How to Use Authentic Literature
as a Model for Writing Memoirs
with ELL/ESL Students
Tobey
Bassoff
One of
my favorite series as a child was Anne of Green
Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. In the series,
Gilbert tells Anne that to be successful as a writer she needs
to write about what she knows. When faced with one of my toughest
ESL classes yet, I remembered this advice and I found my way
to the most successful writing project I have ever done with
ESL students.
Each year, I host publishing parties in which families and
community members help us celebrate students’ finished
writing pieces. (See Including
ESL Parents in the Classroom for more information
on publishing parties). Usually, the first event is held two
months after the school year begins, which is ample time to
have two or three pieces published. However, when I began this
school year, early writing assessments showed that the majority
of students had no concept of capitalization, punctuation, or
grammar rules in English. To make matters worse, they didn’t
know the rules in their native language either. While many of
the students were reading between first and third grade levels,
they had little to no experience writing. After a moment of
disbelief passed, I remembered Gilbert’s advice and sought
to have the children write about what they knew best: themselves.
I knew that the students had to see models of good literature
first, and then be taught how to use that literature as a springboard
for their own writing. In Cynthia Rylant’s book, When
I Was Young in the Mountains, a young girl recounts
growing up with her grandparents in the mountains. Rylant’s
book jumped out as an ideal model for students to create their
own memoirs. I began by reading the book to them several times.
Drawing on their knowledge of story maps and reading comprehension
skills, I helped them unpack the meaning behind the story and
the author’s purpose. I then introduced them to the idea
of creating their own “When I was young in…”
books. I made multiple copies of the books available for student
use and the students and I designed a workshop routine for writing
our books. The routine looked like this:
- Mini-Lesson by Ms. Bassoff
- Writing Time
- Sharing Time
During mini-lessons, I taught grammar concepts from the book.
I also used the book to talk about organization and voice in
writing. Our writing time included generating a list of our
most significant childhood memories, preparing drafts, editing
our work, and illustrating our books. Sharing time consisted
of conferring with classmates to clarify our ideas, reading
our books, and offering advice to each other about our ideas.
Even I participated in the project!
The results were amazing. Students, from learning disabled to
gifted, participated with an eagerness I’ve seldom seen
in early writers. They begged me to stay in for recess to work
on their stories, which they were especially excited to share
with their parents and extended families. Rylant’s repetitive
format offered them an approachable way to tell their own stories
of growing up in Toluca, Mexico or Juarez, Mexico. Not only
did I learn about the students and how challenging many of their
lives were and are, but I also watched them gain basic writing
skills in a short period of time.
I directed them to use resources like writing guides, dictionaries,
and thesauruses, which further helped
their language skills. The students came to love Rylant’s
book and more than that they LOVED telling their own stories,
which had meaning for them. As they studied the literature,
they became wildly curious about the structure of other Rylant
books. Questions that popped up included: “Are all books
written this way?” “Why did Rylant choose to write
the book this way?” “What are some other ways we
could tell our stories?”
In addition to being a powerful learning experience for ESL
learners, the activity was differentiated for the few students
in my class that were advanced in writing and for the two students
who had severe writing disabilities. Gifted students worked
on strengthening their writing by using the concept of figurative
language: personification, similes, and metaphors. I also encouraged
them to use synonyms to refine their
stories. For the two students who had writing disabilities,
I had the students dictate their first few ideas. Then, I modeled
how the sentence should look in terms of spacing and capital
letters. Once they were comfortable with the pattern, they wrote
their stories down sentence by sentence.
The publishing party was a huge success! Volunteers and teachers
who had worked with some of the students in
past years cried as they read what the students wrote.
Many of them came up to me in utter disbelief at the gains the
students made in such a short time. They also remarked on how
excited the students were to share their work. In addition,
many of the students dressed up for the party and several district
administrators attended, including our superintendent.
Good old Gilbert was right, by writing about what we know,
we are successful. The students learned his lesson, and so did
I.
Questions or comments? E-mail Tobey. |
