Narrative Teaching Texts



Teaching Texts:Informational CollectionA Gaggle of Geese by Philippa-Alys BrowneHarry Houdini by Vicki CobbKoko’s Kitten by Dr. Francine Patterson/ Photographs by Ronald H. CohnThe Moon of the Wild Pigs by Jean Craighead George/ Illustrated by Paul MirochaWindow by Jeannie BakerBrooke WilliamsLLED 7320: Writing PedagogyDr. JoBeth AllenFall 20130-190500Teaching Text 1: A Gaggle of Geese by Philippa-Alys BrowneGenre: InformationalFeature Statement: Sparking a reader’s interest without information overload/ To borrow from author Criss Jami, “Learning isn't acquiring knowledge so much as it is trimming information that has already been acquired.” Brief Summary: In this picture book, author Philippa-Alys Browne introduces her readers to the collective names of 26 animal groups, ranging from a gaggle of geese to a troop of monkeys. In the “Notes” section, she explains how animals are assigned their collective names based on appearance, a distinctive characteristic, their habitat, or a defining aspect of their behavior. Elaboration is provided on each of the 26 classifications.Passage or Element: Read entire book (including the “Notes” section at the end).Insight: Authors deliberately select the scope of their focus (narrow or broad) depending on their purpose. Connection to Students/Writers: As writers, we sometimes struggle with what to include and exclude in our writing. When researching a given topic, we may encounter a lot of interesting information. However, writers should be cautious about overwhelming readers with too much text. Always ask yourself, “What’s the main thing I want to teach with my text?” In the case of this book, the author is content with simply exposing her readers to the plethora of names that exist for classifying animals. Readers are given the option to inquire further on their own, beginning with a closer look at the “Notes” section.For today, look back over your research. Begin thinking about how broad or detailed you want the scope of your focus to be. Experiment with leaving your readers hungry for more by only giving them a taste of the whole.Is this approach satisfying? I will be rotating around to get your feedback. Other Possible Teaching Points: -Point out figurative language (alliteration).-Highlight strong action verbs: gathering, slinking, blathering, winking, scrambling, stooping, ambling, swooping, flirting, lazing, squirting, grazing, flickering, romping, snickering, stomping, jumping, following, thumping, wallowing, scheming, racing, dreaming, chasing, buzzing.-Create invitations for inquiry on one or more of the 26 animal groups.0190500Teaching Text 2: Harry Houdini by Vicki CobbGenre: Informational (biography)Feature Statement: Building on and supplementing content with text features (captions, definitions, attention-grabbing facts, and extensions of concepts)Brief Summary: This biography details the life of the great escape artist, Harry Houdini, from beginning to end, using pictures and interesting facts as co-meaning-makers.Passage or Element: Read entire story (not necessarily in one sitting), OR highlight elements from a specific chapter.Insight: Authors often supplement large chunks of text with pictures, captions, and interesting facts to enhance the story’s meaning and delivery. Connection to Students/Writers: In chapter one, notice how Vicki Cobb elaborates on Houdini’s family background with text features. She includes a photograph of his mom, his father, and Houdini at age 3 ?, in addition to featuring a postcard that he wrote to his mother (at age 12) when he ran away. Definitions for words like “emigrate” are also highlighted, and concepts such as the “Hebrew Relief Society” are expanded upon and boxed separately from the text. Ask yourself, “What impact do these text features have on the story? How do they add meaning?”Today, choose one of the text features we observed (photographs with captions, definitions, attention-grabbing facts, or extensions of concepts) to incorporate into your writing. Consider which one is most appropriate for supporting your writing.Important rule of thumb: The addition of your text feature(s) should add meaning, not distract. Other Possible Teaching Points: -Explore and investigate other print features of the book, including the table of contents, bibliography, works cited, index, photo credits, etc. -Visit websites listed under “For Further Study” on p. 125 for more information on Houdini’s life.0190500Teaching Text 3: Koko’s Kitten by Dr. Francine Patterson/ Photographs by Ronald H. CohnGenre: InformationalFeature Statement: Using dialogue to shift subjects of nonfiction from stagnant roles to more relatable onesBrief Summary: A gorilla who can talk using American Sign Language…say no more. This story showcases the evolving relationship between a gorilla named Koko, her “friend” Dr. Patterson (Penny), and a kitten named “All Ball.”Passage or Element: Read entire picture book.Insight: The effective use of dialogue allows authors to forge an emotional connection with readers. Connection to Students/Writers: Dr. Francis Patterson makes it easy for readers to feel like a part of the action with her purposeful use of dialogue. We can’t help but smile when Koko responds, “Eat, drink, (get) old” when asked what she does on her birthday. Later, we can sense Koko’s disappointment over her Christmas gifts, when she signs, “That stink.” We understand the special relationship developing between her and All Ball, when the gorilla signs, “Koko love Ball.” In many ways, the dialogue propels the story forward, while keeping readers engaged (much like in fiction writing).Ask students, “How do Koko’s words (communicated through signing) make you feel? Chances are you’ve never had a personal connection to a gorilla before, yet the dialogue between Koko and Penny makes you feel more invested in the story, right?”Are there characters in your story (not being heard) whose talking might positively impact the reader’s level of engagement with the text?Today, look for places in your writing where adding dialogue might make your nonfiction writing easier to relate to.Other Possible Teaching Points: -Review purposes of a preface and epilogue.-Research more about Koko (consult websites/YouTube); find out what she is up to now.