Catherine Harris

November 10, 2013

Unit: Writing Personal Narratives with Better Word Choices
Lesson: Personal Narratives Writers Workshop
Benchmarks
CCSS.W.3.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
a. Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event
sequence that unfolds naturally.
b. Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences
and events or show the response of characters to situations.
c. Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.
d. Provide a sense of closure.
CCSS.W.3.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen
writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
Write a personal narrative.
Write drafts and revise their writing.

Materials
Teacher sample of family traditions personal narrative
ELMO to share teacher sample and to create class paragraph
Writers notebooks for each student
Writing binders including garbage word list and better word choice list
Houses for final copy
Anticipatory Set
The class will have a discussion about the types of traditions they recently learned about in their
reading book. The teacher will prompt students to talk about the traditions in The Keeping Quilt,
Anthony Reynoso: Born to Rope, The Talking Cloth, and Dancing Rainbows. The teacher will
give examples of traditions the students might have in their own lives. The students will turn and
talk to their neighbors and share one tradition they have in their family.
Direct Instruction
The teacher will share an example of a personal narrative about family traditions with the
students. The teacher will point out the five paragraphs, topic and conclusion sentences, and
adjectives and adverbs.
Guided Practice
Together the class will write a paragraph about one of their classroom traditions, which might
be their morning routine or their routine at the end of the day. The teacher will ask for volunteers
to come up with a topic sentence, three details, and a conclusion. After writing the paragraph, the
teacher will model how to reread their writing and look for garbage words using their garbage
word list, and how to choose better words with their better word choice list.
Independent Practice
The students will write their own personal narratives about family traditions. The narratives
should include a short introduction and conclusion sentence with three detail paragraphs. The
students should also write using better word choices found in their binder lists. The students will
also be instructed to use many adjectives and adverbs when possible. The students will peer edit
each others papers and look for opportunities to use better, stronger words. Finally, the students
will create a final copy including illustrations.
Procedures
1. The teacher will go over the anticipatory set with the class.
2. The teacher will give the quiet signal to the class. When the class is quiet, the teacher will
ask the students to put their materials from the previous activity away. The teacher will
do a call-and-response activity. The students repeat what the teacher says. SWBAT
Students will be able to write a personal narrative.
3. The teacher will explain the assignment: This week we will use what we have learned to
write a personal narrative. A personal narrative is a true story that happened to you, told
by you. We are going to write about a tradition you might have in your family, just like
our authors did in our reading stories. Our personal narratives will be five paragraphs
long and will include lots of descriptive adjectives and adverbs!
4. The teacher will share the sample on the board with the students. The teacher will point
out the introduction and explain that it doesnt have to be very long. The teacher will also
demonstrate in each paragraph the use of a topic sentence, three details, and a conclusion
sentence. The conclusion paragraph will also be explained. The teacher will ask student
volunteers to point out adjectives and adverbs.
5. The teacher will explain to the class that they will practice personal narratives by writing
a paragraph together about their own classroom traditions. The teacher will get
suggestions from students, which might be the morning or afternoon routine. Student
volunteers will each write one sentence of the paragraph. At the end, the teacher will
demonstrate how to peer edit by rereading the paragraph to make sure it makes sense.
Then the teacher will display the garbage word list and see if they can replace any words
for better words.
6. The teacher will have the students get out their writers notebooks. The teacher will
explain again what they must include in their narrative and will write it on the white
board. The students will begin their rough drafts and the teacher will monitor to assist
students if necessary. Before moving on, students must complete the self-assessment
checklist. If the student is missing things on the list, they must go back into their writing
to edit. Completed checklists should be turned in to the teacher.
7. The next day, students will pair off to edit each others papers. The teacher will instruct
the students to read the paragraph and look for garbage words. The students should also
make sure that their partner includes adjectives and adverbs. The teacher will instruct the
students to read their own papers out loud to their partner. Then, they should use their
garbage word lists together and circle garbage words. The partners should then switch
and do the same thing with the other paper. Then both partners should fill out the peer
editing sheet by writing a compliment and a suggestion. Both partners must turn in their
peer editing sheets to the teacher.
8. When students have completed their rough draft and peer edit, the teacher will read
through their personal narrative to double check that they have written enough. Then the
teacher will give the student a final copy book to write their final copies and illustrations.
The teacher will collect the final copies as the students finish.
9. The students will be given an opportunity to do authors chair and read part of their
personal narrative to the class.
Closure
The students will have the opportunity to share their writing to the class during authors chair.
Assessment
Informal: The teacher will monitor students throughout the writing process to ensure they are on
the right track. The teacher will assist struggling students if necessary.
Formal: The teacher will collect all personal narratives and score them using the scoring rubric.