Writing Firsthand Biographies to Inform and Reflective Essays to ...

Grade Level

3-5 California Writing Project

Californianos Today: Writing Firsthand Biographies to Inform and Reflective Essays to Argue and Analyze Sandra Nevarez and CWP’s Standards and Culturally Responsive Instruction Inquiry Team

California Writing Project, University of California 4625 Tolman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720

Table of Contents Overview .............................................................................................................................................. 3 From Teacher to Teacher ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Text Resources ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Teaching Context .................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Text Types, Genres, Writing Prompts ............................................................................................................................... 4 Text Types/Genres.......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Genre Features for Firsthand Biography .......................................................................................................................... 4 Genre Features for Reflective Essay................................................................................................................................... 4 Writing Prompts ................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Biographical Sketch Writing Prompt: ........................................................................................................................ 4 Reflective Essay Writing Prompt: ................................................................................................................................ 5 Important Instructional Strategies ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Standards ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Common Core State Standards .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Writing Standards for ELA Fourth and Fifth Grades .............................................................................................. 6 Production and Distribution of Writing ..................................................................................................................... 6 Research to Build and Present Knowledge ............................................................................................................ 6 Range of Writing ............................................................................................................................................................ 7 English Language Development Standards Grades 4 and 5 .......................................................................................... 7 Collaborative: Expanding and Bridging.................................................................................................................. 7 Interpretive: Expanding and Bridging ...................................................................................................................... 7 Productive: Expanding and Bridging ....................................................................................................................... 7 Structuring Cohesive Texts: Expanding and Bridging .......................................................................................... 7 Expanding and Enriching Ideas ................................................................................................................................. 7 Connecting and Condensing Ideas: Expanding and Bridging ....................................................................... 7

Teaching Sequence ............................................................................................................................ 8 Lesson Objectives ................................................................................................................................................................. 8 Session One: Interviewing our Immigrant Parents or Grandparents ........................................................................... 8 Session Two: Firsthand Biography Writing About Immigrant Parents or Grandparents ....................................... 10 Firsthand Biography ..................................................................................................................................................... 10 Session Three: Linking Firsthand Biography to Reflecting on Characters and Themes .......................................... 12 Session Four: Moving from Connections to Thinking and Writing about Issues ..................................................... 12 Session Five: Writing a Reflective Essay ......................................................................................................................... 14 Reflective Essay Writing Prompt: .............................................................................................................................. 17

Reflections .......................................................................................................................................... 18 Extensions / What’s Next? ................................................................................................................................................. 18

Extension Resources .......................................................................................................................... 19 Instructional Resources...................................................................................................................................................... 19 Professional Resources ...................................................................................................................................................... 19

Learning From Student Work ............................................................................................................ 20 Firsthand Biography – Student Sample A ...................................................................................................................... 20 Annotation for Firsthand Biography – Student Sample A ........................................................................................... 20 Californianos Today: Writing Firsthand Biographies to Inform and Reflective Essays to Argue and Analyze

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Firsthand Biography – Student Sample B ....................................................................................................................... 20 Annotation for Firsthand Biography – Student Sample B ............................................................................................ 21 Reflective Essays ................................................................................................................................................................. 22 Reflective Essay – Student Sample A .............................................................................................................................. 22 Annotation for Reflective Essay – Student Sample A ................................................................................................... 23 Reflective Essay – Student Sample B ............................................................................................................................... 23 Annotation for Reflective Essay – Student Sample B .................................................................................................... 24 Reflective Essay – Student Sample C ............................................................................................................................... 24 Annotation for Reflective Essay – Student Sample C ................................................................................................... 25

Appendix ............................................................................................................................................ 26

Californianos Today: Writing Firsthand Biographies to Inform and Reflective Essays to Argue and Analyze

