Session 16: Story Mountain

Objective: By the end of class, you will be able to…

Beginner: write sentences in French to retell the story of why I became a teacher

Intermediate: write sentences in French to retell the story of why I became a teacher, giving details to describe the characters’ internal AND external traits and sensory details of the setting

Advanced: write a series of connected sentences in French to retell the story of why I became a teacher, giving details to describe the characters’ internal AND external traits and sensory details of the setting, and using transition words to say more

Preparation:

You will need students to submit stories to the Slide Talk (or think about stories they can sketch, if you plan to do Card Talk instead) for the lessons in Session 17, Card/Slide Talk about Personal Stories. See Session 17 for more details. You might assign this for homework or set aside about eight minutes at the end of the lesson today for them to brainstorm and, if you plan to use a slideshow, upload their images and format their slide in the class’s slideshow.

A Story Mountain is a graphic organizer that is familiar to many teachers and students, because it is widely used in Language Arts classes.

Writing on a copy of the graphic organizer, or creating it on the board or paper, you will narrate a story about your life (or another personal story, perhaps of another staff member or a celebrity your students admire. This French example uses the guide words “character,” “setting,” “motivation,” “problem,” “solution/changes,” and “lesson”. You can also use a blank version, as shown above.

In the example lesson below, you will see suggested ways to use the version of the story mountain with guide words.

To prepare a personal story about yourself, such as the example of “why I became a teacher,” you will want to brainstorm stories from your life and choose the one that you think will most appeal to your students. Generally, stories about your life that took place when you were as close in age as possible to your students’ actual age(s) are the most interesting and relatable to students. So, you might want to spend some time activating Page 301

your memories from when you were in high school, or even middle or elementary school, depending on your students’ age(s).

If you are following the suggested schedule for this phase, and you teach classes that are around 50 to 60 minutes long (or fewer), then you will tell a story using the Story Mountain graphic organizer in two lessons. Therefore, you will want to prepare two stories (or plan to tell one story over the course of the two lessons, the first day telling the “bare bones” version of the story, and then the next day, retelling it with more details).

If you want to tell two stories about your own life, that is fine, of course. Most students enjoy hearing stories about their teachers, especially if you intentionally focus on stories of when you were near their own age, as modeled below in my example personal story of one of the many reasons why I became a teacher. (Spoiler alert: it was not for the fame and fortune.)

Another option for this second story, for variety’s sake, you might ask another staff member at school, whom your students admire or like, to tell you a story about themselves. You can either choose to ask them for a story about the same theme - in this example, “Why I Became a Teacher” - or just any interesting story about themselves at approximately the same age as your students.

I suggest that you use a blank copy of the story mountain to plan the details you will narrate. Remember that Guided Oral Input is only about 10 minutes, so you will only say one or two facts about each part of the story mountain. You will need to keep your story very simple, to “fit” the time constraints.

1. First, you will establish the character and setting. You might want to model starting the story with the character talking or thinking, or with an action (this is a writing move that you will model in Shared Writing and on the anchor chart for this phase). The finished story would sound something like like: “I opened the door to geography class at First Presbyterian Day School. I was 14 years old. I thought, ‘This class is SO BORING.’ It was a normal spring day in Macon, GA. It was warm and sunny, and it was not cloudy.”)

2. Then, you will give your character a motivation, or fears, or hopes and dreams. You might begin this scene with the character thinking or talking about their fears, hopes, or dreams. The finished story would sound something like like: “I thought, “I hate this class. I said to my best friend Sachiko, ‘I am nervous. I did not study for the test. I hate this class!”

3. Then, the problem gets worse. This is the “climax” of the story. The finished story would sound something like like: “Geography class was so boring. I thought, ‘Geography is interesting. But geography CLASS is BORING!’ I failed the test.”

