ALEX Learning Activity

  

Narrative Writing - Revision Boot Camp

A Learning Activity is a strategy a teacher chooses to actively engage students in learning a concept or skill using a digital tool/resource.

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  This learning activity provided by:  
Author: Candice Richardson
System:Boaz City
School:Boaz Middle School
  General Activity Information  
Activity ID: 2275
Title:
Narrative Writing - Revision Boot Camp
Digital Tool/Resource:
Narrative Writing - Revision Boot Camp - Interactive Google Slide
Web Address – URL:
Overview:

This learning activity should be used as an after activity to help students improve their ability to write and revise their own narrative writing. The students will work in pairs to review a close reading of an excerpt from The Giver.  They will use the excerpt to analyze and learn from the choices the writer made. The excerpt is designed to teach students to control their narratives by focusing on a specific scene's point of view, beginning, middle, and end.  It also emphasizes the use of imagery, figurative language, dialogue, characterization, setting, and action verbs by exploring the author's use of each of these.  Although this learning activity uses an excerpt from The Giver, it could easily be modified to teach any type of narrative writing by giving the students an excerpt of a novel and letting them annotate the excerpt. This learning activity could be paired with any or all of these learning activities found on ALEX - "What Makes a Hero?", "My Hero's Journey Book Proposal," and "My Hero's Journey Narrative." 

 

This activity is a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit
  Associated Standards and Objectives  
Content Standard(s):
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 7
3. Explain how the author's choice of setting, plot, characters, theme, conflict, dialogue, and point of view contribute to and/or enhance the meaning and purpose of prose and poetry, using textual evidence from the writing.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
3.
  • Setting
  • Plot
  • Characters
  • Theme
  • Conflict
  • Dialogue
  • Point of view
  • Author's purpose
  • Prose
  • Poetry
  • Textual evidence
Knowledge:
3. Students know:
  • Authors of prose and poetry use literary elements, such as setting, plot, characters, theme, conflict, dialogue, and point of view, throughout a text to develop and/or enhance the meaning of the text.
  • An author's use of literary elements can indicate the author's purpose for writing the text.
  • Poetry is a genre of text that uses distinctive style and rhythm to aid in the expression of feelings, while prose is written in ordinary language.
  • Analysis of a text should be supported with text evidence from the writing.
Skills:
3. Students are able to:
  • Identify the setting, plot, characters, theme, conflict, dialogue, and point of view in prose and poetry.
  • Explain how literary elements contribute to and/or enhance the meaning and purpose of prose and poetry.
  • Support their explanations of literary elements with textual evidence.
Understanding:
3. Students understand that:
  • Prose and poetry contain common literary elements, such as setting, plot, characters, theme, conflict, dialogue, and point of view.
  • Literary elements contribute to and/or enhance the meaning and purpose of poetry and prose.
  • When they analyze a text, they should include text evidence to support their claims.
Learning Objectives:

The students will determine a central idea of an excerpt from The Giver and analyze the development over the course of the text.
  Strategies, Preparations and Variations  
Phase:
After/Explain/Elaborate
Activity:

  1. The students will work in pairs to complete a close reading of an excerpt from The Giver.

  2. The teacher will ensure each group of students has an electronic device.

  3. The student will use What Good Writers Do to answer questions and annotate a copy of The Giver.  This will help students determine a central idea of the text of The Giver and analyze the development over the course of the text. 

  4. The students will have access to the suggested answers to check their understanding as they go.

  5. Finally, the students will share their learning and direct the teacher's next steps using an exit slip.  
Assessment Strategies:

The teacher will use the exit slip to measure the students' understanding.
Advanced Preparation:

The teacher will need to prepare the following items in advance of the lesson:

  • Divide the class into groups of 2

  • Arrange to have electronic devices if a classroom set is not available

  • Copies of the excerpt of The Giver

  • Students should already be familiar with the academic vocabulary: show not tell, point of view, setting, characterization, dialogue, imagery, figurative language, and action verbs.

 

 
Variation Tips (optional):

Depending on the levels and work ethics of the students, the teacher may want to disable the suggested answer links.

 

 

 
Notes or Recommendations (optional):

This activity could be combined with these learning activities:
  Keywords and Search Tags  
Keywords and Search Tags: editing, narrative, narrative writing, publishing, revising, revision, showing not telling, the giver