Learn to write a narrative essay by identifying the differences between descriptive and narrative essays, knowing the difference between autobiographical and biographical narratives, recognizing the structure of narratives, and identifying and stressing the importance of personal growth in a narrative essay.

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In this lesson, students will study examples of treasure maps and make a list of features and symbols. They will use their imaginations to create their own treasure maps and compose narratives to describe them.

In this lesson, students imagine their dream destination spots and sketch them. They use basic watercolor painting techniques to paint their images and follow this by writing descriptions. In groups, they then compile a sequential narrative story with all their images.

In this lesson, students will generate unique fantasy drawings that utilize perspective and create the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface. Deriving inspiration from the American painter and illustrator N.C. Wyeth's The Giant, students will imagine and create a world when a giant has come to visit their town! They will serve as the authors and the artists of their own creative stories while employing artistic strategies and techniques from the High Italian Renaissance.

Adding sensory languages makes your writing so good you can see, hear, smell, taste and touch it. This lesson will show you how to use descriptive sensory language in order to develop and capture the experiences and characters in a narrative.

In this lesson, students develop narratives by describing characters and creating a logical event sequence. This is part of a larger unit but can be taught separately.

Recalling an act of kindness helps students practice narration skills. The teacher will read "Because Brian Hugged His Mother" and discuss the idea of "paying it forward" as a class. Then students will write and draw about a time when they were kind to someone. A printable sheet and pictures/videos of the students engaging in the lesson are provided.

Students will learn how to enhance their narrative writing by incorporating sensory details to convey experiences and events. A power point presentation on sensory details is included.

Links to 6 lessons and activities that build student skills in standard W.3.3d: Provide a sense of closure.

Short video from Curious in which Mark Davis is motivated to develop a new, less debilitating treatment for his wife's cancer. [4:49]

In this video from Nature, observe elephants trek across the desert to an isolated waterhole. [4:13]

[Free Registration/Login Required] A site with links to 7 worksheets that can be downloaded and printed for student use while building skills with standard W.4.3.E: Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

The 11th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 11th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Students move from learning the class rituals and routines and genre features of argument writing in Unit 11.1 to learning about narrative and informational genres in Unit 11.2: The American Short Story. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

In this unit, students will take a look at the historical vision of the American Dream as put together by our Founding Fathers. They will be asked: How, if at all, has this dream changed? Is this dream your dream? First students will participate in an American Dream Convention, acting as a particular historical figure arguing for his or her vision of the American Dream, and then they will write an argument laying out and defending their personal view of what the American Dream should be.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and annotate closely one of the documents that they feel expresses the American Dream.
Students participate in an American Dream Convention, acting as a particular historical figure arguing his or her vision of the American Dream.
Students write a paper, taking into consideration the different points of view in the documents read, answering the question “What is the American Dream now?”
Students write their own argument describing and defending their vision of what the American Dream should be.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

What has been the historical vision of the American Dream?
What should the American Dream be? (What should we as individuals and as a nation aspire to?)
How would women, former slaves, and other disenfranchised groups living during the time these documents were written respond to them?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, you will consider what the Founders of the United States government might have described as the “American Dream.” You'll analyze the Preamble to the Constitution, deciding what the writers “dreamed” the role of government and the rights of citizens to be.

The resources, tips, and professional development opportunities shared throughout this digital notebook are rooted in skills supporting critical media literacy. Media literacy education emphasizes skills of inquiry and expression and empowers students to think critically, communicate effectively, and engage as active citizens. We hope these media-rich resources, lesson plans, worksheets, and question stem cards inspire you to engage your students with media analysis and media making in new ways. A full printable PDF of the digital notebook is available under support materials.

This planning kit has resources, tips, and professional development opportunities rooted in skills supporting critical media literacy. Media literacy education emphasizes skills of inquiry and expression and empowers students to think critically, communicate effectively, and engage as active citizens. We hope these media-rich resources, lesson plans, and worksheets inspire you to engage your students with media analysis and media making in new ways. This Collection includes: Video (9), Media Gallery (3), Webpage (1), Document (3) for Grades All.

Excellent online lesson based on N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain. Students create a three-voice narrative based on the novel in studying and learning about myths and folktales. W.9-10.3a,3b,3d,3e Narratives, W.9-10.5 Writing Process, W.11-12.3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e Narratives

This video tutorial discusses how narratives are organized including beginning, middle, end and types of organizational patterns. It is 1 of 2 in the series titled "Narratives: Organization." [10:06] W.11-12.3c Narrative Org

This site features a list of columns written by Robert Sawyer. They include: Great Beginnings, Point of View, Constructing Characters, Show, Don't Tell, Description, Research, and more. W.9-10.3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3e Narratives, W.11-12.3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3e