Weaving picture books into narrative writing

Children's picture books are the perfect medium for mini-lessons in narrative writing. Teachers provide books which demonstrate the qualities the students need to develop in their own writing.

A lesson plan for grade 4 English Language Arts

By Jan Caldwell

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Related topics

• Learn more about compare and contrast, graphic organizers, language arts, read-alouds, and story mapping.

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Learning outcomes

Students will use children’s picture books to identify and model components of narrative writing such as:

• Character development
• Story endings
• Relevant description/elaboration
• Dialogue
• Emotions
• Humor

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

5 days

Materials/resources

• Picture books that illustrate personal or imaginary narrative. For example:
  • Airmail to the Moon by Tom Birdseye (humor, character development, story endings, dialogue, emotions)
  • The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Hakes Noble (dialogue, humor, story ending)
  • The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (character development, emotions, story endings)
  • The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, by Jon Scieszka (character development, humor)
  • The Market Square Dog by James Herriot (character development, story endings)
  • The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills (character development, story endings, emotions)
  • The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant (relevant description/elaboration, emotions, humor)
• Chart paper and markers for whole class and small groups
• Graphic organizer models such as “Thinking Maps” or your choice

Technology resources

Inspirations by Inspiration Software, Inc. is a visual development tool for developing ideas and plans and communicating them. It is a way for children to create graphic organizers on the computer. This program may be used in place of chart paper as a way to integrate technology.

Pre-activities

At read-aloud story time, I always talk about the qualities of good writing, various writing techniques, different literary genre, and special features some authors include in their books. Students need to hear what good writing sounds like so they can make their own writing better. The suggested literary elements are by no means exclusive, for the best books contain many good qualities. Students come to fourth grade with a wide range of experiences in writing. A common problem for many fourth graders is that they write a “story” or narrative in the first person voice, especially the imaginary narrative. I begin the year by reading stories written from various points of view. Examples of first person books that are not necessarily narratives are:

• The Pain and the Great One, by Judy Blume (character development)
• More Than Anything Else, by Marie Bradby (emotions)
• Big Mama’s, by Donald Crews (relevant description/elaboration)
• My Little Island, by Frane Lessac (relevant description/elaboration)
• When I Was Young in the Mountains, by Cynthia Rylant (character development and relevant description)

Activities

1. Read aloud to class a picture book written in the first person voice which illustrates personal or imaginary narrative writing.
2. On a chart, complete a “Story Map” listing characters, setting, problem, events, and solution, so that students see the logical sequence of events and resolution within the overall action of the narrative.
3. Complete a character map to identify character traits which are linked to action in a story. Write the names of main characters in squares on the map. In connecting ovals on the map, list qualities of the characters, and in connecting circles, list actions to support those traits or qualities.
4. Compare two characters in different books after doing several character maps. For example, compare character development in The Rag Coat and The Relatives Came.
5. List a literary element, such as humor, in a circle in the center of a chart. Then list the events or describing words which illustrate the literary element in connecting ovals. Using a Venn Diagram, compare the humor in two of the books, or use a data matrix to compare humor in three or more books.
6. Divide the class into cooperative groups or pairs. Each group should have two or more picture books of their own to read together. They then create similar charts to the ones modeled and created by the teacher and the whole class to compare one element in their picture books (such as humor, endings, beginnings, etc.).

Assessment

• Use the products created by the cooperative group activity to determine whether the children as a group were able to identify the components of narrative writing.
• To assess individually whether the children can model the techniques that were identified in the large and small groups, instruct the children to:
  • Take written notes or tape an interview with a peer, parent, or grandparent about a holiday or special family event.
  • Write a personal or imaginary narrative based on the event.
  • Use the four point rubric, “Focused Holistic Scoring Guide,” provided by the NCDPI to assess whether the students included a main idea, supporting detail, organization, and coherence.
  • Use a highlighter with the child in individual or small group conferences to locate the literary elements (such as humor, dialogue, or emotions) in the students’ writing that were illustrated and identified in the picture books.

Supplemental information

Useful Resources:

• Teaching Narrative, Write on, Grades 3-5, published by the NC Department of Public Instruction.
• Weaving Literature into Writing, published by Orange County Public Schools, Orlando, Florida, July 1986.

Comments

Children should be invited to continue to find examples in literature of narrative writing. These examples could be shared by students during story time.