4. Then, the problem gets solved or something changes for the character. The finished story would sound something like like: “I decided to study education.” For beginner students, you will not be able to provide a lot of abstract detail here. Remember that the goal of this story is NOT to create a fine, nuanced literary work but rather to serve as a vehicle for very simple narration that follows a basic story structure. So, you will want to resist the temptation to go “deep” and focus instead on simple, concrete plot points, in this first story of the year.

5. The “lesson” or “moral” of the story. For beginners, this might be conducted in the class’s stronger shared language, especially the first few times. For more advanced students, and even with your beginners, once they have become familiar with the Story Mountain, this is a nice opportunity to introduce idiomatic expressions and sayings/proverbs. You might offer a selection of common

sayings or proverbs in the course language, like the examples here, and ask students to choose the one that best fits this particular story. In the example story, I just wrote a possible lesson. You might ask your students to suggest possible morals or lessons, or simply tell them what you pre-planned.

You can also choose to have students sketch and/or take notes on their own copy of the Story Mountain. You may ask them to write in the course language or in their stronger language(s), depending on their ability. When choosing how to ask them to use the Story Mountain graphic organizer, please do so with the knowledge that even for more advanced students, in a comprehension-based language course, the objective is to understand the language used in the lesson, not to produce output. Therefore, it does not really matter if they demonstrate their comprehension by writing in the course language or another language, or simply by sketching. The reasons to choose to have your more advanced students take notes in the course language is not primarily for their language acquisition; hearing/reading and understanding messages that are delivered in the language is enough for students to develop their growing internalized language system, regardless of their level. However, advanced students in particular, and especially those who have had a more traditional, conscious-learning-oriented approach to language learning in previous courses, often will not rest until their teacher requires them to output in the course language.

For students like these, having them take notes in the language is often a way for them to calm down and feel like they are being “challenged” or “really using French.” So, you will need to consider your students’ personalities and needs when deciding how to ask them to use the Story Mountain graphic organizer, and other graphic organizers throughout the year.

Now, on to the lesson procedures:

Continue to greet the students in English review expectations, etc., and share the lesson objective. If you have not yet set up your Videographer, I urge you to do so now, so that they can begin making Video Retells during Scaffolded Oral Review, beginning in Session 18. See the HR Manual in the Appendices for more information on setting up this and other student jobs.

You might make your own Reading Workshop text, use the ones in our Teachers Pay Teachers store, such as the example below, or work with a Shared Writing text from a previous lesson. Distribute or project the text. Then, share the lesson objective if you have not already done so, check in with your Class Starter (and perhaps Videographer), and begin the lesson.

Find That Cognate

In this sample lesson, I use the beginner reading from our Teachers Pay Teachers store (CI Liftoff) for Cycle Two Phase One, shown here in French. The texts for this phase are diary entries that narrate personal stories.

French Beginner

Again, since the Reading Workshop texts “pivot” to a new text type (diary entries, in this case), we are returning to the simplest, most familiar instructional strategy - Find That Cognate - to allow students some time to “settle in” to this phase and text type, if you are choosing to use our resources. Because this strategy was explained in detail in Session One, we will move on to the lesson procedures right away in this session. For more details on this strategy, please review Session One.

Hand out (or project/display) the Reading Workshop text. Once the students can see the projected text, or they have it on their desks, you can proceed. As always, the lesson notes are written in English. The course language is in black. The class’s stronger shared language is grey.

First, tell the class what the topic of the reading is, most likely speaking in the class’s stronger shared language, and then read it aloud in the course language and use the strategy, as modeled below.

“I will read this diary entry to you in French, a true story about a girl from England who dropped her new phone in the sewer and got stuck in there trying to get it back. Then we will find cognates in the story.”

(Give the signal to start class, and have your Videographer begin filming, if you have set that job up, which I strongly suggest you do this week, if you still have not done so.)

(Read the text in the course language. Once you have read the entire text, point to or circle a very obvious cognate and ask for its meaning in the class’s stronger shared language.)

