Being Afraid: There's A Nightmare in my Closet

Plan Author: Mathew Needleman
Date Created: 4/3/2003 5:24:39 PM PST
School:
Saturn Street
Grade Level:
1
Subject Area(s):
Language Arts (English)
Goal(s):
Students will use the writing process to create a piece of writing about a time when they were afraid.
Concept(s):
Writing can be fiction or non-fiction.

Writing can be improved through the writing process.

Stories have a beginning, middle, and end.

Correct conventions should be used in creating published versions of writing.
Standards:
CA- CCTC: Aligned CSTP's and TPE's
• Standard : CSTP: Standard for Engaging and Supporting all Students in Learning
TPE: C. Engaging and Supporting Students in Learning
CSTP Description: Teachers build on students? prior knowledge, life experience, and interests to achieve learning goals for all students. Teachers use a variety of instructional strategies and resources that respond to students? diverse needs. Teachers facilitate challenging learning experiences for all students in environments that promote autonomy, interaction and choice. Teachers actively engage all students in problem solving and critical thinking within and across subject matter areas. Concepts and skills are taught in ways that encourage students to apply them in real-life contexts that make subject matter meaningful. Teachers assist all students to become self-directed learners who are able to demonstrate, articulate, and evaluate what they learn.
• CSTP Key Element : Connecting students? prior knowledge, life experience, and interests with learning goals.
 Question : make "on the spot" changes in my teaching based on students? interests and questions?

CA- California K-12 Academic Content Standards
• Subject : English Language Arts
• Grade : Grade One
• Area : Writing
• Sub-Strand 2.0: Writing Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
Students write compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences. Student writing demonstrates a command of standard American English and the drafting, research, and organizational strategies outlined in Writing Standard 1.0.
• Concept : Using the writing strategies of grade one outlined in Writing Standard 1.0, students:
 Standard 2.1: Write brief narratives (e.g., fictional, autobiographical) describing an experience.


Objective(s):
Through the writing process, sixty percent of students will create a piece of writing with a beginning, middle, and end.

Also:

After proofreading and recopying their work, students will produce a piece of writing with correct capitalization and end marks seventy-percent of the time.
Prerequisite Background Skills/Knowledge:
Children must think of a time when they were afraid of something and how that fear made them feel. Students will be led through certain guided imagery and will interview others to help jog their memories.
Vocabulary / Language Skills:
The names for the five stages of the writing process will taught by re-introducing them one at a time and explaining the steps for each.

ELL students also need some assistance understanding the difference between someone who scares others and someone who is scared. This will be acted out with student volunteers to show who is receiving the scare and who is giving it.
Materials:
Book: There's A Nightmare in my Closet
Paper for writing
Classroom Management:
Students will often work independently. They must be encouraged to stay on task and work without constant supervision to allow the teacher to work with individuals.
Procedure:
Open
Teacher will read the story, "There's a Nightmare in my Closet" to students as an introduction to the unit, "Being Afraid." Students will notice how the main character overcomes his fear by confronting it.

After reading, students will brainstorm a list of things they have been afraid of. These items will be listed on a chart. For homework, students will interview their parents to find out things that their parents are afraid of and these will also be listed on the chart.

Tell students that they will be writing over the next two weeks about something they have been afraid of. Their writing may be a true story, about how they have overcome a fear, or a fictional account of an experience with someone/somethign they are afraid of.

At close of first day, students will begin to draw pictures of things which they are afraid of as a prewriting activity

Body (The Writing Process)
Begin day two by reviewing prewriting with students and discuss how their drawing fits into the process. Today students will complete a web (six squares with questions words written on them to stimulate thinking). Students will complete their webs on a second day.

Mini-lesson on drafting: Students will be encouraged to complete their drafts over two days time with less attention to conventions and more attention to getting their ideas down on paper. Students will conference with the teacher as they need help formulating their ideas. Ideas will be recorded on a conference form given to students and will focus on structure.

Revising: Encourage students to change the order of events in their stories if they do not make sense. Have students read their papers to peers to make sure they make sense. Complete this task over two days with lots of re-reading.

Proofreading: Have one students' writing printed on an overhead transparency and proofread it with student help on separate occasions for capital letters, periods, misspelled high-frequency words, words that don't make sense. Allow students to proofread their own papers immediately after each step of proofreading the transparency. Two days.

Publishing: Students will copy their writing over a final time and make a new picture. Writing should be neat and incorporate the changes they have made through revision and proofreading.

Close
Students share their final published copies with peers for feedback and post their writing for display in the Literary Haunted House.
Assessment:
Writing will be evaluated to determine future objectives for each student. Teacher will check to see that sixty percent of students have a beginning, middle, and end in their writing.

And that each student has used correct punctuation and end marks with seventy percent accuracy.
copyright ©2003 by Mathew Needleman http://www.opencourtresources.com