Telling a Story About Me: Young Children Write Autobiographies

Overview

From Theory to Practice

OVERVIEW

Developing ideas collaboratively, planning writing projects before executing them, and learning to compose sentences related to a specific topic are important skills for students to master. This lesson plan teaches these skills while drawing from the lives of first and second grade students who will write and publish autobiographies based on personal photographs. The lesson begins with the students working at home with their families to select and record relevant information about photos. Students then work in small groups and independently to create their autobiographies.

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FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Leal, D.J. (2003). Digging up the past, building the future: Using book authoring to discover and showcase a community's history. The Reading Teacher, 57(1), 56–60.

• Autobiographical writing gives teachers a way to engage students and their families in literacy learning, creating a willingness to participate in literacy activities.
  
  
• Expanding students' knowledge of their community and themselves deepens their understanding of the reading and writing process.

Allen, J., Fabregas, V., Hankins, K.H., Hull, G., Labbo, L., Lawson, H.P., et al. (2002). PhOLKS lore: Learning from photographs, families and children. Language Arts, 79, 312–322.

When students write narratives about their own lives it helps them develop personal, social, and cultural connections.

Muley-Meissner, M.L. (2002). The spirit of a people: Hmong American life stories. Language Arts, 79, 323–331.

Exploring their own life stories can provide a sense of direction and purpose for students that other forms of writing do not.

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