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Now that students have had some practice using sensory details to describe setting, characters,
and objects, as well as practice exploring the nature of theme, they are ready to embark on a
narrative. It won’t be fictional, however: I want them to stay within the rich terrain of their
memories so that details are likely to be plentiful. In addition, after working in the present tense
for three writing activities, students will now move into the past.
Sometimes students agonize over choosing a topic for this assignment; they think they have
nothing in their lives worth writing about. To alleviate this anxiety, I usually conduct a short,
guided brainstorming session to ensure that many memories and events from a student’s life
make it to paper for the student to choose from. In addition, I stress throughout the year that
any topic for a writing activity can be interesting if told well.
Another pitfall for this assignment lies in scope. Often, a student will choose a two-weeklong vacation, for example, to write about in one page. During the first mini-lesson, I urge
students to choose a single instance from their memories, but most of the narrowing will be
done during individual conferencing. Many times a student thinks plucking two weeks from
her entire life is narrowing, but in an individual conference, I can help her find the one moment
that, fully told, will provide more than enough fodder for a one- to two-page essay.
The only difference between levels in this assignment is length. Therefore, for this activity,
there is only one version of the prewriting and writing activity sheets. You can fill in the
appropriate required length in the space provided.
Note: In this chapter, I’ve inserted a prewriting activity between the two All-Level MiniLessons. I’ve done this because the second mini-lesson on introductions can be saved until the
students’ drafts are well underway.
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To begin, I write the word autobiography on the board and dissect it into its roots: auto + bio
+ graph. When I ask students if anyone knows what any of these roots mean, often one or
two students whose languages use the same roots raise their hands. I put the meanings on the
board: self + life + write = the writing of one’s own life. (Depending on available time and class
level, I may take an extra few minutes to list other words with these roots.)
By definition, then, this activity must be written in the first person. Whereas the first three
activities were written primarily in the third person—there may have been some first person
mixed in, and some students may have used second for their odes—the autobiography must
clearly have a narrator who is a character in the story. For advanced classes, simply mentioning
this distinction may suffice; beginning classes might benefit from a more formal review of first
person verbs and pronouns (see Leveled Mini-Lessons on page 55).
I explain to students that they will be writing about one small moment from their lives, and
the key to this activity is to not try to cover too much. They must look hard at one event, or a
part of one event, not an entire summer or a whole week. Even a single day would be too long.
They should concentrate on one moment. They can give background information, but the story
itself should take place in a small space of time.
I go on to say that they will be using all the skills they’ve learned so far in the past three
assignments. They must use sensory details; they must visualize the people and places in
their stories; they must write with thematic intention. (The second mini-lesson deals again
with theme; if desired, you can teach it on this first day along with the introduction to
autobiography.)
To start, I have students flip to the back page in their notebooks and write “Memories” at the
top; then I guide them to record memories with the prompts below. I have students write on the
last page of their notebooks so they can quickly and easily refer to these ideas again during the
year as needed.
Memory Generators
1. Think about your life. Write down any strong memory that comes to mind now.
2. Write down any time that was happy.
3. Write down any time that was peaceful and calm.
4. Write down a time you felt proud. Maybe you had done something difficult; maybe
you had worked a long time for something; maybe you made the right choice about
something.
5. Write down a time you were scared.
6. Write down a time that was very funny; you couldn’t stop laughing. What happened?
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7. Write down a time when you learned something about life.
8. Write down a time with your family that stands out in your mind.
9. Write down a time with your friends that stands out.
10. Write down a memory from when you were a small child that you still remember today.
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For beginners, you may want to review the emotions before asking these questions. You
can supply a handout with pictures or lead a group game in which players act out emotions.
Regardless of class level, I always find myself demonstrating the questions as I read them.
After students have some ideas on paper, give them a few minutes to read them over and star
one or two possible topics to write about. While they do this, you can circulate through the
class, peeking over shoulders, answering questions, and helping students narrow their possible
choices. When all students have somewhere to start, distribute the sample stories, assignment
sheets and prewriting sheets. (The memory-generating exercise is step 2 on the assignment
sheet.) Together, we read the samples, and I give students the remainder of class to work on
the prewriting sheet. At that point, depending on class time and level, I either assign it for
homework or let them work on it the following day.
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In the first three lessons, students expressed theme in terms of why the place/person/object was
important to them. With this lesson, however, the concept of theme will shift a bit: instead of
asking why the topic or subject is important, the writer should ask, “How did I, as the main
character in my story, change? What did I learn? What did I realize?”
To illustrate this, I direct students to some of the short stories we have read thus far in class
and to the sample autobiographical incidents that accompany this lesson. I ask students to
highlight the sentences that explain what the speaker/main character realized or learned from the
event. On the board, I give some examples of how a sentence containing a theme could begin:
Sentences that indicate a theme of a story:
UÊ I learned . . .
