning Unit

LE Title:  Ghostwriters Anonymous

Author(s):  Karen Pelletier

Grade Level:  4 (Remedial for ELA)

School Address:  Owen D. Young Central School, P.O. Box 125, Van Hornesville, NY 13475.

Topic/Subject Area:  English Language Arts - Independent Short Story Writing

School Phone/Fax:  (315) 858-0729/ (315) 858-2019

Email:  pelletierk@aol.com

LEARNING CONTEXT

Purpose of Experience: 

The purpose of this experience is to help students understand how to construct their own short story from a pictorial prompt by hands on engagement in the writing and assessment process involved in producing an original piece in the correct format.  This is the same challenge presented by the Independent Writing Question posed by the Grade 4 ELA exam of the New York State Testing Program.

Connection to Standards:

ELA #1

Students will listen, speak, read and write for information and understanding.

-  This is ongoing throughout all stages of composition and peer review

ELA #2

Students will read and listen to texts (They will orally share their stories).

ELA #3

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation      

-  This is ongoing throughout the composition process.

ELA #4

Students will listen, speak, read and write for social interaction.

  -  Peer review process

Essential Question:

What is the proper format and process involved in producing an original short story?

Prerequisite Knowledge:

A basic understanding of the writing mechanics involved in sentence and paragraph construction.

Preparatory exposure to excellent and imaginative examples of the short story genre that are appropriate for this age level.  For example:  The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau by Jon Agee or The Sweetest Fig   by Chris Van Allsburg.

Declarative

Procedural

A good understanding of the 3 standard parts  of a short story.

The class will briefly review stories previously read and analyzed  together.

A good understanding of the logical sequence and contribution of each part of the short story.

Class will reassemble a brief short shory whose paragraphs have been scrambled paying careful attention to transitional terminology.

A thorough understanding of students’ role as ghostwriters as described in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg.

The mystery of Harris Burdick will be presented and discussed.

Understand and apply the criteria used in the writing rubric to the writing of original stories.

Use the rubric in the group peer review process and in editing final drafts.

PROCEDURE

(Chronologically ordered description of all teacher & student activities and interactions.)

Teacher and class will review the three main parts of a short story:  the beginning , the middle and the end.  Recalling stories previously read together, they will review these parts and the logical sequence in which each part builds  on those that come previous to it. (Story suggestions are included above).

Next students will read  three brief paragraphs from a story that have been cut out and jumbled from their original order.  Students will have a few minutes to reassemble the story in the correct order.  The teacher will review the parts  with the students and they will then agree on their final correct order after noting the use of key transitional words and phrases that serve as  important clues to the paragraph order.

Students will be introduced to a simply worded form of the state rubric used by  teachers to score the independent writing question on the state ELA exam and apply this in a group discussion to  one of the stories already reviewed.

The teacher will introduce the book   The Mysteries  of Harris Burdick  with a dramatic reading of the  introduction written by the author.  The teacher will then proceed to show the students one of the mysterious pictures complete with its title and caption explaining that each student will be ghostwriting the story that they believe should go with the picture.  The teacher may opt to enlarge and reproduce the picture with copying equipment or computer scan and project the picture onto the wall.  Students will be reminded to make sure to  include the criteria already discussed in their  stories.

The teacher will review the importance of brainstorming ideas and studying the details of the picture as students prepare to write and will circulate around the room, checking on student progress, as the writing occurs.

After each student  has written their first draft and shown it to the teacher for checking, students will be able to read them aloud to each other sharing feedback which will be used to write their final drafts.  The teacher will briefly note the highpoints of the feedback., moderating the discussion to  keep all remarks on a constructive level.  A fun option would be to make and provide popcorn for this “reviewing” time.

Students will edit their work and create a final copy for scoring.

INSTRUCTIONAL/ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATIONS

No special instructional or environmental modifications need to be made given that the classroom allows for the use of a projection unit. 

TIME REQUIRED

Two or three days depending on the teacher’s discretion in introducing the parts and allowing writing time.  The teacher may want to allow conferencing time after the writing of the first draft before they are read orally, especially  if several students need extra because they are receiving extra writing remediation.

RESOURCES

A copier with enlargement capability or a computer projection unit are recommended to visually manipulate the images students will be  using.

ASSESSMENT PLAN

(Include samples of rubrics, checklists, etc.)

The teacher and student will discuss the rough and final drafts , applying the simplified rubric to them.

STUDENT WORK

(Include samples of student work showing different levels of performance.)

An examination  of the student work generated will show the range of abilities involved and indicate where additional remediation is provided. 

REFLECTION

This experience was created to capture  the   imaginations  of students  who need to be able to write well but don’t ordinarily  enjoy  writing very much, specifically  to give them experience in creating original short stories.  Stories used  with the students were deliberately selected to engage them emotionally and provoke additional curiousity.  Initial results indicated where individual students could work on key components in their own writing.   For an additional writing experience, students were each given their own , specially selected  secret picture in a folder by the teacher and asked to write a story about the new picture.  When the new stories are finished , the students will again share them with the class and the class will guess from a slide show of the pictures which story matches each picture.