EXPLORING PERSONAL NARRATIVE

A Drawing/Illustration Minilesson Activity

Kathy Jhugdeo

Purpose

The goal of this minilesson is to allow students to use their creativity to produce a drawing or illustration that represents them.� Through this activity, students will be able to explore their individuality and uniqueness through drawing.� By learning how to express themselves in creative ways, students are learning that writing is not the only form of self expression in the ELA classroom.� The Drawing/Illustration Minilesson Activity will serve as the culminating activity to wrap up our study of personal narratives.� Students will use their drawing/illustration to accompany their personal narrative and will use it as an artifact in their Reading/Writing Portfolios.

Objectives

NCSC:� 7^th grade

Competency Goal 5:� The learner will respond to various literary genres using interpretive and evaluative processes.

5.02 Study the characteristics of literary genres (fiction, nonfiction, drama, and poetry) through:

• Analyzing ho the author�s choice and use of a genre shapes the meaning of a literary work.

NCTE/IRA:� Grade 7

Standard 12: Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g. for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information)

Time Required:� 30 minutes

Activity:� Students create drawing/illustrations to represent personal narratives.

Follow Up:� Drawing/Illustration as artifact in Reading/Writing Portfolio

Materials Needed:

Drawing paper (legal document size)

Crayons

Markers

Colored pencils

Students may also use their own materials

Script:

(You should have all materials set out on a table for students to have easy access to.)� Good morning class. Yesterday we discussed our minilesson activity that you would be participating in today.� I hope that you have come to class prepared today.� You should have brought with you a copy of your personal narrative.� Today, you will be creating a drawing/illustration to accompany your personal narrative that will serve as an artifact in your Reading/Writing Portfolio. (There may be some students who did not bring their personal narrative.) You will be given a sheet of drawing paper and I have also provided many different kinds of drawing supplies to help you create illustrations.� Before we start working on our illustrations, I want to ask you a question:� What do you think your illustrations should represent?� (Possible answers include:� I should draw a picture of me, they should represent something I like, they should represent things I like to do or my hobbies.)� (Clarify for students explicitly the purpose of the illustration activity.)� This illustration activity is to specifically represent your personal narrative that you have written.� You may want to draw a scene from your narrative or a draw a specific event.� I want you to be really creative and fun with this assignment, but please do not merely have illustrations that do not have any connection to your personal narrative.� ( Allow students to have 30 minutes to work on the activity, and if they have not finished they may take their drawing/illustrations home and finish them.)

Follow Up:� Thank you for working so hard on your drawing/illustrations of your personal narrative.� You will now be able to use these as an artifact in your Reading/Writing Portfolios.� I hope that you have enjoyed this activity.� Activities like this one, usually seem less difficult than they really are.� I hope that you have learned more about yourself through this activity.� I also hope that this activity has helped you experience a different way of self expression that is equally as challenging as writing.