-Allow interested students to look for and explore information regarding other animals, like Koko, that communicate through signing. Additional questions to investigate include:How long does it take for an animal to learn American Sign Language? Have any animals surpassed Koko’s 500 word bank?Are there other recorded and translatable ways that animals communicate?0-190500Teaching Text 4: The Moon of the Wild Pigs by Jean Craighead George/ Illustrated by Paul MirochaGenre: InformationalFeature Statement: Packing stories within a story to add more backgroundBrief Summary: A peccary piglet unknowingly (yet strategically) acts as the reader’s guide through the Sonoran Desert of Arizona when he gets separated from his mother and clan during a thunderstorm.Passage or Element: Read entire book. Return to specific examples below (there are many from which to choose).Insight: Sometimes authors deviate from the main story to introduce the reader to side stories that expand upon one or more related concepts. In the case of this story, author Jean Craighead George sheds light on numerous forms of desert life.Connection to Students/Writers: Look at how the peccary piglet acts as a narrator to happenings around him. Below appears five examples among many, in which the reader receives extra information about other desert life forms:“There a spiny lizard darted out from under a clump of brown, brittle grass…He followed the lizard down one of the two arroyos…At a large greenish stone the lizard disappeared” (p. 18).“July was also the moon of the insects. From Texas to southern Canada, grasshoppers tried new wings. Bees and wasps buzzed in the warm air. Butterflies flew from flower to flower, and at dusk in the Northeast, fireflies flicked their lights on and off as they spiraled to the tops of the trees. Caterpillars chewed, beetles clicked, bugs bit” (23-25).“The noise frightened a cactus wren from her nest, an enormous pile of grass she had miraculously placed in a cholla cactus without pricking herself. Her young of the year were on their own, and she was protecting herself from the fire of July by sitting inside her shady, cool home” (p. 25).“An elf owl, who was nesting in the woodpecker’s hole of last year, had frightened her. The tiny owl, no more than three inches high, was sheltering her two young under her feathers. Seeing the woodpecker, she had snapped her beak and spread her wings over her face, then peered out through the feathers like a demon. This was the elf owl’s way of scaring off an enemy, and it was very successful. The woodpecker did not come back” (p. 27-28).“The piglet stepped over a rock and surprised a male tarantula, the largest of the North American spiders, the female being almost as big as a man’s fist. The spider peered up at the piglet with beady eyes and opened its jaws to strike…The spider was two years old, the age for a tarantula to seek a mate. For several nights he had been roaming over miles of desert looking for one of the larger and tempestuous females of his species. He searched with both boldness and caution, for it requires enormous skill to court a female tarantula…” (p. 28-29).Today, consider whether there are places in your own writing where you can elaborate on certain concepts.Ask yourself, “Is there enough extra information to justify attaching a side story?”Other Possible Teaching Points: -Invite students to go on a scavenger hunt for similes. Review that a simile is a comparison between two unlike things using like or as. Possible answers include (but are not limited to):P. 13: “The tops of purple mountains rose above him like piles of broken glass.”P. 23: “Like the winter trees in the north, [the ocotillo] becomes dormant, its leafless stems clustered like gray pencils in a cup against the hot yellows and oranges of the clay and lava.”P. 26: “The low light and heat were pressing down on the piglet like a heavy metal coat.”P. 35-36: “He whimpered and lay down, fear tingling like fire in his belly.”P. 40: “The ocotillo bushes rocked like stiff wire.”0-190500Teaching Text 5: WindowGenre: NonfictionFeature Statement: Teaching students how to “read the world” not just the wordBrief Summary: This book provides a wordless account (with the exception of a few well-placed graphics) of the effect people have on the landscape around them. It begins with a mother and her baby son looking out a window and then shows that baby boy growing older, marrying, and having his own baby—all the while looking out the same window with an ever-changing view.Passage or Element: Flip through entire book (at least twice).Insight: Authors can communicate a powerful and informational message by asking readers to draw inferences.Connection to Students/Writers: As I turn each page, keep an ongoing list of items you notice being added to the window view. I will briefly pause after each picture to give you time to write. Share observations aloud: clothesline and a dirt road, paved street with a car and a new house across the road, another building across the road with a tractor, 2 more buildings, a house next door and more traffic, a neighborhood, a city, McDonalds, etc.How does the setting evolve? What can we infer about these changes? Are they good or bad for the environment?Meanwhile, consider what writing material lies right outside your window (waiting to be researched further). Practice “reading the world;” notice your surroundings and what they say about life.My apartment window view:-a large tree, whose leaves change colors in the fall, shed in the winter, and grow back green in the spring-a road with steady traffic-townhouses across the street-recycling and trash Bins-mailboxesToday, look back over your writing and determine whether there are sections in which it would be more powerful to say less by inviting the reader to make his or her own inferences.Other Possible Teaching Points: -Pair text with Energy Island (How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World) by Allan Drummond. This book shares with readers one community’s solution for countering humans’ costly impact on the environment. Invite students to research other possible solutions. Transition from here into persuasive writing, in which students can draft action plans! ................
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