Tip: Family Stories
How do I do it?
Family stories are always a good writing topic for language learners. What happens in a student’s family will be relevant to their lives. Direct students to think of a happy time with their family, a small moment in time. Read students Family Pictures/Cuadros de familia by Carmen Lomas Garza. Have them brainstorm all of the details and memories about that time. Draft, revise and edit their stories through the writing process. Choose a particular style for illustrating the story (the big book example above is crayon resist - color in crayon, then lightly wash with watercolor). Bind and share.
Variations & Extensions
Students often write about a vacation given this can be a happy time for students. Encourage them to think of simple events such as a funny joke told at dinner; playing in the sprinklers; driving with a favorite grandfather and singing on the way etc. Students can write in their home language as well. Create a word wall for family small moment vocabulary that students can utilize as a reference in their writing.
Common Core ELA Writing Standard 3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
Everyday ELL is now Every Language Learner.