UNIT 1 BRIDGES TO WRITING DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION Scaffold Help students brainstorm possible topics for their personal narrative. Have them work in pairs to discuss and share ideas for each prompt. For example, have them list three events in their life that had an impact on them and three people who have made a difference in their life. Then have them share information with their classmate about each event or person to help them determine which topic they have the most ideas to write about. Amplify To give students additional practice with the simple past tense, have them work in pairs to identify all of the simple past tense verbs in the Student Model. Also ask them to notice which are regular and which are irregular. Instructional Routine: Writing p. Txxxvi Personal Narrative: Writing That Reflects You • Identify elements of genre Elicit and discuss elements of personal narratives. Help students understand that they will tell a true story of a person or event in their lives. Ask students to read aloud the prompts and brainstorm possible topics for each. For example, provide ideas such as: If I were to write about an event that changed me, I would write about the summer I spent with my grandparents because I learned a lot that summer. OR If I were to write about a person who made a difference in my life, I would write about my grandmother who taught me to speak Russian and told me about my ancestors. • Read aloud the list of requirements and ask questions about each to confirm understanding. WRITING STRATEGY: Write a Hook Use effective writing techniques Elicit that an effective hook grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read more. Provide a list of common hooks and an example of each, such as: ° a question (Do you believe in magic?) ° a quotation (My mother said, “Don’t look at that boy!”) ° a sound word (Boom! The noise shook the ground.) ° a surprising statement (Snow day! No school! I was mad.) ° a description (I followed the sound of loud music and the smell of warm, buttery popcorn to the party.) After you read aloud each one, ask: Do you want to hear more? Ask students to look back through the memoirs in Honoring Our Ancestors to find an example of a good hook. (page 9: “My uncle used to say that my father could eat twelve bowls of rice at one time.”; page 13: “My greatgrandmother Refugio may have been a curandera—a traditional healer who made her own medicines from plants and herbs.”) Have them discuss why they think each is a good hook or not. STUDENT MODEL • Listen actively Read aloud the Student Model as students follow along in a whisper read. Then reread the text as students read along chorally. • Understand organizational features Ask: Which sentence is the hook? Why is this an interesting sentence? Elicit that it is surprising that someone would learn about their ancestry in a cafeteria. Ask: Whose point of view is this told from? (the author’s) How can you tell? (She uses I and we.) What tense is the story told in? (the simple past tense) EXPLORE AND LEARN STUDENT MODEL BRIDGES TO WRITING UNIT 1 38 BE SURE TO • engage the reader with a hook • focus on your central idea • include evidence to support your central idea • write your personal narrative in the simple past tense • revise and edit your work Can a cafeteria teach you a lesson about your ancestry? My cafeteria did! At lunchtime, on the first day of school, I walked into the cafeteria. I heard the noise of forks and voices. I tried to pull up a chair next to someone I recognized. The chair didn't move. The legs were attached to the floor. Tears burned my eyes. Where should I sit? I found a spot by a group of girls eating sandwiches. I quietly pulled out my homemade tortilla. They looked at me. Everyone had sandwiches. I felt different with my tortilla. Suddenly, a new girl, Ana, slid into the seat next to me. She started speaking Spanish right away. She sounded like a motor! She pointed to her arepa and placed it next to my tortilla. We smiled. Soon we talked about our grandmothers and food. We talked about Spanish music we both liked. I mentioned my little brother does not speak Spanish. I told her, “I have to translate in my own house!” We laughed about it. “I have to translate at the doctor's office!” she said. I knew what she meant. But I was glad to be able to speak two languages. I realized my grandmother had passed down something special. Language brought me a new friend. Personal Narrative WRITING THAT REFLECTS YOU Good writing always begins with an idea. A personal narrative begins with an idea about you. CHOOSE A PROMPT 1. Write about an event that changed you. 2. Write about a person who made a difference in your life. Cafeteria Lessons by Amara Estrada Write a Hook A personal narrative tells a story that only the writer can tell. The first sentence you write gets the reader interested. This is called the hook. WRITING STRATEGY BLC23_SE_LB_U01_038-040_BW.indd 38 8/30/21 12:34 PM 38 | Teacher’s Edition • UNIT 1
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