English 1050 Project One: Literacy Narrative
Instructor Notes
Overview
This is a relatively short project. As it focuses on students’ own literacy histories, the project is a
nice way to get to know the students and their writing abilities, attitudes, struggles, and triumphs.
This project also serves as an introduction to the course. It allows students to begin the project in
a “safe,” rather familiar genre and topic (i.e. narrative of their literacy).
This project allows students to analyze and compose at least two genres before creating their
literacy narrative. Then, students will examine their own writing processes and make decisions as
to which memories/experiences to tell when writing their narratives. Finally, they will reflect on
this entire experience, how writing in various genres may alter students’ writing processes and
comfort zones.
The literacy narrative is an amazingly powerful genre. It gives writers an opportunity to share
their memoirs with a defined purpose. It is also a way for our classes to build a sense of identity
with each other.
This Project Introduces

The concept of genre/audience situation.
Students will be exposed to the differences between writing situations (and how complex they
can be.) Students will also think about what makes a genre and gain experience writing in a
specific genre.

The writing identity.
These students come to the 1050 classroom with 12 (or more) years of writing experiences.
Over the course of their elementary and secondary school careers, they have learned many
“rules” defining what makes “good” writing. They have also learned many “rules” on what it
means to be a “good” writer. The goal of 1050 is not to dismantle and disregard every lesson
these students have learned from previous teachers. Rather, this class aims to challenge
students to analyze what they know about texts, the act of writing, and themselves as writers.
This project allows students the opportunity to focus on a meaningful literacy experience and
unpack its significance. Students, regardless of their majors, are writers in this project. That
is, the narrative helps them discover, challenge and/or expand their identities as writers.

The writing process.
Students will participate in the following activities/lessons in this project:
o Exploration (prewriting): Students will begin thinking about “where they are from,”
using poetry to recall significant places, people, texts, events in their lives.
o Introduction: Students will learn about the literacy narrative genre and analyze
sample texts.
o Organization: Students will choose one significant person, place, event, etc. and plan
how to write a narrative about it.
o Publication: Students will draft, revise, and submit a literacy narrative.
o Reflection: Students will write a short reflective piece about this project and their
experiences telling the story.
English 1050 Project One Notes
1
The Products:
At this project’s completion, students will have produced the following “documents:”
 A 5-7 page (double-spaced, typed) narrative detailing an event significant to their literacy
development.
 A short (single page, in-class) reflection in which students share a new insight learned about
themselves as writers or about the limits of genre. (This can be done as a homework
assignment or a short, in-class writing).
English 1050 Project One Notes
2
English 1050 Project One: Literacy Narrative
Daily Notes
Day #1: Introduce Project and “Where I’m From”
Activities:
Do a brief ice-breaker activity or free-write.
Tell students that we are going to continue to get to know each other by
reading and writing about “where we come from.”
Display Lyon’s “Where I’m From” poem on the overhead.
Tell students you will read it aloud twice. The first time, students will
just listen to the poem. The second time, they listen and circle words that
stand out to them.
Tell students to choose 1-2 words or phrases that they circled and spend
3-5 minutes writing about them. What, specifically, about these words
did they find striking? (Did the words spark a memory? Did the words
evoke an emotional response).
Ask students to share their responses in pairs; ask a few students to share
with the whole class.
Help students notice that Lyons titles the poem Where I’m From, and yet
the poem does not list specific physical places. Instead, her where is
memorable people, sayings, objects, smells, tastes, etc.
Ask students to write lists about where they are from, using these
prompts:
1. Write about items found around the house.
2. Items found in the yard/street/neighborhood.
3. Names of relatives (nick-names, too).
4. Sayings or expressions used by family/friends.
5. Names of foods.
6. Names of places where they keep stories/memories (i.e. diary,
notebook, scrapbook, dresser drawer, grandma’s memory…
.
Using the lists of memories, students take their initial ideas and make
them more specific. For example, “the tree in the backyard” could be
changed to “the old, red oak…” Give students 5-10 minutes to refine
their lists.
Using these lists, students draft their own “Where I’m From” poem.
Assure students that they do not need to use the “I’m from” refrain;
however, they should think of ways to connect these memories. For
example, they might make each stanza a different sense (i.e. one stanza is
for sight memories, another is for sounds). Or, each stanza could
English 1050 Project One Notes
3
represent a different time in their lives (i.e. childhood, adolescence). Or,
they might find their own refrain/repeating phrase. Allow students 12-15
minutes to complete this.
Homework:
Students create a draft of a “Where I’m From” poem to bring to class.
My notes/ideas/readings:
English 1050 Project One Notes
4
Day #2: Where I’m From and Travel Bureau Genre
Activities:
Allow students a few minutes to share their “Where I’m From” poem
draft (or at least one stanza of their draft) with another student.
Ask a few students to share their writing with the whole class, if they are
willing.
