Writing a narrative using elements of a story

Name: Danielle Pukansky

Background to the Lesson

English proficiency levels of all ELs in the classroom or group being taught: All the students are
at level 3 or 4 as determined by ACCESS and have LEP.
Home languages of the ELs in the classroom or group being taught: All students speak Spanish
as their home language.
Grade: 3rd
Standards: (CCSS: W.3.3) Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events
using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
(WIDA Standards) [ELD Standard 2: The Language of Language Arts, writing, Level 3
MPI (attached to lesson plan)
Preparation
Content Objectives: Students will be able to write a narrative after reading My Name is Sangoel
using a template.

Language Objectives (MPI): Students will be able to write a narrative with a template after
reviewing elements of a story.
Materials:
My Name is Sangoel by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed
Sticky notes
Document Camera
Smart Board
Markers or Colored Pencils

New Academic Vocabulary:

Narrative

Action

Refugee

Barbed Wire

Setting

Conflict

Characters

Resolution

Cultural Content:
My Name is Sangoel by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed is a story of a young boy
from Sudan that has been forced to flee after his father was killed in the war. He is sent to a
refugee camp and then to America with his mother and little sister. There, he is introduced to
many new things and people have a hard time pronouncing his name correctly; his name tied him
to his Dinka tribe and his heritage. His mother suggested changing his name, but instead he
created a shirt that shows his name in symbols. This will tie into the previous lesson in which we
talked about where we came from and our heritage. We can discuss the origin of our names and
what they mean in other languages.
Building Background
After completing our first lesson, I will discuss with students that just like how people had to
leave their home countries to come to America back then, people are leaving their countries now
because they are scared due to war and other factors. People that leave their homes now are
called refugees, they run away from their own country and must live in camps. Many people are
now telling their stories about what it is like to live that way.
I will then introduce and discuss the new vocabulary that students will need to understand
the story. We will then read My name is Sangoel by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra
Mohammed. After reading this text, we will have a quick (no longer than 5 minute) discussion
centered around the question:
How does this text compare with other texts we have read such as This is Me?
Type of Interaction: Higher Order Question
Presentation
1. I will start by stating the content and lesson objectives to all the students, they are also
written on the board in language they can understand.

2. We will discuss what students know about elements of a story and I will call on students
to come and write the ones that they know on the board.
3. For all the words that they do not know, I will write the word on the board and provide
them with the definition.
4. After all the words (setting, characters, conflict, resolution) have been written on the
board, I will prompt the students to say the word and have the students write the word to
practice its spelling.
5. We will then talk about things like how to introduce characters and where setting belongs
within a story.
6. After discussing the elements of a story, I will model an example of a story about going
to a new school for the first time and what that would look and feel like.
7. I will also model complex and complete sentences.
8. As I am reading the story, I will be pointing out the elements of the story we just
discussed.
Type of Interaction: Reviewing content vocabulary.
Applied Practice
1. I will give each table group (or partner pair depending on the size of the class) a template
of the story that they will be creating. (attatched)
2. Then, using a number off system, each student in the group will be given an element of
the story that they are either in charge of creating, or making sure that it is there.
3. Students will be given time to brainstorm and write their story on a sheet of paper.
4. After they have written their story, each student must underline their story element in a
specific color in marker or colored pencil.
Type of Interaction: Creation of Narrative Story
Review and Assessment
1. I will review the content and lesson objectives to all students, they are also written on the
board in language they can understand.
2. The next day, students will get a few minutes to review their story that has now been
typed up in their groups.

3. I will encourage them to look at their sentences and make sure there is a mixture of
complex sentences, and discuss the idea of a complex or compound sentence like how we
talked about them in the previous lesson.
4. They will edit what they have written to look for spelling mistakes, and make sure that
they have all of the elements of a story we discussed as a class.
5. Students will then present their stories aloud to the class.
6. I will be listening for a mixture of sentences and their oral output.
Template
Once Upon a Time, there was a (boy/girl) named _________________ That had to
move to a new place _____(name the place)____________________ they felt very
____________________________________________________ about having to leave
her old home and come to this new one. There was just one problem about having to
move
________________________________________________________________________
_____(Here is the conflict of the story. You will tell the readers your problem). Then,
__________________(Tell your readers the resolution of the story) And everyone
lived happily ever after. The End.
Reflection
The SIOP model has many components, the components are listed below as follows:
Lesson Preparation: Determining standards and objectives for the day
o The first days standards (CCSS.ELA.W.3.2) Write informative/explanatory texts
to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly and WIDA Standards
ELD Standard 2: The Language of Language Arts, writing, Level 4. For day 2, the
standards are CCSS W.3.3- Write narratives to develop real or imagined
experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear
event sequences and WIDA ELD Standard 2: The Language of Language Arts,
writing, Level 4
o The objectives that I created correspond to the standards so that students are
actively working towards mastery of the English Language. Day one Objectives:
Content Objectives: Students will be able to decide which 5 items they would
bring with them if they had to suddenly leave their homes and go back to the
country they emigrated from and write a paragraph about it. Language Objectives
(MPI): Students will be able to write and orally share a paragraph about some of

their favorite items and where their families came from after reading This is Me
and seeing a sample presentation from the teacher. Day two objectives: Content
Objectives: Students will be able to write a narrative after reading My Name is
Sangoel using a template. Language Objectives (MPI): Students will be able to
write a narrative with a template after reviewing elements of a story.
Building Background: Connecting students to todays topic, previous learning, and
building new academic vocabulary.
o During the lesson on day one, we utilized our background knowledge we had of
immigration to brainstorm a list of ways that people might have to leave their
country. We also talked about items that are near and dear to us that we would
rather not be without. This method had students connecting to these different
people and cultures by envisioning themselves there. In the next lesson, we talked
again about having to leave home and those feelings, but also the way that a story
is being told by these people being forced to leave. Most of our building
background was done in the forms of discussion, this way all students had the
ability to put in their opinion and I was able to keep track of which students could
be falling behind.
Strategies: Using tools to teach the information
o As a class, we used graphic organizers, books, visuals, templates, and rubrics that
were created together.
Comprehensible Input: Making information understandable.
o These lessons were comprehensible because we used a lot of visuals and books.
There were graphic organizers that were created as a class, and everything was
modeled by the teacher.
Interaction: Students work with and interact with peers.
o Students work together by creating a presenting a story. They also share their
paragraph with the class and have to ask their peers questions about the items that
they would want to take or ask more about their family.