Personal Narratives and Patricia Polacco - Our Michigan Connection
My students need four copies each of a twelve of books by Patricia Polacco. These include "My Ol' Man, Meteor!", "I Can Hear the Sun", "Mrs. Katz and Tush", "In Our Mother's House" and more.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My class is a 3rd and 4th grade, multi-age classroom in which 90% of my students are African, Asian, Hispanic or Afro-American. Many are first generation Americans. I utilize interpreters speaking three different languages to communicate with my parents. All of my students are considered high risk, living below the poverty level.
As part of their writing instruction, we use mentor texts. A mentor text is a trade book written by a noted children's author. These texts serve to show, not just tell students how to write well. A mentor text is a book which is well written and can be used to teach a particular skill or strategy. We have chosen Patricia Polacco as our mentor author, as she is the master of the personal narrative, which is what the students will be working on -writing the stories of their own lives.
The students love Patricia Polacco's body of work. The stories of her childhood are engaging. The illustrations draw the children in and the topics she explores are topics that all children relate to, such as, family, school, and the every day experiences of childhood. My students love Patricia Polacco and what is even more exciting to them is that she is from Michigan. She lives only 50 miles away and many of her books have settings in locations they are familiar with. The use of Ms. Polacco's books also correlates with our study of Michigan which is the Social Studies topic throughout 3rd grade.
Multiple copies of Patricia Polacco's books, which include the following will be used in a variety of ways: 4 copies of the following "My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother", "The Lemonade Club", " In Our Mother's House", "Mrs. Katz and Tush", "I Can Hear the Sun", "Uncle Vova's Tree", "Mrs. Mack", "Meteor!", and "My Ol' Man". And single copies of: "Butterfly", and "January's Sparrow". These will be used in the following ways. First, as part of our guided reading groups. We will be reading them, comparing various stories, exploring similar themes, deciding on character's personal motivations and learning about how our families and traditions are similar or different from hers.
Second, we will be writing personal narratives about our own lives. Stories that we'd like to share with future generations and we will also be gathering stories from other family members.
The students will then create their own books which we will share with their parents at a multi-cultural meal, where each family will bring a dish which represents part of their culture to share with the class and their families.
Your help will afford my students the opportunity to explore stories written by a well known, talented author. Then using these mentor texts, model their own writing after well written literature. Students learn much more from experiencing these stories, then from just being told how they should write. By using mentor texts students learn to write well using wonderful examples and this will facilitate students growing into successful writers. Your generosity will help develop the writers of tomorrow. Maybe one day your children or grandchildren will be reading books written by someone you helped. Thank you for your consideration.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. M. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.