Now tell students they will consider “Where they are from” from a
different perspective. Either as a whole class or in groups, ask students
to brainstorm different genres that describe “places.” Write the list of
genres on the board. (Possible answers include maps, travel bureau
flyers, hotel advertisements, tour company advertisements, hiking trail
guides, etc.). (10-15 minutes)
Place students in groups of 4-5. Each group chooses one of the “place”
genres and develops a list of conventions or elements present in that
genre (i.e. description of landmarks, mileage charts, photos, etc.).
Groups should create lists on large, displayable paper or on the
whiteboard. (10-15 minutes)
Ask each group to briefly share their genres. Briefly discuss how the
genres are similar/different from one another.
Tell students that today they will explore the “travel bureau text.”
Display an example of a travel bureau text on the overhead. (See
http://www.discoverkalamazoo.com/ for an example of Kalamazoo’s
text). Read this text aloud. Ask the class to identify the target audience
(i.e. visitors to Kalamazoo that are going to spend loads of money on
“the outstanding museums and theaters, over 20 area golf courses, three
ski resorts, four wineries”). Ask students to identify the generic
conventions of this text (i.e. over-the-top descriptions, focus on only the
“positive” aspects of the city, exaggeration, use of statistics).
Homework:
Students will find a “travel bureau” text for a place where they are from.
(They do not need to choose their hometown. They can pick any
memorable/significant place, such as their high school, a favorite
vacation spot, etc.). They must bring in a hard copy of the text to the
next class.
Students will create a 1-2 paragraph draft of their own “travel bureau
text” about where they are from.
Suggested readings
(in class/homework): In Norton: “Describing,” “Purpose,” “Audience,” and “Media/Design”
NOTE: This would be a good day to use laptops; students may use computers to begin finding
their “travel bureau” text.
My notes/ideas/readings:
English 1050 Project One Notes
5
Day #3: Introduce Literacy Narrative
Activities:
Students begin by completing an “admittance slip” or a free-write on this
topic: Describe at least two ways in which the travel bureau text differs
from your poem/own memories about “where you’re from.”
While students complete this 10 minute write, you can give them credit
for bringing in the travel bureau texts.
Do a “gallery walk” with the travel bureau texts that the students
composed.
1. Give each student a piece of tape and 3 post-it notes.
2. Students use the tape to adhere the travel bureau text they wrote to
the wall.
3. Once all the texts are posted, students walk around the room as if it
was an art gallery.
4. With the post-it notes, they write comments for 3 peoples’ texts and
stick each note on the corresponding text.
5. Students collect their text and notes and sit down.
Next, allow students a few minutes to share their admittance slip
responses and their experience writing the travel bureau texts. Discuss
why this text was “displayed,” how this type of “public” writing differs
from the more “private” writing they did with their poems. Discuss how
description, tone, etc. changes.
Explain how students have now been able to think about where they’re
from in a few different ways. They will expand on this by considering
not just where they are from as a person, but where they are from as a
writer.
Ask students to take a piece of paper and divide it into four squares. In
the first square, they will make a list of memorable books/authors. In the
next square, make a list of people who have shaped them as
readers/writers. In the next square, list places that have shaped their
literacy (i.e. schools, classrooms, libraries, bedroom floor, tree house,
coffee shop). In the last square, list memories associated with reading
and writing.
Once students have completed the chart, they will display their lists to a
small group (3-4 students). The other students in the group choose 2-3
items and ask the person about those. Allow students 15-20 minutes to
discuss their ideas with each other.
Ask students to choose 2-3 items from their charts and begin
brainstorming details associated with those items. Students may use lists
or freewriting to begin re-constructing the memories associated with
those items.
English 1050 Project One Notes
6
Next ask students to try to sum up the significance of these events. That
is, how did the person/place/book chosen influence them as a
reader/writer?
Explain to students that they will be writing a literacy narrative; you can
briefly “define” this genre by referring to chapter 6 in Norton or you can
tell students to create a definition as homework. Before the next class,
students will read some “sample” literacy narratives and bring ideas for
their own narrative.
Homework:
Students should read Literacy Narrative chapter (6) and sample
narratives (chapter 50) in Norton.
You may assign all the narratives, allow students to choose 2-3 to read.
You might also assign them students to complete some of the discussion
questions in the reader, especially those which deal with details and
description.
Students should receive the assignment sheet for this project.
Students should submit a revised draft of either their poem or travel
bureau text next class.
Suggested readings:
In Norton: “Literacy Narrative” and sample literacy narratives.
My notes/ideas/readings:
English 1050 Project One Notes
7
Day #4: Defining key elements in a literacy narrative
Activities:
Begin class by briefly defining the literacy narrative genre together.
(Key points are in ch 6 of Norton). Emphasize that good narratives have
vivid details (which show, not tell the story) and have a clear point (what
I learned as a reader/writer through this experience).
Divide students into groups based on the sample narratives they read.
Each group should discuss one narrative for 15-20 minutes. Ask students
to:
1. Determine the “point” to the narrative.
2. Discuss how the writer uses details effectively.
Open the discussion to the entire class for 12-15 minutes.
