Objective: Build on understanding of the role of storytellers and stories in society, making connections to personal histories. Introduce the culminating activity.
Materials: Audio clips from "Radio Diaries" and "This American Life"
Family Quilt
AIDS Memorial Quilt
Gorazde (Graphic novel by Joe Sacco)
1. Independent Reading
2. Listen to audio clips together. Ask students to quickly summarize each story, name the intended audience and why they think it is being told (purpose). Note the ways in which audio stories convey meaning effectively (format, music/ sound effects, voice pitch and tone, pauses etc). List these on the board (or SmartBoard).
3. Share the quilt with students, explaining the context and some of the family histories it represents. Ask students if they have similar heirlooms or stories in their own family, encouraging them to share. Look briefly at the AIDS quilt website. How is that quilt similar or different? What stories does it share (purpose), and who are the stories intended for (audience)?
5. Using discussion points, come up with a spectrum of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of stories.
6. In groups, ask students to evaluate a few pages from Gorazde using the criteria they have created as a class. Ask students to share their decisions, and add detail to evaluation criteria as necessary.
7. Introduce culminating activity to students, explaining that they will be evaluated using the criteria created in class. They should start thinking about a story they want to share, as well as a medium of expression. A rough proposal for the project will be due on Day 10.
