Personal Narratives Why do we write?

1. Personal NarrativesWhy do we write? Mary Lou Ohnsman West Oakview Elementary School – Third Grade Teacher Northview Public Schools - Grand Rapids Michigan mohnsman@nvps.net

2. Why do we write…personal narratives? Why do we write? • To reflect • To remember • To share • To process • Frank Kafka, novelist, said “Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself.” • Catherine Drinker Bowen, biographer, said “Writing, I think, is not apart from living. Writing is a kind of double living. The writer experiences everything twice. Once in reality and once in that mirror which waits always before and behind.” • Henry Miller, novelist, said “Writing is its own reward.” • We write in isolation… writing is an alone job.

3. My question: What to do with 50+ journals? A personal narrative is not a diary: “Today it is raining. We have a substitute teacher. She seems very nice. We are going to have gym right before lunch.” It’s not a reading journal in which your teacher tells you to summarize the main idea of a book, or write a letter to a character. A writer’s notebook is different from any journal you’ve ever kept before. ~Ralph Fletcher A Writer’s Notebook

4. What is a Personal Narrative? • A personal narrative is a story about something that has happened to YOU. It can't be about someone you know. A personal narrative has to be at least 5 paragraphs long. It is usually about something good that has happened to the person. However, it can be about anything that has happened to you. • Personal narratives allow you to share your life with others and vicariously experience the things that happen around you. Your job as a writer is to put the reader in the midst of the action letting him or her live through an experience.

5. What I know by heart is what matters most. Katie Wood Ray Write what’s in your heart, write the truth. Georgia Heard There is another quality of good writing that matters tremendously: significance. Teach students to write stories that matter to them. Lucy Calkins

6. * Grade Level Content Expectations *National Core Curriculum *Northview Curriculum Map for Third Grade *October MEAP *District writing prompt

7. National Core Curriculum and MEAP Narrative Writing Rubric

8. How does a Third Grader Write? Writer’s Workshop - 60 minutes CAFÉ – Work on Writing – 15 minutes • Daily Writing in Journal Week 1 & 2 – routine and expectations Week 3 – Begin focus-lessons: • Six Traits of Writing • Writing Process • Lucy Calkins lesson “What are you working on as a writer?” **************************** DAILY CAFÉ - Work on Writing Monday - select a story from journal Tuesday – self-edit and peer-edit Wednesday – work on final copy Thursday – title, illustration & turn in Friday – Writers’ Celebration

9. These will not go away… Writing Process Traits of Good Writing

10. Where do ideas come from?

11. Teach a Calkins Strategy Make a list of favorite: PeoplePlacesThings My List of Favorite Places: The Rockford Dam Lake Michigan My front porch My back yard Bike trail

12. Zoom in…

13. The jar…they want to know more about the jar! I hadn’t thought about the jar of marbles for quite some time… The Jar …and it made me realize… Pretty marbles Near my jars of Lake Michigan rocks and polished sea glass Smuckers jar brings back memories …I am ready to write!

14. The Power of the Interview. You know what you are thinking and writing…but when someone listens to you, and “interviews” you, you realize you have many details to add! Write a quick write about one of your favorite object (from your list) Read it out loud to a neighbor. Neighbor asks questions for further understanding. Thank your neighbor then reverse the above procedure! 

15. Product or Process…

19. September 2010A Fall Walk on the Nature Trail Growing Green Writers…

20. They arrive looking (and writing) like second graders

21. December 2010 – A Winter Walk on the Nature Trail The earth is changing and so are the amazing group of third graders at West Oakview School!

22. Growing Third Graders

23. Length is part of the process but not the focus…

24. April 2011 – A Spring Walk to the Nature Trail We are heading into the end of the school year and some of the students are starting to check out especially as the weather begins to get nicer. At this point in the year, there are several students I am highly concerned about and I really push the 1-1 time with them! Most of the other students are showing significant progress in their independent writing!

25. Fourth grade student has blossomed into a writer… Teach the process, add the heart (or significance) and the product will emerge!

26. June 2011 – One more walk to the nature trail – Yeah! We made it! Changes on the surface of the earth and within the lives of 23 amazing students. Each student received a copy of each of the walks and wrote about what their memory was. I tell my students “Write it down, add a lot of details; otherwise, you will forget!”

27. Why do I write? I write for inside me is much to say, too much for me to think alone.

28. Reflection Questions1. What strategy presented today do you see yourself using in your classroom? How do you motivate passion for writing in your students?2. Is there a writing strategy you currently use that helps your students create greater details on their own to provide a more significant personal narrative? 3. Reflect on our chosen t-shirt logo and how you will explain it to others: Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. ~ Ben Franklin

29. Resources • Boushey, Gail and Moser, Joan The CAFÉ Book Stenhouse Publishers, 2009 • Calkins, Lucy Launching the Writing Workshop . Heinemann Publishing Co., 2006 • Fletcher, Ralph A Writer’s Notebook – Unlocking the Writer Within You. HarperTrophy Publisher, 1996 • Heard, Georgia. Writing Toward Home – Tales and Lessons to Find Your Way. Heineman Publishing Co., 1995. • Ray, Katie Wood What You Know by Heart – How to Develop Curriculum for Your Writing Workshop. Heineman Publishing Co.,2002