Now students move into their own narratives by brainstorming their
topics. Using their charts from the last class, students choose one event
for their topic. (They should choose one that they have already
freewritten about). Use pages 33-34 of Norton to guide students in
creating an outline of the main events in their narratives.
Next, look at the sample narrative “orders” on page 34 of Norton. Ask
students to try using one of the “orders” given. Again, using Norton,
guide students in drafting a beginning, drafting an ending, or creating a
title to their narratives.
Give students 15-20 minutes to work on their drafts.
Wrap-up class by guiding students in considering their own “processes”
for writing. Using paper (colored pens, pencils, etc. if available) students
will “map” their process in completing their “Where I’m From” poem or
travel bureau text. They should visuals, arrows, etc. to show how they
completed this assignment. They should also add in “extraneous” steps
in their process (i.e. going out to get coffee as they’re revising,
daydreaming, etc.).
End class with students sharing their processes and/or discussing the
different approaches everyone takes to writing. Also consider how we
using different processes for different genres of writing (i.e. texting is a
different process than an academic paper).
Homework
Students complete a draft of their literacy narrative for the next class.
They must bring in a hard copy.
Suggested readings:
In Norton: “Assessing Your Own Writing,” “Getting Response and
Revising”
English 1050 Project One Notes
8
My notes/ideas/readings:
English 1050 Project One Notes
9
Day #5: Peer Review of Literacy Narrative
Activities:
Be sure to bring in a “sample” literacy narrative that you can use to
model the peer review process with the whole class.
Before students do peer review in their groups, they should first see your
expectations. Using a sample narrative and 2-3 student volunteers, do a
model peer review session in front of the class. Afterwards, discuss
some basic ground rules and your expectations for this session.
Students should be in groups of 4. You may determine the groups or
allow the students to decide. Be sure to give students credit for
completing their rough drafts. Explain whether you want students to turn
in their peer review notes with final drafts or not.
Once groups have completed their review, meet together as a class to
establish a rubric. Students can build their rubrics in small groups first,
then open it up to a whole-class discussion. The final rubric should have
5-6 elements for evaluation.
Homework:
Students should bring in a polished, revised draft of their literacy
narrative and their rough draft for next class.
Suggested readings:
My notes/ideas/readings:
English 1050 Project One Notes
10
Day #6: Drafts returned/Introduction to Project 2
Return drafts with instructor comments and response.
Mini-lesson: trends in the drafts
Final drafts due: beginning of next class
Introduction to Project 2 (See project 2 notes)
HW: Complete final drafts. Turn in finals, including all process materials in
folder (process on one side/final draft on other
English 1050 Project One Notes
11
Day #7Final Drafts of Literacy Narrative due
Activities
Turn in final drafts
In-class: Reflective piece
Continued work on Project 2: Persuasion and Research (See Project 2
Notes)
My notes/ideas/readings:
English 1050 Project One Notes
12
English 1050: Student Assignment Sheet
Project 1: Literacy Narrative
What is this genre? A literacy narrative is a first-person account exploring how a person learned
to read or write. This narrative might explore a specific memory or experience (i.e. one’s first
diary, the first day of kindergarten). It might focus on a person of significance (i.e. a teacher,
parent). It might refer to a special place (i.e. a library, reading chair). Or, it might chronicle a
series of related events (i.e. memorable English teachers, favorite childhood books).
Why write a literacy narrative? Over the course of your elementary and secondary school
careers, you have learned many “rules” defining what makes “good” writing. You have also
learned many “rules” on what it means to be a “good” writer. You’ve had many different
experiences (some positive, some maybe not-so-positive) which have affected your “identity” as
a writer. This project allows you the opportunity to focus on a meaningful literacy experience
and unpack its significance. By reflecting on your literacy history, you may better understand
yourself as a writer and how you approach future writing assignments.
Possible Literacy Narrative Topics:
 Choose a place that represents your reading identity. Is there a particular place in your home
where you like to read? Is there a public place that holds significance (perhaps a library,
book store, park…)? Is there an imagined place you wish you could visit (perhaps a setting
from a book you like)?
 Choose an influential text from your life. This might be a favorite children’s book, a story
you just can’t forget, a book that upset you in some way…
 Choose a particular memory that involves reading or writing. You might think about a time
when you were read aloud to; you might reflect on a positive/negative reading experience;
you might also think of those memories you enjoy writing about.
 Choose a person who has shaped your identity as a reader or writer? This might be a teacher,
parent, friend…even a favorite author.
 If you naturally enjoy writing and have a history of writing, take time to reflect on what you
write. Consider which genres you use and why. How does one poem or story you have
written embody your identity/personality?
Essay Format:
 Your essay should be 5-7 pages in length.
 Your essay should be double-spaced, use 12-inch font and 1 inch margins.
Rough Draft is Due: _______
Final Draft is Due: _______
English 1050 Project One Notes
13