UÊ I knew then that . . .
UÊ At that moment, I realized . . .
For this assignment, the
idea of theme deepens.
Students should ask
Every story can have a theme if examined closely and told fully.
themselves, “What did
When I later circulate around the room during the prewriting stage,
I learn from this event,
I help students verbalize the themes of their stories by asking them
about myself, about life?”
questions and giving examples of possible themes. I emphasize
to students that they should try to stay in the moment when they
write the themes of their stories; they should not pull back and start
to summarize. Themes usually occur toward the end and near the climaxes of stories. During
individual conferences, I help students fit in their themes in the most effective places.
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When the prewriting sheets are completed, I like to pair students for an interviewing activity.
I explain the activity and give each student a sheet of sample interview questions to use. As a
whole class, we read over the sheet so that students understand the questions. In pairs, the first
student gives a summary of what he or she will write about, and the partner asks any questions
that come to mind as well as questions from the sheet. The questions on the questionnaire
mimic the prewriting sheet, but they serve several additional functions. First, by having to
answer the questions to a partner, the students must actually have an answer. This sounds
simplistic, but often on prewriting sheets, students may skip a section, or only jot down a
shallow word. Having to explain to a partner forces the student to engage. Second, even if the
student does have a sufficient answer on the prewriting sheet, discussing that answer with
another person may jog the memory to offer something new. Third, the questions put both
students in the frame of mind of the reader, and they provide an example of what a reader may
be wondering. Thus, the interview creates some sense, even if unnamed or unconscious, of
audience. (A formal discussion of audience will appear in Writing Activity 6.) And finally, the
questions model various interrogative structures with the past tense and reinforce or possibly
introduce vocabulary.
Emphasize to the partners that while talking to each other, they could and should write
down any new ideas that come up for their own stories. The whole purpose of the interview is
to help the writer fill in any additional ideas that may be lacking. Whatever the partner wonders
about the story, a reader would be wondering as well.
NOTE
This prewriting interview, along with a participle game I describe later, are the only listening/
speaking activities included in this chapter. If more are desired, refer back to the group prewriting
activities from the first three assignments, as the skills required for those assignments will contribute
to the writing of the Autobiographical Incident.
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Name: __________________________________ Partner: ______________________________
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Partner 1
Explain your topic to your partner. Tell what happened. Then, let your partner ask you
questions. While he or she does, you can add more notes to your prewriting paper.
Partner 2
Ask any questions that you want to know about the story. Here are some to think
about, but you do not have to ask all of them; choose the questions that you like.
1. How big was this place?
2. Was it sunny, cloudy, raining, or something else? (for outdoor stories)
3. Was it daytime or nighttime? Was it bright out or dim?
4. What other things were in the room? (for indoor stories)
5. What colors do you remember?
6. Was it hot or cold there?
7. What were you wearing?
8. How old were you?
9. What was the season? What did it look like outside?
10. Did you smell anything?
11. Describe the other person’s eyes and hair.
12. What was the other person wearing? What were the other people wearing?
13. What were some other sounds or noises?
14. What was happening in the background?
15. What did you learn from this?
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I usually wait a day or two before presenting this mini-lesson, because it will be most effective
if students have a draft in front of them. Then, when some version of their stories exist, I will
direct their attention to their opening sentences.
To begin, I explain that an introduction should interest the reader, or as we like to say,
“grab” the reader; if the reader is bored, he will not continue reading. The good news, I tell
them, is that there are specific techniques to do this, and that they already know some of these
techniques. First, I list some openings to avoid:
Once upon a time, I . . .
One day I . . .
One time I . . .
This will be about the time I . . .
Instead, I suggest, jump right into the moment. The easiest way to do this is to use a sensory
detail. Since they have by now completed the prewriting sheets, students should have plenty of
details available. Any detail will do: a sight, color, sound, smell, or texture; the weather; the quality
of the light. I write two introductions (on the board or an overhead) for students to consider:
1. One time I went to my uncle’s pool for a swim.
2. Under the cold water, I could see only blurry blue tiles and hear muffled splashing.
I ask students which sounds more interesting and why. Students will generally recognize
that there are sensory details in the second example. The difference between looking at a
moment from afar and starting in the moment should be clear. The next couple of sentences I
add fill in the necessary background information. For example:
Under the cold water, I could see only blurry blue tiles and hear muffled splashing. When I
pushed my toes on the slippery tiles and popped up for air, I could see my uncle laughing.
“How long were you under?” he asked. He always enjoyed having us over for a swim.
I ask students to categorize the sensory details in this example—they should find sights,
a sound, and a texture. And the fact of the uncle owning the pool is there, too. It is a simple
technique that requires only a little addition of details or rearranging of existing details.
