Tapestry of Tales: Stories of Self, Family, and Community Provide
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TAPESTRY OF TALES Stories of Self, Family, and Community Provide Rich Fabric for Learning Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory This monograph is part of a series from NWREL to assist in school improvement. Publications are available in five areas: Re-Engineering—Assists schools, districts, and communities in reshaping rules, roles, structures, and relationships to build capacity for long-term improvement Quality Teaching and Learning—Provides resources and strategies for teachers to improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment by promoting professional learning through reflective, collegial inquiry School, Family, and Community Partnerships—Promotes child and youth success by working with schools to build culturally responsive partnerships with families and communities Language and Literacy—Assists educators in understanding the complex nature of literacy development and identifying multiple ways to engage students in literacy learning that result in highly proficient read- ers, writers, and speakers Assessment—Helps schools identify, interpret, and use data to guide planning and accountability TAPESTRY OF TALES Stories of Self, Family, and Community Provide Rich Fabric for Learning August 2005 Amy Stuczynski Joyce Riha Linik Rebecca Novick Jean Spraker Patti Tucci Debbie Ellis Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, OR Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500 Portland, Oregon 97204 503-275-9500 www.nwrel.org [email protected] Center for Classroom Teaching and Learning Kit Peixotto, Senior Program Director Literacy and Language Development Unit Rebecca Novick, Unit Director © Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2005 All Rights Reserved ISBN 0-89354-021-8 978-0-89354-021-0 This project has been funded at least in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under contract number ED-01-CO-0013. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial prod- ucts, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. government. Information in this publication may be reproduced and distributed without permission for nonprofit edu- cational and professional development purposes. Please acknowledge NWREL as the source. Visit the Tapestry of Tales Web site: www.nwrel.org/tapestry/ or send an e-mail message to [email protected] header Contents PREFACE . .v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . ..ix HOW TO USE THIS GUIDEBOOK . .xi TAPESTRY OF TALES: SHARED VOICES, SHARED MEMORIES, SHARED LIVES . .1 Introduction . .1 Stories in the Lives of Children . .3 Inviting Personal Narratives Into the Classroom . .8 Family Stories . .18 Community Stories . .23 Connecting Reading and Writing . .29 Conclusion . .45 PRACTITIONER EXAMPLES FROM PRIMARY GRADES Doing Things With Words in the Real World Preschoolers Discover the Power of the Written Word . .53 All About Me Beginning Writers Gain Confidence by Writing About Themselves . .59 Riding la Alfombra Mágica ESL Students Explore Their Roots Through Writing . .65 Bear Tales Alaska Students Share Stories About Their Furry Neighbors and Learn Literacy Skills in the Process . .71 Happily Ever After Fairy Tales and Folktales Build Connections With Families . .79 To Dream the Possible Dream Russian Students Learn About Their Community and Future Career Opportunities Through a Literacy Project . .85 Connections in Time Students Involve Village Elders in a Community Calendar Project . .95 PRACTITIONER EXAMPLES FROM INTERMEDIATE GRADES “Where I’m From” Poetry That Shares Our Personal Worlds . .107 “I Am Yup’ik”: Poems From Kwethluk Village School . .108 Opening the Door to Parents: Poems From Blue Creek Sixth-Graders . .113 A Multicultural Classroom: Poems From Atkinson Elementary . .117 The Family Stories Book Investigating the Stories Told in Students’ Families Leads to a Book Full of Treasures . .121 iii header The Family Heritage Museum Students Investigate Their Heritage and Honor Their Family Hero . .131 Great-Grandma’s Footsteps Seeking Family Roots Inspires Students To Study Countries Around the World . .141 Juggling With Words Students Write Biographies About Local Senior Citizens . .151 Strawberry Fields Forever ESL Students Investigate the Crop That Sustains Their Community and Learn Academic and Life Skills in the Process . .159 A Talking Book Using Technology, Students Share Their Culture Statewide . .173 PRACTITIONER EXAMPLES FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL/HIGH SCHOOL “I Am a Poet!” Transforming Students Into Writers in a Small Alaska School . .183 Essays That Honor High School Students Publish Local Bestsellers . .193 The House That Simon Built Students Investigate the History of a