A brief guide to engaging students in narrative writing by having them program robots to act out their stories.

A story with all action and not enough reflection sounds childish and lacks depth. But a story that is all reflective thoughts and emotions can bore a reader and run the risk of not teling a story at all. Today’s mini move will help us think about the see-sawing effect of balancing actions with thoughts and emotions so that our story has the perfect amount of both!

In this lesson, students explore how writers use sensory imagery as a literary device to make text more meaningful for the reader. They begin by using all of their senses to describe known objects such as pasta, chocolate, or grapes. Students first feel and listen to the object, in a bag, before then taking it out of the bag to look at, smell, and taste it. They then use at least three senses to write a poem about the object they've described. Next, they evaluate how this literary device functions in Pat Mora's poem “Echoes.” As students read this poem, they look for sensory images and write an explanation of how these images contribute to the meaning of Mora's poem. Finally, students think about how sensory images work in their own poems and then make appropriate revisions to their work.

This is a lesson plan to end a unit on Narrative.  During the unit, students came up with a time in their lives that was significant ("a defining moment") and will tell their stories digitally -- through a photo journal using Google docs. The lesson is a remix of Google's Applied Digital Skills lesson "Create a Photo in Google Docs".  

Students learn about memory by doing a memory-writing exercise, studying the brain to understand how it affects memory, reading Li-Young Lee's poem "Mnemonic," and creating projects to demonstrate their understanding.

Through haiku, students learn to slow down and become mindful of their natural surroundings, enabling them to capture experiences vividly through description. In this unit, students read and listen to examples of haiku, and learn about the history and structure behind this Japanese poetic form. They engage in both outdoor and classroom activities that encourage mindfulness and the exploration of sensory imagery. After writing, illustrating, and pairing their haiku with instrumental music, students collaborate with classmates in creating movements to their poems. The final project is a student compilation of choreographed haiku performances put to movement and music.

Often the difference between a drab, lifeless personal narrative and an engaging, lively one is the use of concrete details. In this video, we will learn about how concrete details help us take the guesswork out of reading our narrative while showing our unique voice and perspective.

Each Mini Moves for Writers video teaches you how to use one professional writing move that will enhance your writing style|argumentation|voice|grammar|or organization. Check out just one to help you master a specific move|or watch multiple videos to make your writing into a professional masterpiece.

 This speech therapy lesson focuses on building a personal narrative of something that is special about the student themselves, in order to help students build expressive language skills and vocabulary skills, as well as create a personal digital storytelling video to showcase to others. Students will complete a digital story using their school chromebook devices. The face-to-face instructions/lesson of vocabulary and sentence starter examples will take two 25-minute speech therapy sessions. The students will be given time to work on their projects during a third and fourth 25-minute speech therapy session. An additional session will be reserved for students to share their projects in a small group. This lesson plan is designed for middle school to high school grade levels. 

Students will have the opportunity to write a personal narrative which they will turn into a storyboard to make a digial story. Image citation: https://unsplash.com/photos/Z5JJifMtbCo

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Beginning any piece of writing is a challenge, but it is particularly harrowing to begin a personal essay. Many writers use the same strategy: a scene drop. In this video, we’ll look at three mentor texts in which writers use the strategy of dropping readers directly into the thick of the story with pairs of actions. It’s a no-fail way to engage your reader and kick off your personal statement.