Another easy introductory method involves using a quotation. Students can begin their
stories with one of the characters saying something. For example, a lackluster first sentence like:
This is a story about the day Ramon and I found an old house in the woods.
can be transformed into:
“Do you think anyone lives here?” Ramon asked, pressing his hand on the splintery wooden
door. The hinges began to creak, and at once we heard shuffling and a voice.
We had never seen this house before that day. Earlier, we had been walking on a trail in the
woods when we spotted a fork in the path.
I usually reserve this method for solid intermediate and advanced students, since it obviously
requires punctuating a quotation, a skill that I have listed on page 56 under the Leveled MiniLessons. In addition, a quotation as the first sentence will often involve the employment of
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flashback, a more sophisticated technique that requires the use of the past perfect. This can
also be true of using a sensory detail as the first sentence; where the writer chooses to start will
determine how much time needs to be spent filling in the necessary background information.
Advanced students may also want to try starting their stories with a general statement of the
story’s theme that the story will eventually prove. For example, in a story about the loyalty of a
sibling, instead of writing:
This is about the time my sister stood up for me in front of the whole class.
one could write:
Friends are important, but family members are the ones who will always protect you.
I give students a handout summarizing the above methods, since our next two writing
activities will require interesting narrative introductions. I then direct students to their opening
paragraphs and prewrites, and tell them to see what they can do to make them more engaging.
As they work, I circulate and help. When they finish, I usually have them trade their new intros
with their former partner, and let each person ask one more question of the other, either on
their own or from the sheet.
Ways to Begin a Story
UÊ Start with specific sensory details.
UÊ Start with a quotation.
UÊ Start with a general truth about people or life.
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Note: Students should write both this writing activity and the next in the past tense. Therefore,
you can plan a two-part lesson in the past tenses to be split between the two writing activities.
Depending on class level, the scope of these will vary.
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FIRST PERSON SINGULAR AND PLURAL
It would serve beginners to review the first person verb forms and pronouns (nominative,
objective, and possessive), as many of these will appear in an autobiographical incident.
PAST TENSE
Students will write their stories in the past tense. Therefore, this activity provides an appropriate
opportunity for reviewing the simple past and any irregular forms.
PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
If students are ready, the past continuous tense can be practiced. It is helpful to demonstrate its
construction, offer several examples on the board, and stress its emphasis on an ongoing action
in the past. In individual conferences, you can help students with their efforts.
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ADJECTIVES: -ED VS. -ING
This distinction could be made to beginners as well, but should certainly be included here
because, in my experience, it must be reiterated constantly. As all ELL teachers know, students
have a hard time distinguishing between adjectives of personal feeling (I am excited) and
adjectives of objective judgment (The ride is exciting). Writing an autobiographical incident will
give students opportunities to describe moments of feeling as well as judgment. For even more
advanced students, the distinction can be made between these adjectival forms and the adverbial
and verbal forms of the word (excited, exciting, excitedly; excitingly, excite + ed, excite + ing).
PAST PERFECT TENSE
Students who understand the simple past tense and know its constructions are ready to learn
the past perfect, or “double past” as I sometimes explain it. Draw a simple timeline on the board
that demonstrates its meaning, using an easy example like the hypothetical story of the house in
the woods. It could be mapped like this:
Past Perfect
(“had” + past participle)
Simple Past
(-ed or irregular form)
Simple Present
(present tense)
<-------------X--------------------------------------X--------------------------------------X----------------->
before that
We had never seen the house.
three years ago
Ramon opened the door.
Now
I write the story.
I direct students to one of the samples, focusing on the sentences using the past perfect, and
demonstrate how they all fit into this model. I also refer students to their lists of past participles,
or distribute a list if I am working with a book that doesn’t have one.
REPORTED SPEECH
In the Character Sketch (Writing Activity 2), advanced students learned or reviewed how to
quote direct speech; in this activity, students can incorporate indirect speech as well. Simply
take our examples from the mini-lesson on quoted speech and rewrite them as reported speech,
highlighting the differences in construction, person, and convention. You may leave these
examples up as posters in the room for the rest of the year.
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GROUP ACTIVITY: PARTICIPLE CARDS
This idea requires some time for set-up, but once created, it can be used again and again. Cut 26 large index
cards in half to make a deck of 52 cards. Select 26 verbs and their past participles that the class needs to
practice. On the top of each card, write one of the words. (You can also write the word upside-down on
the bottom of the card as well, like an actual deck.) You may want to write the present forms of the verbs
in a different color from their past participles, in order to distinguish them. Now, you have a deck of pairs,
that is, the present form of the verbs and their past participles, and any number of games can be played
with two to six players, such as Participle Rummy, Participle Go Fish, or Participle Memory. If playing Go Fish,
for example, a player holding a card with the word “CATCH” on it would ask another player, “Do you have a
‘CAUGHT’?” and so on. If playing Rummy, a player holding a card with “SWUM” on it could pick up “SWIM”
from the discard pile (along with other cards on top of it), and lay down the match in view of the group.
