Vignette Unit
To meet the Common Core Standards for narrative writing in our English 9 inclusion setting, a special education teacher, Lance McKinney, and I had students write five vignettes about themselves that. when read as a cohesive whole, reveal a little about their identities, what is important to them, and what they value. You may click here for assignment details as well as a checklist/grade breakdown of each part of the vignette book.
As we view writing as a process and want our students to also understand that writing is a process, students followed these steps:
- Wrote a series of exploratory journal entries that could later be drawn upon/rewritten for their vignettes
- Students were given "I Can Statements" or Success Criteria for the unit to be aware of the learning intentions
- Students then read over Assignment Details & Common Assessment Rubric
- Students then read, analyzed, and discussed model pieces of writing that used sensory details. Click here for one of the model writing pieces.
- After journaling about their senses of home or of a place that they consider a sanctuary, students worked in groups. of students to rotate from station to station, writing about different pieces of candy, focusing on sensory details. They used the following graphic organizer while working and writing.
The next day, students share their sentences in Google Classroom.
- After this activity and some more discussion about sensory details, students then referred to exploratory journals and used newly enhanced understanding of narrative technique to write or rewrite vignettes.
- Once students completed their first vignette, they then completed some more station work, this time on dialogue and figurative language, including metaphor, simile, hyperbole, alliteration, personification, repetition. The station work we used came from Teachers Pay Teachers:
After students worked in stations to understand, identify, and create their own sentences using figurative language, they returned to their exploratory prompt about a conflict they experienced, adding sensory details and sincere dialogue to enhance narrative technique.
Click here for student writing or take a look at the samples below (Examples are of strongest writer, struggling writer, and resistant writer- in this order).
- Students continued to work on developing their writing, focusing on narrative technique.
- Once finished, students went through the checklist and the rubric to "grade" themselves and to make sure they had included all necessary components
- Students then reflected on the process they underwent while writing and "publishing" their pieces.
The Common Core Standards Met Within Unit:
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.A
Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.B
Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.C
Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.D
Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.E
Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.
Production and Distribution of Writing:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.5
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grades 9-10 here.)
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.A
Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.B
Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.C
Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.D
Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.E
Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.
Production and Distribution of Writing:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.5
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grades 9-10 here.)