“Class, ‘packet’ in English?” (Students answer. Then you write the English on the text, and spell it, saying the letters in the course language, as demonstrated below.) “Yes, package in English, is packet. P-A-C-K-E-T.” (Note: This sounds like: “Oui, pacquet en anglais est package. Pacquet: payyy-ahhh-sayy-queue (saying letters in French).”)

(Asking a more open-ended question, if time permits:) “Class, look (gesture). Other (gesture) cognates?” (Students answer, probably in English.) “Yes, arrived in English, is arrived. A-R-R-I-V-E-D.”

Repeat with a couple of other cognates. After a few minutes, move into the Guided Oral Input.

It is suggested to continue the routine of a brief (2-3 minutes) calendar check-in, which (1) creates an opening/transition routine and (2) continues to reinforce, daily, and in a meaningful context, important vocabulary such as the names of the months and days, weather, numbers, preferences, and activities. For guidance on Page 305

how to gradually introduce new topics/vocabulary into this daily routine, please see Session Five.

Display a blank Story Mountain, hand out copies to students and explain how to take notes (if you choose to have them use their own copy during the Guided Oral Input), and briefly introduce the personal story about your life or someone else’s.

“I’m going to tell you a story about why I became a teacher. Spoiler alert: It was because I failed a geography test in eighth grade. This story has five parts (show on the Story Mountain): (1) the characters (people) and setting (place), (2) the character’s motivations, (3) the problem, (4) some kind of change or learning and (5) the moral of the story.”

(You might have your class starter give the signal again, if you have been explaining in the class’s stronger shared language, to transition to the course language.)

“It was 1989 (write 1989) in Macon, Georgia (write), and I (write “me”, or write your name) was 14 years old (write “age 14”). I was in Ms. Klopp’s Geography class (write “Ms. Klopp” and “Geography” in the course language and translate if it is not a cognate) with my friend, Sachiko (sketch a person and write/spell the name) S-A-C-H-I-K-O.”

“I was NOT happy (gesture/use facial expression). I HATED (gesture) geography class!”

“Who in the class (gesture) hates (gesture) geography? Who (gesture) LOVES

(gesture) geography?” (counting hands/responses) “One, two, three…five people hate (gesture) geography and one person LOVES (gesture) geography.”

“I LIKED (gesture) geography…but I HATED (gesture) geography CLASS. It was BORING (gesture, write, and/or assign a gesture to establish meaning).”

“I said (gesture) to Sachiko, ‘This class is STUPID (write if needed; it’s an obvious cognate in French) and BORING (gesture)! I hate (gesture) this class! I did not study (teach a gesture and/or sketch, write to establish meaning).”

“I was nervous (gesture)…and bored (gesture). I was nervous (gesture) about the test. I had not (gesture) studied, because the class was BORING (gesture). I hated (gesture) geography class.”

Recycling back and reviewing: “It was 1989. How old was I? Was I four or fourteen years old?” (class calls out: 14! 14 years old! etc.) “Yes, I was 14 years old in 1989. Was I in Oregon or Georgia?” (class calls out: Georgia!) “Yes, I was in Georgia. Was I in Atlanta, GA, or Macon, GA?” (class calls out: Macon!) “Yes, I was in Macon, GA. Was I in math class?” (class calls out: No! Geography! etc.) “No, I was not in math class. Was I in French class?” (class calls out: No! Geography! etc.) “No, I was not in French class. What class was I in?” (class calls out: Geography! Geography class! etc.) “Yes, I was in Geography class. What was the teacher’s name?” (class calls out: Klopp! Ms. Klopp! etc.)

(continue asking questions as time permits and students are engaged, then finish the narration.)

“I failed the test! (write/sketch to establish meaning, and/or assign a new gesture)! I was SAD (gesture)!”

“I decided (sketch a lightbulb and/or write the word in the course language and, if it is not a cognate, in the class’s stronger shared language, and perhaps teach a gesture) to study education (write the word in the course language and, if it is not a cognate, in the class’s stronger shared language).