For larger classes, make multiple decks so that several groups can play at once. You could even level the
decks for varying abilities, making one deck of -ed past participles, and one deck of irregular past participles.
Students always enjoy these games, and once the class is comfortable playing, the decks can be used
whenever a short activity is needed.
catch
say
caught
swum
swim
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Name ____________________________________________ Date ______________________
W R I T I N G AC T I V I T Y 4
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1.
Read the sample essay and answer the questions given.
2.
Think of some times in your life that you remember well. Think of some moments when you
felt happy, sad, scared, excited, nervous, or proud. They can be recent or from long ago. Pick
one of these memories to write about.
3.
Complete the prewriting sheet.
4.
Write (or type) a first draft of your story. (Don’t forget to double space!) Read it and add
more details.
5.
Your story should be at least _____________________ long.
6.
Make sure your story ends with a theme. Explain what you learned from this event.
7.
Print out the revised draft of your story. Put your brainstorming, first draft, and revised draft
together with this paper, paperclip them together and bring them to class.
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@a_bPab_R(paragraphs, length)
20 pts.
MMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMM
=_\PR``(questions, prewriting, first & revised drafts) 20 pts.
MMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMM
1R`P_V]aV\[(setting, characters, details, theme)
20 pts.
MMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMM
@]RYYV[T
20 pts.
MMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMM
4_NZZN_(punctuation, tenses, sentences, _________________ ) 20 pts.
MMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMM
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S A M P L E AU TO B I O G R A P HY
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I pushed through the crowd at the airport behind Fr. Law, a priest I had met just five
minutes before. He had come to pick me up when my flight arrived. He had gray hair,
blue eyes, and a crooked smile, and he seemed quite friendly. He was an American who
had lived in Nepal for over two decades. He wore white loose pants and a white tunic, as
was the custom of Nepali men.
I followed Fr. Law out into the bright sunlight, where he hailed a taxi and spoke
to the taxi driver in Nepali. It sounded so strange to me; I didn’t recognize any of the
Nepali words I had studied in the U.S. In the taxi, Fr. Law smiled at me and said, “Don’t
worry—you’ll understand Nepali very soon.”
“I hope so,” I answered, and looked out the window. As we drove around the outskirts
of Kathmandu, I was surprised at the one color I saw: brown. Everything was brown—
brown dirt roads, small brown houses, and row after row of brown huts. And there was
dust everywhere. Whenever the taxi stopped, sounds rushed in the windows. Highpitched music came from other cars and small, open stores. People called to each other
in Nepali. Cars and trucks roared and buzzed, and left trails of smoke behind them like
long, black tails. I could smell the pollution, as well as the curry from food cooking on
carts by the road.
When we pulled up to the house where I would live, I felt happy but scared. “Well,
here we are,” said Fr. Law, and smiled his crooked smile. “I’ll help you get your suitcase.”
“Thanks,” I said, and got out of the car. A small boy, maybe six years old, was
walking by, and stopped to stare at me. He was barefoot and wore dirty blue pants and
a buttoned shirt. “Hello,” I said, and he smiled, holding up both his hands in prayer
position to his forehead.
“He’s doing Namaste,” Fr. Law explained. Yes, I remembered, that’s the Nepali
greeting. Even though I felt nervous, I knew I would learn a lot in a place so different
from my home. Fr. Law was holding the front door of the house open for me, and I
walked in.
QUESTIONS 4
1. Find an example of sight, smell, and sound.
2. Give one interesting detail about Fr. Law.
3. What did the writer realize at the end?
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Name ______________________________________________ Date ____________________
P R E W R I T I N G S H E E T F O R W R I T I N G AC T I V I T Y 4
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1. Setting: Where did your story happen? _________________________________________
a. Describe the sights and colors:
b. Describe the light and weather:
c. Describe the sounds:
d. Describe the smells:
e. Describe any textures or temperatures:
f. Any tastes?
g. Look above at what you have written so far. Add one simile somewhere.
2. Characters: Pick the two main people in your story. Describe them.
a. Person #1: _________________________________________________
Build:
Face, hair, eyes:
Clothes (in this story only):
Smells:
Actions or habits they do:
Sayings:
b. Person #2: _________________________________________________
Build:
Face, hair, eyes:
Clothes (in this story only):
Smells:
Actions or habits they do:
Sayings:
3. Theme: What did you learn from this incident? What did you realize?
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