Introducing “Voice” to First Grade Students

1. Introducing “Voice” to First Grade Students Instruction That Promotes the Discovery of Voice in Art and Literature By: Shelley Nicholson

2. Children have stories to tell! Tom Romano, in his book Crafting Authentic Voice encourages us to “Let students choose their own topics, and they will write from a core of knowledge that gives their writing authority and voice.”

3. Modeling • “The morning I visited Mindy Bauer’s first graders in Mason, Ohio, my job was to demonstrate to the children how I write. They gathered on the carpet in front of me, and I listed on the board some topics I care about.” • “I chose one, brainstormed information that came to mind, and began to write. Through every step of my writing process, I talked about what I was thinking and why I was doing what I was doing.” Taken from Tom Romano, Crafting Authentic Voice, page 45.

4. The Fun of Fearless Writing After Tom demonstrated a writing process, he noted that the first graders “dived into their topic, choosing and writing.” At the end, he noted triumphantly that they “were fearless.”

5. The Hook As a master storyteller, Tom Romano tells us about Olivia’s writing. It is a tale that captivates and created in me a hunger to fashion a classroom where this sort of thing happens… a lot!

6. “Olivia was one of the children with a hot topic.” Tom copied her writing into standard English as she read it to him. “I know a lot about molecules. A molecule is a little thing that’s made out of atoms. They are everywhere. Even you are made out of molecules. Everything you see is made out of molecules. Even the universe is made out of molecules.”

7. The Bear That Heard Cryingby Natalie Kinsey-Warnock and Helen Kinsey • True story • About a little girl close to my students’ age • Plot developed through action carried by the “voices” of the characters

8. Introducing Narrative with The Bear That Heard Crying • Read the authors’ forward and the first three pages. • Ask questions to develop the concept of people telling their own stories. • Tie this in with previous explorations into our own stories.

9. “Voice underlies every part of the writing process. To ignore voice is to present the process as a lifeless, mechanical act. Divorcing voice from process is like omitting salt from stew, love from sex, or sun from gardening…” Moving into“Voice” with Don Graves VOICE

10. Responding to Art:An activity for introducing voice • Compile three pieces of student artwork that use different media, use of color, style, subject matter, etc. • Discuss artwork, brainstorm, and use compare and contrast to “describe” the artist who created each piece-thereby identifying these students’ “voice.” • Provide chart paper and markers-children draw the kind of person they “saw” and “heard” as we responded to each child’s art.

11. “The voice shows how I choose information, organize it, select the words, all in relation to what I want to say and how I want to say it. The reader says, ‘Someone is here. I know that person. I’ve been there, too.’” Don Graves, Teacher, Writer, Researcher More on“Voice” by Don Graves

12. Using activities from Vicki Spandell’s book regarding the teaching of voice. • Reading aloud • Writing Letters • Identifying the “best voice for an audience • Describing and comparing voices • Responding to art

13. Describing and Comparing Voices • The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems • Without You by Sarah Weeks (Two very different books with clearly delineated, easily contrasted “voice”.)

14. Going On • Ralph Fletcher and Joan Portalupi included a Discussion and a How To on “Voice” in their book, Craft Lessons – Teaching Writing K-8 The texts they recommend provide extensions from this lesson into new ways to discover and celebrate “Voice.” • I’ll Fix Anthony by Judith Viorst • The Friend by John Burningham • My Five Senses by Aliki

15. Peter Elbow “Everyone, however inexperienced or unskilled, has real voice available; everyone can write with power. Even though it may take some people a long time before they can write well about certain complicated topics or write in certain formal styles, and even though it will take some people a long time before they can write without mistakes in spelling and usage, nevertheless, nothing stops anyone from writing words that will make readers listen and be affected.”

16. Last Activity – Just for Fun! • Provide an individual package of “Teddy Grahams” to each student and instruct them to give the Teddy Bears “voice” before they eat them. • Have Fun! Celebrate!