Class, think (gesture). Why (gesture) did I decide (point to lightbulb or gesture) to study education (point) if I hated (gesture) geography class (point) and failed the test (point)?”

(students call out ideas, probably speaking in their stronger language(s).) “I decided (point) to study education (point) because I LIKED (gesture) geography…but the CLASS (point) was so BORING (point and/or gesture)! I hated (gesture) the class!”

“What is the lesson (point to the graphic organizer)?”

(students may call out in their stronger language(s) Page 307

or you might use a selection of proverbs/sayings, as shown.)

After about 12 minutes of Guided Oral Input, regardless of how much of the story you told, you will move on to Scaffolded Oral Review. It is OK if you do not finish the story; you can return to it later, or simply leave your students curious, or finish narrating quickly in the class’s stronger shared language to get to the end of the plot.

True-False Quiz

Move to your Review Spot. The True-False Quiz is a very simple review strategy. For more information, please see Session Two, where it is explained and modeled in greater detail.

“OK, time for a review quiz. It is true (gesture thumbs up) and false (gesture thumbs down).”

You might use a visual aid to reinforce the meaning of the words for “true” and “false” in your language, and/ or ask students, “Show me true, show me false” to help them learn and recognize the thumbs-up and thumbsdown gesture you are using.

“Remember, you will hear the question TWO TIMES. The first time, LISTEN. Do NOT talk. Just listen. The second time, answer.”

“Number One. (hold up one finger) True (gesture or use visual aid) or false (gesture or use visual aid) …. shhhhh…. In 1989 (point) I lived in Atlanta, GA….shhh….True (gesture/visual) or false (gesture/visual)…shhh…In 1989 (point) I lived in Atlanta, GA.” (The class calls out, “FALSE!”) “Yes, FALSE! (gesture or use visual aid). In 1989, I did NOT (gesture) live in Atlanta, GA. Where did I live?” (Some students may call out, “Macon!”) “Yes, in 1989, I lived in Macon, GA. I did NOT live in Atlanta, GA.”

“Question two (hold up two fingers). True (gesture) or false (gesture)? I loved (gesture) geography class (point)….shhhh…. True (gesture/visual) or false (gesture/visual)…shhh… I loved (gesture) geography class

(point).” (The class calls out, “FALSE!”) “Yes, FALSE! (gesture or use visual aid). Did I LIKE (gesture) geography class or did I hate (gesture) it?” (The class calls out, “HATE!”)

“Yes, I hated (gesture) geography class! Did I hate GEOGRAPHY, or just the CLASS?” (The class calls out, “JUST THE CLASS!”)

Repeat with more true-false questions if time permits.

Write and Discuss with an Anchor Chart

You will set up a new anchor chart for this new phase, and add two or three new terms to it today. As explained in pervious sessions, it is a good practice to not add more than a couple of new terms to the chart in any new lesson, even if you have to forego some of the language that came up in the lesson that would easily apply to the chart; you want the learning to be “sticky” and by limiting the number of new elements that you are introducing, you will help them to be more memorable and easier for learners to retain and work with. See the images below for an example of how you might set up the anchor chart for beginners in Cycle Two Phase One (Narrating Personal Stories) to hold language that is used to execute the language function of “narrating in the past.”

Please note that the captions are in grey font, which is used to denote information that I envision being delivered in the class’s stronger shared language, and black font, which denotes information delivered in the course language.

Set up a goal box on your Shared Writing paper.

See the sections on Reading Workshop and Shared Writing in Session Nine for more detailed information on setting up anchor charts and goal boxes during Shared Writing.

Your Shared Writing might sound something like this today:

Draw a box and write/sketch the word “Goal” in the course language. Some teachers make pre-printed Shared Writing sheets that already have the goal box and clip art of a basketball, soccer, or other goal.