North Portland Mansion . .203 You Could Write for Hallmark Students Draw and Write About Historic Buildings . .211 Winds of Change Through the Montana Heritage Project, Students Preserve the Past and Prepare for the Future . .217 The Roots of Nikiski Alaskan Students Discover Their Heritage and Leave a Legacy of Their Own . .227 Big Learning in a Small Community Yup’ik Students Discover Important Things About Where They Are From Through Writing . .235 Describing Aleknagik Middle Schoolers Write a Book About Life in Their Alaskan Village . .243 Rediscovering Coyote and Raven The Ancient Art of Spirit Masks Moves Into the Digital Age . .251 HANDOUTS 1. Professional Study Group Discussion Questions . .261 2. Children’s and Young Adult Literature To Support Writing About Self, Family, and Community . .269 3. The Reading-Writing Relationship . .277 4. 13 Core Understandings About Learning To Read . .279 APPENDICES A. Writers on Writing: Professional Resources . .283 B. Writing Project Web Sites . .295 C. Multicultural Web Sites . .301 REFERENCES . .307 iviv header Preface Purpose This resource guide provides information on how teachers from preschool through high school can use personal, family, and community stories to: • Bring students’ narrative voice into the classroom • Enrich teaching and learning by tapping into students’ knowledge, lives, families, culture, and community • Engage and motivate students to write • Reinforce reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking connections and competencies This guide is divided into two main parts: a literature review and practitioner examples. The research and literature reviewed explore the topics of writing instruction and the importance of personal, family, and community stories. The practitioner examples describe projects teachers have implemented that use personal, family, and community stories. The examples draw on the insights and practices of teachers to show how schools in the messy, real world of the classroom are creating innovative and effective strategies to meet the needs of our increasingly diverse student population. Rationale The need to address writing skills is pervasive. In the Northwest states, fewer than 35 percent of students achieved proficiency on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing assessment in 2002. Motivated by concern within the educa- tion, business, and policymaking communities about the quality of student writing, the College Board established a blue-ribbon panel, the National Commission on Writ- ing in America’s Schools and Colleges. Their April 2003 report, The Neglected “R”: The Need for a Writing Revolution, calls for an increase in the amount of time and money devoted to student writing throughout the country, across grade levels and subject areas. The report stresses the educational value of writing, explaining, “If students are to make knowledge their own, they must struggle with the details, wrestle with the facts, and rework raw information and dimly understood concepts into language they can com- municate to someone else. In short, if students are to learn, they must write” (p. 9). The commission argues that more professional development is needed to help teachers understand good writing and develop as writers themselves. Lacking any real under- standing of what good writing looks like, teachers will be ill-equipped to teach it. The literature review in this document begins by exploring the role of narrative as a way of understanding personal and other experiences (Bruner, 1983, 1986, 1996; McGinley & Kamberelis, 1996; Wells, 1986). Geertz (2000) explains that “it is not so v Preface much a matter of providing something the child hasn’t got as enabling something the child already has: the desire to make sense of self and others” (p. 192). Researchers have found that an understanding of narrative has a powerful influence on school success. Children who tell and hear stories at home before the age of four are the most likely to learn to read easily and with interest once they get to school (Wells, 1986). Feagans and Appelbaum (1986) have concluded that “narrative ability is the single most important language ability for success in school” (p. 359). Of course, the quality of students’ writing also depends on their skill and craft. As the literature review illustrates, good writing demands higher order thinking skills (National Writing Project & Nagin, 2003); immersion in literature (Bearse, 1992; Engel, 1997; Harwayne, 1992); attention to craft (Fletcher & Portalupi, 1998); and authentic audiences (Ministry of Education, 1992; Shanahan, 1988). Design This document is guided by the seven instructional principles proposed by Timothy Shanahan (National Reading Panel member and chair of the National Literacy Panel and the National Early Literacy Panel),