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Overview From Teacher to Teacher There is nothing like developing lessons and writing improvement practices with a group of teachers who are grappling with instructional questions and challenges similar to your own. I had the privilege of creating this lesson in an inquiry group of teachers of grades three through six. All of us were addressing this central question: How can we address the writing standards while making culturally relevant connections for our students and engaging them in critical thinking, both of which will be for them a catalyst for more academic, analytical writing? An important culturally relevant connection for my students and for me is our shared Californiano heritage. All of my fourth and fifth graders are first or second generation immigrants. All are Latino, and about a third of them are English learners. Only a few students have been recently redesignated as Fluent English Proficient. I was inspired to use culturally responsive themes of heritage to assist my students in examining their experiences, those of their immigrant families, and their place in their community. I wanted to scaffold our reading and writing sessions so that students could ponder questions that addressed cultural identity, immigration, attitudes toward languages and bilingualism, and their stake in California’s future. Questions would include: Who am I? What do I value? Why do I belong? Where am I bound? Giving my students an opportunity to grapple with answering these questions would help me use biographical writing, a genre they had been practicing, as a transition to a fourth- and fifth-grade version of a reflective essay, which would be a new genre for them. For all students, this is a difficult transition. A reflective essay that is grounded in literary analysis was not only a new genre for my students; it was also new for me as their teacher, and I struggled with how to make the transition more comprehensible for them. I needed to scaffold carefully the reflective, more abstract aspects of the thinking and writing, but I believed that what I would ask them to write was achievable with instructional support. They are living the issues of learning a new culture and language. They know the content. My responsibility was to help with genre and language support. I needed to help them understand that their views on these issues matter because they, too, will contribute to a greater understanding of who we are in our community, state, and country, what we value, why we belong, and where we are bound. I also wanted this lesson to be an instructional illustration of “literacy engagement and development in an intellectually challenging curriculum where thinking is valued: that is, a curriculum where all students, including English learners, are afforded the opportunities to think creatively, transform information, engage in inquiry-oriented activity, and construct their own understandings through participating in substantive conversations and, critically, are given the scaffolding and support to be successful” (Gibbons, 2009). This lesson, thanks to the support of my inquiry colleagues, is my attempt to provide my students a writing challenge and the support to meet it. You may be asking what do these two lessons have to do with Upstanders, Not Bystanders? Before we move next to learning how to write reports of information, I introduced my students to the concept of upstanders. We shared a read-around of our writing for the two lessons that follow here, and we charted when family members or literary characters were upstanding. Our next lesson: a report of information on a historical upstander. My charge: considering well the writing challenge and necessary genre and language support for my students.


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Text Resources Cohen, B. Molly’s Pilgrim. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books, 2002. Elya, S. M. Home at Last. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books, 2006. Flor Ada. A. Paths. Miami, FL: Santillana USA Publishing Company, 1999. Perez, A.I. My Diary From Here to There. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books, 2009. Perez, A.I. A Room of My Own. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books, 2008.

Teaching Context I developed this lesson sequence for students in a fourth-fifth grade, multi-age class in an urban elementary school. My students were either first-generation immigrants, or their parents or grandparents were. Several students were Spanish-speaking English learners.

Text Types, Genres, Writing Prompts Text Types/Genres  Firsthand biographical sketch writing followed by the writing of a reflective essay that uses selected literature and the students’ firsthand biographical sketches as the occasion for reflective response and connection.

Genre Features for Firsthand Biography In a Firsthand Biography, writers present a person to readers who do not know the person. They can present the person through details of appearance and manner, description of working or living environment, and habits or typical activities. They may compare the person to other people or narrate specific incidents involving the person. Firsthand Biography informs readers about the writer as well as about another person— writers reveal the personal quality of their relationship with the subject of the essay. Firsthand Biography blends narrative and informational examples and evidence, with the writer determining the balance of narrated incidents and descriptive details that characterize the subject of their biographical writing. (Adapted from the CAP Writing Assessment Handbook: Grade 8—Firsthand Biography)

Genre Features for Reflective Essay The writing of a successful reflective essay requires asks the writer to see connections. The writer moves from personal experience or a general concept or issue to explore possibilities, try out ideas, and reach beyond personal insights to a larger, more general significance. One possible pattern of organization for a reflective essay is to present a web of events and observations from reading “that show, by their interrelatedness, a theme underlying common human experiences.” (Adapted from CAP Writing Assessment Handbook: High School—Reflective Essay)

Writing Prompts Biographical Sketch Writing Prompt: Select someone in your family—an immigrant parent or grandparent—to interview and write about. Use your interview questions and your interview notes to decide what is the most important information to include in your biographical sketch. Include incidents or conversations that describe your parent’s or grandparent’s immigration experience and their experience in the United States. Did you learn anything surprising from your interview? Has it made you think of your parent or grandparent in new ways?


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Reflective Essay Writing Prompt: Think about what have you written about your issues and beliefs on your Getting Ready to Write Chart. What did you decide matters most for you write about? Why is that issue or belief so important? How does what we have read about Molly (Molly’s Pilgrim) and Ana (Home at Last) connect to what matters most for you? Does the experience of the person you wrote your firsthand biographical sketch about also connect to what matters most for you? Have you seen or done something that connects to what matters most for you? Now how can you tell your reader that what you believe about the issue you are writing about should matter to them, too?

Important Instructional Strategies        

Use of mentor texts and culturally responsive literature Genre feature analysis of biographical and reflective essay writing Teacher modeling of responding to literature and composing processes Scaffolding conversations and interviews for research and writing Linking the reading of a genre to the writing of the same genre Student writing conferences for feedback and formative assessment Individual conferences for specific language support Parents and grandparents as research partners and cultural experts


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Standards Common Core State Standards Writing Standards for ELA Fourth and Fifth Grades 4-2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. a. Introduce a topic clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic. c. Link ideas within categories of information using words and phrases (e.g., another, for example, also, because). d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. e. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented. 5-2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. a. Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic. c. Link ideas within and across categories of information using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., in contrast, especially). d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. e. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented.

