SUBJECT
Autobiographical Writing, Pride and Self-Esteem, Understanding Self and Others

GRADE
6-8

DURATION
2 Weeks

The Road to Success

By Jennifer Chandler

An Example of a Student-Created Life Map

One dominant need that all adolescents have is to figure out a unique place in this world. I believe that no student can determine where he wants to go until they understand where they have been. This unit satisfies two main goals: creating a baseline for writing to advance a teacher's effort for implementing differentiated instruction and providing the students with a fun, creative way to introduce who they are and the accomplishments of which they are proud.

OBJECTIVE
Students will:

be able to recall the names of all his/her fellow classmates.
begin building a nurturing learning community.
chronicle the main events from his/her life so far.
draft, revise, and publish an anecdote.

LESSONS FOR THIS UNIT
Lesson 1: Getting to Know You
Lesson 2: Creating a Life Map

REPRODUCIBLES
Interest Inventory (PDF)
Letter to Parents (PDF)
Rubric for Life Map (PDF)

CULMINATING ACTIVITY

Publishing a Personal Narrative
After chronicling major events in his/her life, each student will choose an episode to elaborate upon in a personal narrative. Students will complete the writing process making time for peer conferencing to encourage the inclusion of details in the writing piece.

SUPPORTING BOOKS

Teacher Resource Books for Starting the School Year

Teacher Store

The Teacher Store

Marisol and Magdalena

by Veronica Chambers

Separated from her best friend in Brooklyn, 13-year-old Marisol spends a year with her grandmother in Panama where she secretly searches for her real father. "Young adults of any background will readily be able to identify with Marisol." - American Library Association.

$4.95
Paperback Book | Grades 6-9

Marisol and Magdalena

Grades 6-9 $4.95

Teacher Store

The Teacher Store

Sahara Special

by Esme Raji Codell

Sahara Jones is a writer, a reader, the daughter of divorced parents, and a repeat 5th-grader who has "gone Special Ed." Struggling with schoola and missing her Dad, Sahara is a quiet, self-conscious kid, who is nonetheless a feisty heroine. She gets a fresh start with a new and unique teacher who encourages her class to do, to wire, and to be, as never before. Mature Content.

$4.95
Paperback Book | Grades 6-9

Sahara Special

Grades 6-9 $4.95

ARTICLE	Staff Workshop Topic: Exploring Identity Instructions for workshop leaders on the topic of identity, and the importance of fostering a positive one, by Carol Seefeldt Ph.D. For more information and to view the workshop Teache Handout, click the link "Helping Children Develop a Sense of Identity".

LESSON PLAN	Best Part of Me Describes a beginning of the school year lesson in which students identify their favorite parts of themselves through descriptive poetry and...

BOOK INFORMATION	Loud Emily Poor Emily. She doesn't mean to be loud, but whenever she says anything in her Emily voice, plates shatter, neighbors are astonished, and birds are frightening right out of the trees. It seems like there's nowhere she fits in. Until the day she sees a ship with a sign that reads: LOUD HELP NEEDED. NOW. So Emily sets sail for an adventure on the high seas, where perhaps there is a place for her after all. . .