4
Robin Adamopoulos
Mini-Lesson Plan
EDUC 547 ESOL Methods
Fall, 2004
Rhetorical Structures Photo Essay: Language Experience Activity
Audience: ESL class, or English/Language Arts Class with high concentration of ELLs -- Upper Elementary/Middle School Grades 4-7
Proficiency: Beginner/ intermediate
Objectives:
1.) Students will acquire an understanding of rhetorical structures in text to help build strategies for reading comprehension and organization in their own writing.
2.) Students will create a photographic personal narrative using an organizational structure selected from three storyboard patterns. (See attached)
3.) Students will write a narrative based on their photographs. This narrative can be dictated to the instructor, as a Language Experience Approach activity, or written by the student with assistance from the instructor or a mentor/peer tutor.
Materials:
Disposable cameras: enough for the students to each have one or at least one to share between no more than 3 students.
Poster Board, Markers and Glue stick
Or: Digital cameras, scanner and software (such as Adobe Photoshop) to organize the photos.
Procedure:
1.) Students will be introduced to the project through a model prepared by the instructor.
2.) The student can decide an organizational schema for his/her storyboard based on the chart attached (Sinatra, Beaudry et.al. 176). An alternative plan, depending upon the proficiency of the students, would have the teacher dictate the organizational schema. The model for this lesson is based on a thematic organization or item (B) in the figure attached (Sinatra, Beaudry et.al. 176).
3.) Students can either “cut and paste” their photos on to a poster board, using markers to write their headings, or use the digital technology to compose their project with integrated text and images.
4.) When the photo essay is complete, students will use the essay as the basis for constructing a short narrative. Themes for the narrative could include:
a.) Describing why the student chose these particular pictures and why he/she chose to organize them in this manner.
b.) Answering the question :What I need to live -- and why these objects/people in the photo essay are important to the student’s life.
Time Frame:
1.) Students will need adequate time to take photos and/or gather photos of their own to include in the composition. This unit allows three weeks for this process: to give time for students who may need to share cameras and allow time for photo processing. Digital technology would enable the project to be completed in a shorter time frame.
2.) The actual construction of the project could be done in a 50 minute class period or divided between two days. This unit allows two days, taking into account the shorter attention span of young students.
3.) The writing of the narrative could be done over two class periods. The students would dictate or write the draft of the narrative on one day, and revise the draft to complete a final, finished product on the second day.
Assessment:
Formative Assessment:
The instructor should monitor the progress of the project at various stages and consult with students about their plans. The instructor should note which students are having difficulty with organizing the project, and if this is due to language proficiency issues.
Summative Assessments:
The narrative will be assessed based on a process writing approach – content and organization will be scored first with grammar and style as secondary concerns.
A suggested rubric for the photographic essay follows.
Assignment / Outstanding(5) / Target
(3.5) / Unacceptable
(1)
Photo Essay:
1.) Variety of photos presented. / More than 3 photos for each category / 3 photos only / Less than 3 photos
2.) Photos are consistent with the theme. / All photos consistent with the theme. / Most photos consistent with theme. One or two that may not be consistent. / Fewer than three photos consistent with the theme.
3.) Follows organizational schema. / Excellent organization. Audience can easily follow the organizational schema without explanation from photographer. / Organization is consistent with the theme. One or two photos may need some clarification of the photographer’s choice. / Poor Organizational Schema. Difficult to understand the reasoning for the placement of the photos.
4.)Neatness/Creativity / Very neat. Photographs are labeled appropriately. Visually pleasing. / Neat. One or two labels may be missing or not spelled correctly.
Visual appearance must be acceptable. / Sloppy. Photos are not placed well. No labels or very few, poorly written.
Reference:
Sinatra, Richard, Jeffrey S. Beaudry, Josephine Stahl-Gemake, E. Francine Guastello.
(1998) “Combining Visual Literacy, Text Understanding, and Writing for Culturally Diverse Students.” Literacy Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Ed. Michael F. Opitz. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 173-179.