Family+Stories+(Word+Choice,+Sentence+Fluency,+Framing+Sentences)

FAMILY STORIES WRITING PROJECT
Letter to Families about Family Stories:

To Do

 * get family letters from Ilene
 * send letters to families
 * recruit families to tell their stories on Mon / Tuesdays
 * follow up with families (get Abby involved?)
 * skeleton of timeline up in wall before vacation
 * email families to write their stories down (Carl, who else?)
 * set up classroom visits with Mark, Lisette, Jose, Luana
 * Email Jose and Mark / Lisette if there are people from their communities who have compelling stories who could come tell them

January intro lesson:

 * sort features of neighborhoods into the big headings (provided by teachers) (food, art & music, activism, language, learning, play & nature)

LT: I can give examples of how people make a new place feel like home.

Introduce learning target. Talk about how it connects to their family stories, and to what we’ve observed about what makes a good neighborhood.

Introduce 5 ways people make a neighborhood feel like home: food, art & music, activism, language, learning, play & nature

Students sort cards (with their observations) into these 6 categories. Teach the hand signals for each one.

Some time for sharing their own family stories if possible.

What makes a place feel like home? Restaurants: what kinds are in a neighborhood? What are the ones that make it different from other places? (ie not McDonald's)

__Introduce Song__ **The Word-Choice Song** Writing with your best words- Like finding lots of new words- Like Sparkle! Dazzle! Razzle! You need to make words stand out.Out.

__Preparation__ sensory words, onomatopoeia, alliteration)
 * make copies of family stories
 * identify unreadable stories and think about pulling in small group to have them read to students
 * bring a little fairy dust bag with glitter to spread on student work when they do add sparkling words
 * start an ongoing anchor chart that says "Ways to Make Sentences Sparkle:" (
 * BIG index cards

A Note About Revision: Revision will be an embedded, ongoing process. Students will revise when they add "sparkle" to their sentences ON THE BACK of their selected index card.


 * LEARNING TARGETS:**

I can tell the story of why my family came to Boston and how they came.
 * __Long-term Learning Target__**

__//Supporting Learning Targets://__ //I can explain where my family came from and how they got here.// //I can explain why my family moved to Boston.//

//**__Long-term Learning Target__**// //I can give examples of how people make a new place feel like home.//

__//Supporting Learning Targets://__

//I can explain how my family makes Boston feel like home.//

//**__Long-term Learning Target__**// //I can make my writing easy for someone else to read by following the rules of writing.//

__//Supporting Learning Targets://__ I can use a primary source to get information for my sentence. I can start each sentence with a capital letter and end it with a stop sign. I can include a subject and predicate in each sentence.


 * index cards
 * primary sources
 * one sentence for each of the five questions

//**__Long-term Learning Target__**//

I can write with words that help sparkle so that my writing is interesting.

=**Lessons**= We look at a bunch of writing and have students think about how to add sparkling words. Use the Elmo and have students think about it on a bunch. Use an anchor chart to categorize the words. I have to make that anchor chart. Then have students do a try it with my work. Then students can do it on their work. I need to figure out which students can handle copying their work over and which students need to have their work blown up. From looking at student work we changed our plans to make them a little better.

__Supporting Learning Targets:__

I can revise my sentence by adding onomatopoeia to at least one sentence to make my words sparkle. I can revise my sentence by adding alliteration in at least one sentence to make my words sparkle. I can revise my sentence by adding sensory words to at least two sentences to make my words sparkle.

I can make my writing sound smooth as I read it aloud.
 * __Long-term Learning Target__**

__Supporting Learning Targets:__ //I can begin my sentences in different ways.// //I use some long and some short sentences.//

Art project
One idea for the art is for students to do painted cut paper. You keep things in your mind for the paper - ie: a sky... Students cut as many papers as they want. It turns into community paper when you start putting it together.

for sketching, print out a bunch of "how to draw..." things from the internet: boats, cars, planes

Kids have sketched about 4 images. Now choose 1 image to zoom in on. Sketch it on small paper. (Then we will blow it up on the copier.) Do some feedback and drafts. Label the colors. Give Mat a list to get colored papers (that kids make). The paper gets cut into tiny pieces that they use in the collage.

This could be center time:
 * ideal neighborhood mural
 * cutting paper
 * drafts and feedback on sketches