• Bahsir (Robert Gowens)

    Barkley L. Hendricks, Bahsir (Robert Gowens). Oil and acrylic on canvas, 83 ½ x 66. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

  • Love Mom

    Beverly McIver, Love Mom. Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

  • Ivenlaw III (study)

    Kehinde Wiley, Ivelaw III (study). Pencil and oil on paper, 27 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches. Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

  • Lovely Six Foota

    Mickalene Thomas, Lovely Six Foota. Chromogenic print, 56 5/16 x 67 3/8 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

  • In the Garden

    Romare Bearden, In the Garden from American Portfolio. Lithograph on paper, 28 3/4 x 21 1/4 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

Fictional Narratives

English Language Arts

Grade 1

5: American Contributions

5 30-minute lessons

narrative writing


How do artists shape our world?
How do artists inspire each other?


I can write a story based on a work of art.

Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Day 1

“Today you are going to pick a work of art that you haven’t written about yet, and instead of expressing an opinion, you’re going to pick what you see as an event, as one small moment in a story. You don’t have to pick a favorite, just pick a work that you think tells a story. I’ll give you 30 seconds to examine each picture and to consider it.”

Start timer and allow students to choose their images.

Plan

“I’m choosing ____, and now I have to decide whether I want this small moment here to be the beginning of my story, the middle of my story, or the end. To make my plan, I’m going to make a little representation of this picture in my graphic organizer, and then I’m going to fill in the other parts of the story. Who can help me?” (take ideas from students and label character names, setting, events, cause/effect, etc).

Ask a student to review/ remind instructions (plan with NEW portrait in beginning, middle, end; draw other parts; label characters, events, setting, etc.).

Distribute graphic organizer papers.

Have students work independently on plan; circulate to monitor work progress and to pull small groups for conferences.

Day 2: Draft

“All of you worked yesterday on your plan. You should have your portrait placed in your graphic organizer, and you should have at least three labels in each section to help you when it’s time to start your draft.”

Display yesterday’s model plan.

“Here’s the plan we made together yesterday. Who can use what they see — words and pictures — to remind us of what we need to put in our drafts?” Use VTS technique to review plan.

Model draft. Refer to plan to write at least six (imperfect) sentences expressing thoughts contained in the plan. Talk through your thought process as you model.

“Did I use all of the notes I made on my plan?”

Have a student review instructions: we are finishing our plans and starting on our drafts.

Dismiss students to tables to work on drafts.

Circulate to tables to make notes on students process and choose small groups for conferencing.

Day 3(-4): Revise

Gather students. Ask for a volunteer to review what the class is doing (using familiar portraits to inspire us to write stories).

“The next step after writing a draft is…? Revision! Revision is…? Making a written piece sound better by making sure it makes sense, sounds good, and by adding details.”

Read aloud the group draft. “Is this the best it can be? What changes can we make?” (Add details in the form of adjectives, consequences to actions, use all 5 senses, etc.)

“When you work on your revisions, I want you to pick at least one noun from the beginning, middle, and end sections and add an adjective. After that, I want you to check to see which senses are missing. Then look to see if there are any more moments that you can add to make your story more exciting. Finally, you can add an introduction and a conclusion.

“Would anyone like to share their draft with the group and get some suggestions for revisions?” (2-3 students)

Have a student review instructions: Revise via sense details, more events, and intro/conclusion.

Circulate to identify students who need more guidance and to monitor partner revisions.

Day 4(-5): Editing

Solicit 2-3 students to share their progress by reading aloud. Give support because some will probably have a hard time reading because of mistakes that need to be edited; great segue!

“Today we are going to work on EDITING. Editing is…? Making it look good! That means we start every sentence and proper noun with an upper-case letter; our words have spaces between them; our word-wall words are spelled correctly; and we have correct punctuation at the end of our sentences. This way, new readers will be able to get the story we want them to get!”

Have students return to their desks to edit. Circulate to make sure they’re on task and to offer support and/or conferencing.

Solicit some students to share their progress.

Day 5: Publishing and Sharing

“When you are finished with all of the steps of the writing process, does your draft look beautiful? No! Publishing means you are putting all of your work and changes into a new copy that a new reader can understand and appreciate.”

Have students work independently to publish. Circulate to offer support/conferencing.

When students feel convinced they are finished, they may meet to conference/share with each other.

End of class: Read aloud or let students read aloud their own stories.

Differentiation and Modifications:

Beyond Grade Level: Put two or more images together to make the plan.

Below Grade Level: Labeled plan; one sentence each for beginning, middle, end.

Assessment

4 3 2 1
Writing process Student followed and kept track of her/his progress through the 5 steps of the writing process. Student followed and kept track of her/his progress through 4 steps of the writing process. Student followed and kept track of her/his progress through 3 total steps of the writing process. Student followed and kept track of her/his progress through 2 or fewer steps of the writing process.
Writing product Student has written 6 or more complete sentences in response to the prompt, using language that connects their feelings to artistic techniques and providing examples as evidence to support her/his opinions. Student has written 6 distinct thoughts in response to the prompt. Student’s work is 2 or fewer complete sentences or does not stay focuses on the prompt. Student did not follow prompt or did not produce.
Writing mechanics CUPS followed all the time. CUPS followed most of the time. Some CUPS mechanics displayed. Almost no complete sentences, capitalization, spacing, correct letter formation, or punctuation.
Participation Student followed agreed-upon rules, listening and building upon partners’ thoughts all the time. Student followed agreed-upon rules, listening and building upon partners’ thoughts most of the time. Student followed agreed-upon rules, listening and building upon partners’ thoughts some of the time. Student followed agreed-upon rules, listening and building upon partners’ thoughts rarely or not at all.

Materials Needed

writing paper, timer, beginning-middle-end graphic organizer

Vocabulary

fiction, narrative, portrait, inspire, sequence, details

Artwork in this Lesson

  • Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
    • Barkley Hendricks | Bahsir (Robert Gowens)
    • Beverly McIver | Love Mom
    • Kehinde Wiley | Ivenlaw III (study)
    • Mickalene Thomas | Lovely Six Foota
    • Romare Bearden | In the Garden