Teacher: Mrs.

Rickert Class: English 11 Period: 3 Date: 10/18/2022

Lesson Title: Implementing Short Narrative into our Multi-Genre Papers

Frame the Lesson: Essential Skill Set:

This lesson will take place the first week of our Multigenre section of the unit, wherein we begin to SWBAT identify
explore what types of genres there are and how we might utilize them to convey the larger argument forms of narrative
within our multigenre papers. writing.

SWBAT identify the

purpose of using these
styles of writing,

SWBAT implement
this genre into their
multigenre papers.

Gather and Prepare:

I will need to gather one or two short stories and enough copies for each student in the class to have one if they wish. I will need to
prepare 4-5 examples of tweets and 4-5 100 word memoir examples. These examples will need to be accessible digitally for the
students. I will need to have highlighters and writing utensils for those that do not have them in preparation for the group
annotations.

Teach:
( Stand by the door and welcome students into the classroom)
Alright everybody, it is day three of focusing on new genres for our Multi-Genre project! If you remember, last Thursday we looked
at some written and slam poetry, Friday and over the weekend we tried our hands at commercial script writing- GREAT job by the
way, I’ve already started looking at them - and TODAY we are going to focus on narrative writing. When we think of narrative
writing what do we think of? (pause for an answer) Books! Novels! Stories! Yes! But obviously I’m not going to expect you to
write the next NY times bestseller within this hour so let's focus on some shorter examples that we could implement in our final
projects!
(Show the twitter logo on the board)
Who here has Twitter or been on Twitter? Does anyone mind describing to me what a tweet is? Right! It’s something that people
could consider “micro-blogging” wherein people use it to communicate something about their day, a thought they had, or news they
have heard. The catch is that it's very small at only 140 characters long… Why would the creators do that? What if I have a
REALLY good story to say, how can I share it on twitter if I can only use 140 characters? (pause for any responses) Well for one
thing, it keeps us writers concise. Who here has found themselves not reading a book or homework… because the author would just
not get to the point! I know I have. When we write, specifically when we try to make an argument, we want to be clear and concise.
We want people to understand exactly what we mean, and you don’t need much to do that. Let's look at some examples:
( Show Examples of tweets on board. Tweets range from funny to serious in nature, slowly getting more applicable to how they
might want to use them in their multigenre papers.)

What do you notice about these tweets and how they are written?

(Brief discussion)
Okay now let's think bigger! Does anyone know what a 100 word memoir is? Well, it’s what it sounds like really… except they

From Jim Burke, 50 Essential Lessons. PDF of this template here. Sample lesson using this template here.
don’t have to be memoirs they can be a narrative of any kind so long as it's only 100 words. This form of writing is a great way to
convey one important moment or experience in time. Let's look at some example from the NY times 100 word narrative contest-

Show examples: https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/teaching-with-tiny-love-stories-pdf/753c41721cde1b10/full.pdf

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/25-mentor-texts-tiny-love-stories-series/4d4838db47de7266/full.pdf

( As you go about reading a few of these examples aloud, ask guiding questions about how storytelling elements like conflict,
characters, setting, dialogue, voice and dramatic art show up even in this miniature form of storytelling.

In groups have students discuss the following questions and write some of their collective answers down to share later: “Which of
those stories interest me most? Why? What do I notice about them? What makes them different from longer narratives?”

As a class, reconvene and create a running list of their observations and the elements that make a 100 word narrative successful and
why.
Go back and revisit one of the memoirs that stood out to the students and annotate together as a class. Students use the highlighters
provided. Focus on pointing out the elements that they listed on the board.)

(Have students self-select which group they wish to work on 100 word narratives or tweets. There should be a few groups of each.
( The idea is to get students within their zone of proximal development, therefore, if students choose something a tweet and you feel
they could be pushed further, maybe do so.) Have the students write their own 100 word narrative or tweet within their group and
explain the moves they made when trying to write them. Groups that create tweets must do two. The teacher should set the
expectation that each group should be willing to share their ideas aloud- (though you may not have time for them all).

During this group time, the teacher should be walking around and helping students think critically about the moves they are making
and how that may translate into their multi genre project.

If time allows: Alright let’s go one step further and focus on short stories. Here I have a short story by (TBD) that we are going to
listen to. As you listen, follow along with the text and begin to think of how some of the elements we just worked on with 100 word
memoirs show up and whether or not they are more successful in a longer story.
(Play audio of the short story. Annotate the story as the students do.)

Conclude: Earlier in the unit we discussed how some writers tell stories, either true or fictitious, to appeal to their audience’s
emotions and support their argument. This is one tactic of persuasive writing that will be immensely useful to you as you begin
creating your multigenre projects. The three forms of short narrative we discussed today are a great way of adding storytelling into
your projects and it is a genre I highly suggest that you use in some capacity or another. As an exit slip for today’s class I ask that
you write down some ideas of how you could use one of these styles in your final project. This is not a binding contract, I just
simply want to see evidence that you are thinking about how to move forward in your writing process.

Assess and Extend: Notes:

Assess: The assessment in this lesson is predominantly informal, mostly appearing in the form of teacher
observations and student responses to large and small group discussions. Students are asked to develop
their own examples as well as annotate. The product they show can be used as an indicator for
understanding. They are asked to apply what they learned from the lesson to their own projects in an exit
slip. This exit slip will help the teacher gauge understanding.
Extend: This lesson is scaffolded to build on students’ preexisting knowledge of what a narrative means
and how they encounter it in their lives. The styles taught throughout this lesson become progressively
more complex which is why in practicing creating examples, students have the opportunity to choose the
style that matches their writing proficiency level. Students also have the choice of working with or
without partners/small groups for the majority of the lesson. The content of the lesson is provided both
through models and demonstrations by the teacher and also by examples and observations of their peers.
The students have the opportunity to verbally demonstrate their understanding of the content as well as
show it on paper. The students who excel at this area may be pushed to writing larger narratives for their
multi-genre project.