“Our goal (point to the word “goal” in the course language) is to narrate the plot in the past, and especially to show what the characters are feeling and thinking. Today our goal is to use these words (write “a pensé” and “a dit” in the course language in the box). We will get a point every time we use one of these words, so look for ways to use them in the sentences. OK, let’s go!”

Say/Write: The Story of…The Story of Ms. Hargaden or the story of

the boring (gesture) class?

(students: The story of the boring class! or The boring class!)

Say/Write, crossing out any words that need to be changed: The Story of the Boring Class

Say/Write: Ms. Hargaden Capital M-S-period-space-Capital H-A-R-G-A-D-E-N (any proper name or obvious cognate is a great chance to get in some spelling to reinforce the names of the components of the written system in your language). Ms. Hargaden was in geography class or math class? (students: geography!) Say/Write: was the geography class FUN (gesture) or boring (gesture)? (students: Boring! or The class was boring! etc.) Say/Write: The geography class was boring (gesture) … Ms. Hargaden (spelling and writing in the course language) Capital M-S-period-space-Capital H-A-R-G-A-D-E-N…Did I like (gesture) the class, or did I HATE (gesture) the class? (students: HATE! or Hate the class! etc.)

Say/Write: Ms. Hargaden…(writing and spelling in French) Capital H-Capital A-Capital T-Capital E-Capital D the class…the geography class or the stupid, boring (gesture) geography class? (students: the stupid boring geography class! or stupid, boring! etc.)

Say/Write: Ms. Hargaden hated…the the stupid, boring (gesture) geography class…period or exclamation point (jot an exclamation point in the margins if needed; in French the words “capital,” “period,” “space,” and “exclamation point” are very close cognates; you may need to establish meaning in your language, if the terms are very different from the class's stronger shared language, or skip the details when you spell, such as the word “capital” and “period.”)

(students: exclamation! exclamation point! etc.)

Say/ Write: Ms. Hargaden hated the the stupid,

boring (gesture) geography class…exclamation point! One exclamation point, or two exclamation points, or three exclamation points? (students: three! three exclamation points! two! etc.)

Say/Write: Ms. Hargaden hated the the stupid, boring (gesture) geography class…exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation point!!! Ms. Hargaden…said (gesture) or thought (gesture)? (students: said! thought! etc.) Say/Write: Ms. Hargaden thought T-H-O-U-G-H-T… Good job! (put a check or tally mark in the goal box because you used one of the goal words.) Say/Write: Ms. Hargaden thought…this class is boring (gesture) or Ms. Hargaden thought…this class is stupid and boring and I hate it! (students: boring! stupid! This class is boring and stupid! I hate it! etc.) Say/Write: Ms. Hargaden thought this class is stupid and boring (gesture) and I hate (gesture) it!

Read/Recycle: The Story of the Boring Class. Ms. Hargaden was in stupid, dumb geography class. Ms. Hargaden thought this class is stupid and boring (gesture) and I hate (gesture) it!

Continue as time permits, accumulating points in the goal box as you go.

The “Go-To” Daily Strategies

Shared Reading is not modeled in this lesson, as you are simply continuing to use the “go-to” strategies explained and modeled in the previous sessions. Refer to Sessions one through ten for more details.

Write Inside the Story

Write Inside the Story is explained in more detail in Session Nine. Walk to your Quiz Spot. Students will need paper. Leave the Shared Writing text projected where students can look back at it, and have the Anchor Chart visible.

“OK, quiz time. I will read our writing. Your job is to find two sentences that could have more details in them, and then “write inside” the sentence. You copy it and then use the words/phrases on the chart to write “inside” the sentence, to add more.”

(You might explain the activity in English and then repeat in the course language, as shown below.)

We will write inside the text. We will use the chart. We will add to the text.

Give students time to work on their writing, perhaps working with a partner, if you think that will be helpful to them.

At the end of the period, you might debrief on what went well, and perhaps setting or reviewing goals.