How a ballad illustrates story grammar to show students how to read, discuss, analyze, and write about narrative fiction.

Transcription

1 1 Step It Out, Nancy: Hw a ballad illustrates stry grammar t shw students hw t read, discuss, analyze, and write abut narrative fictin. a lessn plan by Pamela Bstelmann fr LitTunes.cm Pretty Nancy cried in anguish, she wept and tre her hair, She slipped int her father s rm and fund a pistl lying there. On the Sunday came the wedding, the twn flks gathered at nn, They saw Nancy pull the pistl and sht dwn that wealthy grm. Backgrund and ratinale: Peple wrldwide, yung and ld, enjy stries. Stry grammar the literary terms f plt, climax, reslutin, etc. prvides a way fr students f all ages and cultures t understand, discuss, analyze, evaluate, and even create narratives, using all fur language mdalities with ample pprtunity t expand instructin int culture, vcabulary, grammar, and prnunciatin. The sng Step It Out, Nancy, with its strng aural and ral dimensins, explicitly demnstrates each element f stry grammar. Step It Out, Nancy helps my USA students learn and remember the literary elements f character, setting, theme, and plt, including cnflict, cmplicatins, turning pint, and reslutin. These are imprtant cmprehensin checks as well as tls fr students t use when they discuss and respnd t any fictin. When I taught Chinese middle schl teachers f English, Step It Out, Nancy served several instructinal bjectives: ne in illustrating a particular aspect f American culture, anther in discussing literary elements, and a third in demnstrate pre-listening, while-listening, and after-listening methdlgy. EDITOR S NOTE: Althugh this lessn is especially useful fr students f English as a secnd language (ESL), it can be adapted t fit almst any instructinal setting. Students with limited English prficiency (LEP) will benefit frm the cncepts and activities cvered in the lessn. Creative teachers can als find pprtunities that will challenge students in English language arts classes at all grade levels. Apprximate time: Frm ne r tw 45-minute class perids t several, depending in part n whether the teacher extends this lessn int reading a shrt prse narrative. The timing als varies

2 2 cnsiderably accrding t the students literacy level, specifically hw much fictin they have read and discussed. This plan is based n three class perids. Grades: I have used the lessn successfully with seventh graders, bth English language learners and regular students, and als with pre-service and in-service teachers. Overview: Students review and learn stry grammar and literary elements plt, climax, theme, etc. by listening t and discussing a ballad and using a plt map t diagram the events. Student bjectives: Students will learn and use technical literary analysis vcabulary t deepen their cmprehensin, appreciatin, and analysis, bth written and spken, f narrative fictin. Materials: verhead prjectr whitebard r chalkbard CD player r ipd with speakers handuts including vcabulary, lyrics, questins fr Step It Out, Nancy, and stry map. EDITOR S NOTE: Links t printer friendly handuts mentined in this lessn plan are displayed at the bttm f the page. Preparatin and setup: Ensure the CD player wrks well, that the vlume is adequate, and that yu, the teacher, feel cnfident with the mdel f player. Have an adequate supply f handuts. Prcedure fr instructin, activities: Day 1 Schema activatr minutes Teacher displays verhead transparency listing varius literary terms: character, setting, plt, cnflict, cmplicatins, turning pint, climax, reslutin, theme, rising actin, falling actin. Teacher distributes "Stry Grammar and Backgrund t the Text" (vcabulary) handut fr think, write, pair, share activity designed t evaluate students prir knwledge f these terms. The activity culminates in a whle class discussin abut the meaning f the terms and vcabulary.

3 3 Direct Instructin minutes, depending n students backgrund knwledge f USA cultural references Preteach and/r brainstrm elements f USA culture as necessary fr students cmprehensin f the lyrics t Step It Out, Nancy. Examples: shw prximity f Wyming and Clrad n a USA map, explain 12 gd men, etc. Teacher then declaims sng lyrics with exaggerated prsdy t help students catch the rhythm. Students listen. Teacher then distributes lyrics and reads them again, with students fllwing alng. Students may ask questins, and teacher clarifies any barriers t understanding the stry. Guided practice minutes Teacher distributes the handut Cmprehensin Check Questins. Students write answers t questins, alne, in pairs, r in small grups, as apprpriate t the student ppulatin and the classrm culture. Teacher circulates, answering questins and clarifying as needed. After abut 10 minutes, play the sng! Again, students are encuraged t jin in, either singing r chanting. Cntinue clarifying as apprpriate. Play the sng mre than nce, time permitting, and depending n the students level f enjyment. EDITOR S NOTE: Fr classrm listening, teacher Bstelmann recmmends the versin f the ballad recrded by Hlly Near fr her album Early Warnings. A renditin f the ballad by the flk grup Whistle Stp was available n Yu Tube when this lessn plan was published. Day 2 Schema activatr and review minutes Whle class: Review stry grammar terms, review lyrics, clarify any questins. Use think-write-pair-share t debrief answers t questins. Listen t sng again t verify answers. Direct instructin minutes Teacher distributes individual duble-sided cpies f Stry Map. Using verhead

4 4 transparency, teacher builds n prir knwledge by eliciting frm students where each stry grammar term fits n the map. Students label these terms n their wn cpy. Independent practice minutes Students use backside cpy f stry map handut t map the events in Step It Out, Nancy: cmplicatins/expsitin, rising actin, climax, reslutin. Assessment Whle grup debriefing f stry map fr "Step It Out, Nancy." Day 3 Schema activatr/review Review stry map f Step It Out, Nancy. Clarify sequence f incidents/events, which are signaled by wrds in the text that indicate change f time, f place, f participants, etc. Extensin: The teacher may chse t end the lessn here, assuming that students nw have a strnger grasp f stry grammar. Alternatively, the teacher may fllw up r extend with a prse narrative text, preferably ne with a very clear sequence f events. Seventh Grade by Gary St, The Circuit by Francisc Jimenez, r The All-American Slurp by Lensey Namika have all wrked well fr reinfrcing stry grammar and literary elements f a narrative. Here is an abbreviated lessn plan frmat fr teaching a shrt stry: Befre reading: Pre-teach selected vcabulary, idims, and cultural references as apprpriate t the text and the students. Review literary terms. Distribute new plt map. During reading: Students mark n their cpy f the stry where ne incident ends and anther begins. Students may als highlight signal wrds that indicate the change frm ne event t the next. After reading: Think-write-pair-share t (1) name characters and setting, (2) identify prblem/cnflict, (3) debrief sequence f events, (4) determine climax/turning pint, (5) cmplete stry map f new stry. Additinal activities, especially writing, may be develped/assigned as apprpriate. Enrichment: Students engaged in independent reading f a full-length narrative a nvel! may be given a stry map t track the main events f their bk. P.B. 10 / 19 / 09

5 5 A B O U T T H E A U T H O R : Pamela Bstelmann currently teaches English t seventh grade lw-end test scrers at Helms Middle Schl, West Cntra Csta Unified Schl District, in San Pabl, Califrnia. She has als taught ESL at varius Bay Area cmmunity clleges; in the Ministry f Justice, Asmara, Eritrea; the University f Burundi, Bujumbura, Burundi; and a summer stint training Chinese English teachers in Nanjing, China. She is currently wrking at being a kid-whisperer t achieve cperative and n-task behavir frm her seventh graders, all f which may r may nt yield higher test scres. T cntact Pamela, please her at evencalmer2@yah.cm