Lindsey+Adams


 * Unit Title: ** Collaborative Story
 * Name of Preparer: ** Lindsey Adams
 * Grade Level: ** 12
 * Time Period: ** 3 weeks (minimum)
 * Overview: ** Students will work in groups of four to compose a collaborative story. They will each come up with a character for the story (made up from characteristics taken from collaborative classmate interviews), and then decide how their characters will work together to fit into the story. They will also include one famous person in their story (they can be deceased or living), and then will be expected to do research on their particular famous person to fit them into their story. Once their stories are finished, they would come up with a movie trailer for their story, as if it were going to be made into a major motion picture. The trailers would be filmed, and then each group would present their story and movie trailer to the rest of the class.
 * From Theory to Practice: ** There are many things to take into consideration when teaching a collaborative story unit, and some of these factors are addressed in Rebecca Moore Howard’s article, “Assigning Collaborative Writing: Tips for Teachers”. There is also a lot to consider when asking students to work with technology and be responsible enough to record their own movie trailers. I found a website that addresses working with technology in the classroom, “Teaching With Technology: Lights! Camera! Action!”, which would be a good resource for this assignment

- Buckleitner, Warren. “Teaching With Technology: Lights! Camera! Action!”. Scholastic. April 2001. 10 April, 2009. < http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3746020>

- Howard, Rebecca. “Assigning Collaborative Writing: Tips for Teachers”. //Composition// // Pedagogies. A Bibliographic Guide. // New York, NY. 2000. 8 April, 2009.  - Experience with fictional writing. - Experience with character development. - Practice in public speaking. - Experience with technology. - Exposed to teamwork/collaboration. - CE 1.1.1 Demonstrate flexibility in using independent and collaborative strategies for planning, drafting, revising, and editing complex texts. - CE 1.1.2 Know and use a variety of prewriting strategies to generate, focus, and organize ideas. - CE 1.1.8 Proofread to check spelling, layout, and font; and prepare selected pieces for a public audience. - CE 1.2.3 Write, speak, and create artistic representations to express personal experience and perspective. - CE 1.3.1 Compose written, spoken, and/or multimedia compositions in a range of genres (e.g., personal narrative, biography, poem, fiction, drama, creative nonfiction, summary, literary analysis essay, research report, or work-related text): pieces that serve a variety of purposes (e.g. expressive, informative, creative, and persuasive) and that use a variety of organizational patterns (e.g. autobiography, free verse, dialogue, comparison/contrast, definition, or cause and effect).
 * Student Objectives: **
 * Michigan **** ELA Content Expectations: **
 * __ Instructional Plan Components __**
 * Resources: ** Pen/pencil, notebook paper, computer (word processor for composing story, internet for conducting research), library (research materials), video cameras, re-writable disc to record trailer, space for filming movie trailers.
 * Teacher Preparation: ** Instructor will have to do a mini-lesson on how to work the video cameras and will have to provide students with the discs needed to record the trailers.

** 3 Week Calendar (story elements only): ** Class meets every day for 50 minutes each time. - Introductions (written and verbal) || - Classmate #2 interviews - Introductions (written and verbal) || - Classmate #3 interviews - Introductions (written and verbal) || - Main character development || - Groups of 4; work all characters into story || - Conferences || - Story development and research - Conferences || - Story development and research - Begin peer review || - Continue peer review (if necessary) - Mini-lesson on video cameras || - Present stories || - Conferences || - Filming/editing || - Filming/editing || - Present trailers || - - - - - - - -
 * ** Monday ** || ** Tuesday ** || ** Wednesday ** || ** Thursday ** || ** Friday ** ||
 * - Classmate #1 interviews
 * - Story development and research
 * - Layout for movie trailer || - Trailer development
 * __Instructional Plan Components:__**