Production and Distribution of Writing 4-4. Produce clear and coherent writing (including multiple paragraph texts) in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3.) 5-4. Produce clear and coherent writing (including multiple paragraph texts) in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3.) 4-5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including grade 4 on page 14.) 5-5. With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including grade 5 on page 14.)

Research to Build and Present Knowledge 4-7. Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic. 5-7. Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic. 4-8. Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes, paraphrase, and categorize information, and provide a list of sources. 5-8. Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources. Californianos Today: Writing Firsthand Biographies to Inform and Reflective Essays to Argue and Analyze

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4-9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. a. Apply grade 4 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., a character’s thoughts, words, or actions].”). 5-9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. a. Apply grade 5 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or a drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., how characters interact]”).

Range of Writing 4-10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. 5-10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

English Language Development Standards Grades 4 and 5 Collaborative: Expanding and Bridging 1. Exchanging of information/ideas 2. Interacting via written English

Interpretive: Expanding and Bridging 5. Listen Actively 6. Reading/viewing closely: a)

Productive: Expanding and Bridging 10. Writing 12. Selecting language resources

Structuring Cohesive Texts: Expanding and Bridging 1. Text structure 2. Cohesion

Expanding and Enriching Ideas 3, 4, and 5 tailored for individual support

Connecting and Condensing Ideas: Expanding and Bridging 6. Connecting ideas


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Teaching Sequence Lesson Objectives Students will:  gain understanding and appreciation for all classmates through learning about others, their families, and their heritage  feel valued for who they are and where they come from  learn to write their family stories and research in various informational and analytical genres, including biographical sketches and reflective essays  realize that they all have stories to tell and that their stories, though different, often have common threads and themes with the stories in the literature they read  build community and establish positive relationships with other students and their parents or guardians  connect their home and school lives  understand the power of the written word and the impact it can have on their lives.

Session One: Interviewing our Immigrant Parents or Grandparents 1. To set the stage for my students learning to write firsthand biographical sketches of immigrant family members, we spent extensive guided reading and free reading time on biographies about Latino writers, artists, political figures, and scientists and especially on books and stories that would speak directly to the issues of immigration and learning a new culture and language. 2. All of my students’ families are either first- or second-generation in California, as is mine. As we were reading and discussing biographies, we began talking about experiences in the books or stories that reminded them of their families, and I made sure to share mine. These discussions were oral rehearsal for their writing. 3. I informed my students and their parents that we would be working on a biography project about a family immigrant, and we would need their help and expertise. I asked the parents to work with their children to decide on the best person, parent or grandparent, for an interview about their immigrant experience. 4. For the interviews, I practiced with the students, using the questions on the next page. In whole-class and small-group discussions, they asked me the questions. As I shared my immigrant experience, I showed them ways that they could gather interview information—taking notes in their Writer’s Notebook, videoing with my phone for students whose parents had a similar phone, and sketching and labeling to remember. 5. My students needed about two weeks to conduct the interview and collect information and anecdotes from their parents or grandparents. As I hoped they would, the interviews gave my students extended time to talk with their family members about moving to a new country and learning a new language and culture. They were more than eager to write about these important family members.


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Questions for interviewing our immigrant parent or grandparent

COMING TO AMERICA

What country did you emigrate from?

Why did you immigrate to America?

When and how did you immigrate to America?

Did you come alone or with someone else?

What was your name get changed when you came to the U.S.?

If so, why and what was your name before?

THE BEGINNING

Did you know any English when you came to the U.S.?

If not, how did you learn and how long did it take you?

Did you experience any prejudice? How?

What was it like when you first came? Who did you stay with?

What was it like to learn a new language and a new culture?

Do you have any funny or sad story about this?

How did people treat you in America when you came?

YOUR OLD COUNTRY

What is it like in your old country?

What is life like here compared to your old country?

What do you miss about your old country?

WHAT ABOUT NOW?

How is your life now?

Do you like it better here in the U.S. or in your old country?

How do people treat you now?

What do you do or where do your work?

Is all of your family in the U.S.?

Do you go back to visit your old country? How often?

Used with permission of the California Writing Project.


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Session Two: Firsthand Biography Writing About Immigrant Parents or Grandparents Firsthand Biography 1. The writing prompt provides the focus for this stage. Select someone in your family—an immigrant parent or grandparent—to interview and write about. Use your interview questions and your interview notes to decide what is the most important information to include in your biographical sketch. Include incidents or conversations that describe the immigration experience of your parent or grandparent and their experience in the United States. Did you learn anything surprising from your interview? Has it made you think of your parent or grandparent in new ways? Now that my students had their interview notes, we could begin transforming their research information in a firsthand biographical sketch. 2. My students had considerable practice in writing narratives of their experiences and observations. But they did not have any practice in sorting through interview information or Quick Writes to find an anecdote, or a lesson learned, or a character trait that might become the focus for their biographical sketch. They also had little practice in organizing and categorizing their interview notes for use in discussion or writing. To help them, I adapted Bernabei’s text structure chains to help my students see the many possibilities for developing and organizing their biographical sketch.


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