"Me Bag" Narrative

This past week students have been using their "Me Bags" to aide them with their first narrative paper for the year. Students were given a brown paper bag on the second day of school and instructed to fill it with three items that meant something to them. Those items were supposed to be kept secret so that when in Reading class they could use the items to play a game practicing their inferencing skills. Students then traveled with their bags to Language Arts class so we could begin our writing process. Below are two photos showcasing my personal "Me Bag" and items. This was a fun project and a great way for the students to get to know me, their teacher, on a more personal level. To see the format of the "Me Bag" narrative we wrote as a class using my items, see below. This was a formatted composition. The idea behind the format is so everyone's sounds the same, keeps the same template and in turn it helps the students gain an understanding of a basic composition. With that being said...in the very near future we will be discussing "Hooking Introductions", "DynoWrite Conclusions" and adding "Glitter" in between. So have no fear, fun writing is near and the students were told that "baby beginnings and endings" like this would not be acceptable after this.

 

     My name is Mrs. Welch. I am 31 years old. I think school is exciting. Three things that are important to me are: my camera, a photograph of my two children, and the Berenstain Bears book, "Four Seasons".
     My first item is my camera. It is special to me because my mom and dad bought it for me for my college graduation. I take it with me everywhere I go. I enjoy taking pictures of special days and loved ones so that I remember them later.
     I also brought a photograph of my two children. I have two boys, ages three and one. Their names are J.C. and Palmer. I love them and I enjoy spending time with them whenever I can.
     Last of all, I have a book. I brought this book because the Berenstain Bears were my favorite books growing up. I specifically chose to bring the book, "Four Seasons", because I love it when the weather changes and new seasons begin. My favorite season is Fall. Now that I am older, I like to read these books to my own children.
     Now you know three important things about me. Overall, I love my family and spending time with them is important to me.

*Your student's paper should look very similar to mine above. 

**I used this opportunity to review the need for paragraph indention, brainstorming (I will make a separate post on this later) and basic tips on writing-using the given space you are provided. We do not skip lines when writing in 4th grade EVER. :)  

***This may look short typed but on paper it was around 24-25 lines. For the STAAR Writing Test on the compositions students must not write outside of the 26 lines provided. I encourage the students to write at least 20 lines because I personally feel it takes that long to fully develop your composition.