Description of Context:

In the State of North Carolina I will be teaching under the Common Core State
Standards. Specifically under the Essential English Language Arts Writing Standard 6.3. This
standard states, write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. It will be
taught in the Wake County Public School District. This district involves a diverse population of
students. Specifically at East Cary Middle School where students go to school year round. East
Cary Middle is fortunate enough to have various instructional needs at their fingertips including
interactive white boards, Engineering Design Process, multi-media presentation applications,
online math and reading tools, blogs and wikis, video-conferencing, and presentation equipment.
The teachers use this to provide a variety of instructional teaching methods including socratic
seminars, hands-on learning, problem-based learning, project based learning, manipulatives,
cooperative and collaborative learning. Although Cary is a largely populated school with ___
people, East Cary Middle offers a small overall population. The teachers are allotted 50 minutes
for each core subject. East Carys English Language Arts Curriculum statement states that, the
ultimate purpose of the English Language Arts curriculum is to teach students the language
abilities they need to communicate effectively as individuals and as contributing members of
society. It is a spiraling curriculum in the sense that many of the same skills develop over time.
The Cary area has a wide demographic of races including Hispanic, so you may run into
problems with English Language Learners and their basic knowledge of not only English but of
writing.

Time Line
Monday- The introduction to short story narrative writing. An outline or guideline of what
should go into a short story. The children will get to start on a narrative and develop an outline
for a short story.
Tuesday- Character development. Working in how to develop a character and what it does to
your story. The students will independently get to develop a character and evaluate each others
characters.
Wednesday- Dialog. The students will work on how to create dialogs based on comic strips.
They will be creating their own comic strip and dialog based off the comic strip.
Thursday- Mini Lesson on hooks. This will be a mini lesson on how to create a hook to bring in
readers. They will create a hook with a group based on a prompt they are given. Then they will
work on their drafts independently.
Friday- Transition Words. The students will create a foldable to refer back to on transition words.
For homework they will have to tell a story using picture and transition words of something they
do. For example make a sandwich, how to tie their shoes, or how to write a letter.
Monday- Descriptive Details. Have them create a story out of a prompt You are an alien who
has landed in a deserted forest.. On the ground is a single, lonely UFO your task is to describe
this UFO. Remember, you have never seen or heard of Hersheys kisses before! Writing using
descriptive language.
Tuesday Final Conclusion. Now that its time to finish up the draft and write the final
conclusion. Show them an example of a conclusion. Remind them that the paper is due
tomorrow.
Wednesday- Final Draft is due.

Students Entry Level:

Up to this point in my classroom students should know how to write a text of types and
purposes, Arguementive writing to be exact. With this type of writing they should be able to pick
a side and support it with a claim, back it up with reasoning and evidence. They should also be
able to write an informative or explanatory text. They should be able to organize ideas or
information using different strategies such as cause/effect, comparison/contrast, and definition.
They should be able to include charts or graphs to go along with their arguments. By now the
students should know exactly how to write a formal five paragraph paper. Thats something that
could come up as a problem in this unit. It could be difficult for the students to drift away from
the standard and write something that requires their information. To help the students break away
from this I plan on doing as many in class activities to spark their imagination as possible.
Activities like comic book strips, coming up with how to instructions, and writing about
narrative prompts. They have already been taught how to conclude a paper, so that is something
that should be strong in their final draft.

Rational:
The task that I am assigning is a narrative short story. The students will have the option of
picking a rubric that I choose or coming up with a narrative short story of their own. They will
do this by using an outline, an interesting hook, transition words, descriptive details, dialog, and
a strong conclusion. This will be to fulfil the essential standard, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3:
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique,
relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. This is designed for the student
to drift away from the standard five paragraph essay and write something that comes from
creativity. The approach I have taken to teach this is by teaching the aspects that expect to be in
the paper. I plan on doing this by teaching six 50 minute lessons and one mini lesson. I have a
wide variety of individual work through working on the essay in class. I also have a lot of group
or pared work at the end of each lesson. This is to make sure that the students can help each other
and collaborate together. The individual work is to make sure they are fully grasping the concept.
The students also have a peer review to make sure that they can evaluate and also see example of
what they could be doing with their work. The students also have the option to have a conference
with me inside of class after a mini lesson or they can work on their paper. The students will be
clear on what they need for their final paper, because at the end of each lesson I will state what it
is I will be looking for.

How familiar are students with the specific form and conventions associated with the
particular kind of composition/writing and the particular community of readers? What
experiences will allow the students to express a quality standard for the kind if composition
they will attempt to produce?
The students are familiar with the essay style form from previous writing experiences including
arguementive and informational writing. They have written narratives in their day books by free
writing. They will be able to create the narrative through practice on the elements that are
required to be in the paper. They will have time inside of class and outside of class to work on
the final draft. First they will start with a simple paragraph narrative on a story I started for them.
This gives students guidance, but also allows them to run with their creativity. They will then
critique that narrative throughout the unit by embellishing the rough draft with each lesson.
How prepared are students to produce the kind of text they will attempt to compose? In
other words, how ready are they to tell, define, analyze, select, interview, argue, edit, or any
other relevant thinking structure associated with the composition effort? How can you
structure experiences so that learners immerse themselves in the relevant processes and
reflect on what they have done?
They will be able to reflect on what they have done by keeping the process of their papers in
their day books. They will start out with a simple idea and it will develop into a complex paper.
Being able to see their initial idea develop using descriptive language, sequencing, and character
development.
Is it Likely that students know something about the subject of their composition? If not
what experiences will help learners access relevant information?
The students will need to pull from personal experiences and their imagination to be able to
create an interesting narrative. They will also need to pull knowledge from book or narratives
from books they have read in the past to be able to create and edit an interesting narrative.

Can students readily access and sort the information they already have? If students already
know a lot about a topic or problem, do they have the means to search, so and assess what
they already know?
Yes, the students will have handouts to reflect on and look back to see if they have the criteria
they need. Students will also have the means to research descriptive words and ideas though the
internet.
What toolsclassroom computers, internet access, projection screens, photocopiers,
cameras, etc.does the school provide for accessing and distributing material? What
materials are available for the activities? What considerations affect their selection (cost,
availability, labor involved, other constraints)?

I will need a projection screen and internet access along with tablets or computers. At least one
for every two students. There may be constraints on how many computers are available. So we
could look things up together as a class. I will also need markers, scissors, paper, and pencils.
Supplies that are already in the classroom.
What sequences of activities will help students proceed from the accessible materials and
challenges to more complex tasks of the same type?
Starting from an idea in their day books to developing a story line, to adding characters,
sequencing, and descriptive words. The materials will help them find ideas for their paper. It will
also help them create material that helps them refer back to what they need to have in their paper.
How much instructional time is available for activities the teach students how to engage in
task-related thinking and writing?
50 minutes will be allotted to teach the entire lesson. Spending 20-25 minutes teaching and the
rest letting the students apply what they have learned. For the mini lesson 15-20 minutes are
allowed for teaching, while the rest of the class will be devoted to working on the paper and
student/teacher review.
What is the appropriate balance and sequence of individual, small group, and whole-class
instructional settings?
I will start each lesson by sparking a thought in the students head. This gives them individual
time to think. Then I will teach the lesson and they will have a group or paired activity. We will
come back together to wrap the class up. They also have individual work for homework.
In what ways does the instruction fit in with the parameters and requirements of the
broader curriculum?
Each lesson is paired with a clarifying object making sure that the requirement is met for the
standards. All of them under the North Carolina standard essential standard for 6th grade narrative
writing. The activities are designed to have the students engage into the material and be taught
the curriculum through practice and activity.