NARRATIVE WRITING
With wide eager eyes, the division of teacher education, primary division, paid rapt attention as the lecturer decided to use the role play strategy to provide instruction about narrative writing to us. As young writers, we are sometimes tempted to write what the topic speaks about or addresses. We may sometimes fail to include points that may compliment our narrative pieces and thus our writing may lack the adequate substance or feeling when our readers interact without our text. For this reason, our lecturer used these periods to help us understand how we can be thorough when planning and executing a narrative piece.
She pretended to be a grade 3 teacher and after going through the sections of a narrative piece, placed us, the grade 3 students in groups for us to plan our own narrative piece entitle "My Worst Nightmare". But before, she allowed the entire class to plan a story in a clear and efficacious way. We brainstormed as a class and our lecturer ensured that we included headings such as the plot, setting and characters to help us place our points in an organized manner. This was also a great refresher for us because after having left primary school for so long, it was easy to mistake things like the plot and the setting. Thus, our lecturer did a great job in clearing up any misconceptions that her "Grade 3" students may have had with regards to narrative writing.
In addition, this teaching method seemed to have benefited the entire class for everyone as actively involved in the narrative writing process. At the end, we were all allowed to share our outlines and short pieces with the class. As a teacher, it is pivotal that we sometimes engage in these classroom activities, for they are very beneficial to our students, especially those who may seem shy. This type of choral classroom participation and planning taught us that it is sometimes beneficial to work with another student or students on topics that we may seem to not know too much about. All in all, the class was very edifying and we were very enthusiastic when we were verbally rewarded for our efforts in developing our skills in narrative writing.
As I remembered clearly , it was a pleasure pretending to be a grade three student as our lecturer pretended to be a grade three teacher. Who know class would be so exciting yet meaningful at the same time. We were all involved brainstorming ideas to write a piece entitled "My worst nightmare". I enjoyed this session. I am sure that some of my colleagues will agree that we should have other sessions similar to this one as there are different type of learners in a classroom and this method may be effective, reaching the needs of students . I do agree that this lesson was a refresher because it did reinforce my knowledge of knowing the elements of a story .
ReplyDeleteNasha John
Generally, we did enjoy this session and hope for another like it soon. We also learned alot from the session as well in terms of what to do and what not to do as it relates to narrative writing.
DeleteThanks for the comment.
Nicely put together! I must admit that I never envisioned narrative writing to be so pleasurable. Going through the elements of story grammar , the various acronyms that enables us to develop interesting pieces as well as our lecturer taking us through the step by step process to compose a narrative really added some flair to it. I can safely say that I feel more assertive to go out there and teach the process of narrative writing.
ReplyDeleteviews by: Ylet Jn.Baptiste
Well said Ylet! I am happy that this blog post have given you more insight on narrative writing. I guess that we have successfully brought out the main purpose of this blog post since you are now confident in you going back to the schools to teach narrative writing to your students.
DeleteNarrative writing tends to stimulate excitement from students. Mostly everyone loves stories, either to listen to or write up one. In encouraging students to become super writers I believe that our lecturer did it the best way in this class. Through modelling students, have a good grasp of what is expected. As you rightly stated, the teaching method benefited us all. This is one trait I will practice in my classroom as I go out on practical teaching. Model in developing great writers.
ReplyDeleteWritten by: Abigail Bascombe
DeleteThat's right Abigail! Modelling is the best way to bring out the essence in any piece of writing not only narrative. Incorporating this in instruction will definitely produce a generation of good writers.
DeleteTelling stories is a hobby of our grandparents, especially when they want to relate ideas of today with what used to happen in their childhood days. We too must be excited to teach narrative writing to our students, and this was expressed by the lecturer during this particular session. Indeed, it was informative and fun. Yes, Weekly Tamiro, it was a refresher!
ReplyDeleteJina Jonas
Oh Yes Jina! Telling stories has always been a hobby of our grandparents especially in the creole season. Children get very excited to hear those stories. Moreover, the old folks reiterate those stories with all the correct elements of narrative writing. Doing the same in the classroom will bring out that same excitement in the students.
DeleteAh yes! Every time I read an entry and I think to myself "this post describes my most favourite experience in LIT102", then, I read another post and it takes me back to the session and it instantly becomes my new favourite session. This entry is no different. The experiences we gained in this session are invaluable and will forever be etched in our memories. Throughout your entries as well as that of our colleagues, modelling seems to be the one thing we can unanimously agree upon. Through the use of the "I do it, we do it, you do it together, you do it alone" model, students are able to fully accept, understand and apply what is being taught in the classrooms. Like you, I enjoyed role playing and think it is a great way to engage students.
ReplyDeleteGreat Great Great Post Brittany! I love how you brought in the gradual release of responsibility model. The model is very important in instruction as it helps the students to work both collaboratively and independently. Also, I believe that modelling is the best way to bring out any piece of writing not only narrative.
Delete