Language Art Learning Activities
A great way to integrate English instruction and technology into many areas of the curriculum is through writing and publishing online. For example, a unit on the Hero's Journey and heroes in history can open by giving students a chance to explore the Heroe's Journey. Below is an eBook that includes some factual information about the Hero's Journey. It was created using the online book tool http://bookbuilder.cast.org/. The second example is a student-written hero tale created in Storybird. A detailed lesson plan follows.
Your Hero’s Journey for the 21st Century
This lesson uses the interactive site at ReadWriteThink to help students write an original short story that follows the pattern of the classic hero’s tale. Students need to know the basics of story creation – character, conflicts, resolution — before they can write, as well as a brief overview of the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization. Use e-book presentation or the summary at http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero's_journey.htm.
After students have written their hero's tale, students use their narrative to create an illustrated e-book online at storybird.com. Students will embed their book on the class wiki and comment on each other’s stories.
Guiding Questions
Learning Objectives
· Identify heroes from real life and fiction.
· Understand the term archetype and the basic story structures of the hero tale.
· Identify the basics of story creation – character, conflicts, resolution
Once upon a time . . . There were the bards, sorcerers, and magicians who were the storytellers. They conjured webs of intrigue and excitement; treachery and death; rebirth and forgiveness. These people were our writers, filmmakers, musicians and folklorists, and they were the keepers of our social and psychological well-being. Their words created our cultural narrative, guided us through adversity, and illuminated the darkest caverns of our collective subconscious. They helped us navigate to … happily ever after. Then . . . Along came the internet. In the mid-nineties -- the dawn of the internet -- blogging software made it easy for anyone to publish their stories to the internet. Then in late 1999, internet audio enabled anyone with a computer to create an entire radio network and reach far more listeners than even the largest, single, traditional AM/FM station. Today, we live in a world where the average teenager has more video production capacity in her pocket than all three TV networks circa 1955, combined. So, this means our stories are now in the hands of the masses.
This democratization of storytelling means that everyone is a storyteller. And when everyone is a storyteller, our cultural narrative begins to shift from a sweeping epic hero's journey to stories like "here's me @ the zoo." Or worse. Clearly we need to better understand what makes a great hero story and how will the heroes of the 21st century need different skills and abilities than those of before? Adapted from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/heros-journey-21st-century-betty-ray .
Lesson Activities
Activity 1 View the introductory presentation at http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=64160&page=1
Activity 2 Go to http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/herosjourney/ and write your story. Be sure to copy and paste each segment into a Word document to print.
Activity 3 Go to http://storybird.com/books/-940/?token=y9w9rr and look at the student example. Next, go to http://storybird.com/accounts/signup/ and create an account. Create your story.
Activity 4 Go to our wiki site at https://kkmizmo.wikispaces.com/Our+Hero+Tales and paste the link to your story next to your name. Use the Questions for Reflection to make two insightful comments about other stories.
Questions for Reflection
· What is your ordinary world?
· What are your challenges?
· What strengths (or superhero powers) are you using to overcome these challenges?
· Who are your helpers?
· Whom are you helping?
· How do you and others benefit from your actions?
· Who are you online vs in person?
· Are you "real" online? Are others?
· How can we use our community online and off to prevent cyberbullying?
· What else can we create together?
Objectives -- Common Core state Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation and its significance, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole and build toward a particular tone and outcome (e.g., a sense of mystery, suspense, growth, or resolution).
d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.
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.)
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 11–12 on page 54.)
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
After students have written their hero's tale, students use their narrative to create an illustrated e-book online at storybird.com. Students will embed their book on the class wiki and comment on each other’s stories.
Guiding Questions
- What is a hero, and how has my life been a hero’s journey?
- What have been my choices and how have I overcome my own obstacles?
- What are my own strengths and limitations?
Learning Objectives
· Identify heroes from real life and fiction.
· Understand the term archetype and the basic story structures of the hero tale.
· Identify the basics of story creation – character, conflicts, resolution
Once upon a time . . . There were the bards, sorcerers, and magicians who were the storytellers. They conjured webs of intrigue and excitement; treachery and death; rebirth and forgiveness. These people were our writers, filmmakers, musicians and folklorists, and they were the keepers of our social and psychological well-being. Their words created our cultural narrative, guided us through adversity, and illuminated the darkest caverns of our collective subconscious. They helped us navigate to … happily ever after. Then . . . Along came the internet. In the mid-nineties -- the dawn of the internet -- blogging software made it easy for anyone to publish their stories to the internet. Then in late 1999, internet audio enabled anyone with a computer to create an entire radio network and reach far more listeners than even the largest, single, traditional AM/FM station. Today, we live in a world where the average teenager has more video production capacity in her pocket than all three TV networks circa 1955, combined. So, this means our stories are now in the hands of the masses.
This democratization of storytelling means that everyone is a storyteller. And when everyone is a storyteller, our cultural narrative begins to shift from a sweeping epic hero's journey to stories like "here's me @ the zoo." Or worse. Clearly we need to better understand what makes a great hero story and how will the heroes of the 21st century need different skills and abilities than those of before? Adapted from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/heros-journey-21st-century-betty-ray .
Lesson Activities
Activity 1 View the introductory presentation at http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=64160&page=1
Activity 2 Go to http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/herosjourney/ and write your story. Be sure to copy and paste each segment into a Word document to print.
Activity 3 Go to http://storybird.com/books/-940/?token=y9w9rr and look at the student example. Next, go to http://storybird.com/accounts/signup/ and create an account. Create your story.
Activity 4 Go to our wiki site at https://kkmizmo.wikispaces.com/Our+Hero+Tales and paste the link to your story next to your name. Use the Questions for Reflection to make two insightful comments about other stories.
Questions for Reflection
· What is your ordinary world?
· What are your challenges?
· What strengths (or superhero powers) are you using to overcome these challenges?
· Who are your helpers?
· Whom are you helping?
· How do you and others benefit from your actions?
· Who are you online vs in person?
· Are you "real" online? Are others?
· How can we use our community online and off to prevent cyberbullying?
· What else can we create together?
Objectives -- Common Core state Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation and its significance, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole and build toward a particular tone and outcome (e.g., a sense of mystery, suspense, growth, or resolution).
d. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative.
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.)
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 11–12 on page 54.)
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.