This segment introduces past-time narrative. It contains a narrative
text, activities for using the text as a source of information on past
tense and perfect aspect verbs in context, and prompts to direct students
to write narratives of their own
ACTIVITY A. Beginning a student notebook for daily writing.
Grammar focus: varies
Writing focus: developing fluency
1. Students write in the notebook every day for the remainder of the quarter
unless an exam or other hour-long activity is scheduled. The notebooks
can be collected once a week; however, they are not graded and grammar
is not checked. I typically read and respond to content. The daily writing
gives students an opportunity to develop fluency without being overly concerned
about accuracy. Because they will write in response to student-generated
prompts, they have a measure of control over the subject matter. Since
the prompts are related to the discourse type being studied at the time,
they may elicit some of the grammatical items found in that cluster.
2. Begin class by brainstorming topics. Narrative tells what happened:
when do we use (read/write/speak) narrative? In what situations? What are
some examples? Examples on the board. Perhaps to include: talking to friends,
telling them about what we've done, writing to friends, writing applications
that ask for autobiographies, for example, if you apply to some graduate
programs at Georgia Tech; newspaper/magazine news/interest stories, stories
in fiction, history, business reports/scientific reports, police reports,
obituaries. What are some questions that require narrative answers? Write
the questions on the board.
3. Ask students to write for ten minutes in response to one or more of
the questions on the board. If they think of another question while writing,
they can ask you to add it to the board. Meanwhile, copy the questions.
Type them after class for use during the remainder of the week. Each student
can have a copy, and the class may add additional questions prior to writing
each day. Students have the option to continue writing on the same subject
the next day, or to begin a response to another prompt.
Variation: Give students a list of questions and ask them to mark the ones
that require narrative answers. Students can then add additional questions
to the list and write in response to one of the questions.
Examples: 1. ____ Where were you born?
2. ____ What is the most unusual thing that you have done in the U.S.?
3. ____ What is the worst thing that you did as a child?
4. ____ What languages have you studied?
Return to Course Schedule
ACTIVITY B. Analyzing a Student Biography (This is 1 of 3 linked activities)
Grammar focus: Recognizing past tense and perfect aspect verbs. Using past
tense forms.
Writing focus: Recognizing and generating supporting details for narrative
writing
Adapted from Blanton, L & Lee, L. (1994). The Multicultural Workshop:
A Reading & Writing Program. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.
1. Brainstorming: when we write about someone's life--our own or that of
someone else--what kind of information is it important or interesting to
include? Draw an idea map on the board. (See example). Ask what kind of
details would it be good to supply about each of these headings? Add these
to the idea map. Ask students what tense they would expect to use in writing
about the subjects on the board/in most narrative writing?
2. Ask students to think about the idea map just completed. What information
do they expect to see in a biography? Read the example of student writing.
(See below) Does it contain the information expected? What kind of information
does it contain? In pairs, ask students to draw an idea map for the student
composition.
3. Collect the Student Biography, and distribute the second version with
blanks for the correct forms of the verb. Ask students to complete the
blanks with the appropriate forms of the verbs.
4. Use this context to briefly review the formation of regular past tense
verbs and generate a list of common irregular verbs.
5. Once the previous steps have been completed, it may be helpful to draw
students' attention to time markers in the text, and discuss ways to signal
time relationships.
Version 1: Maria Castro's Autobiography. From (Blanton & Lee, 1994)
My name is Maria A. Castro. I was born in Rivas, Nicaragua, Central America,
in December, 1953. I have five brothers and one sister. My father died
four years ago, and my mother lives with my sister in Honduras.
When I was a child, I had many friends, and I enjoyed being with them.
All the time, we ran and jumped. I always remember that time because it
was the best time in my life.
Fourteen years ago, I was a hospital secretary in Rivas. My father was
my boss. We were a happy family, but we left our country because a civil
war broke out. Many Nicaraguans fled because of political persecution.
My family fled to Honduras. In Honduras, I met my husband, and we were
married on December 12, 1986.
In January, 1988, my husband and I decided to come to the United States
because we wanted a better education for our children. Beginning a new
life was very hard for us. We learned to overcome our fear of the new language
and the new culture.
Now all is different. My husband has a good job, my daughter has finished
high school, my son will finish high school in two years, and I am studying
English at Delgado. I am very happy living in the United States.
Version 2: Maria Castro's Autobiography. From (Blanton & Lee, 1994)
My name ______________ (be) Maria A. Castro. I _______________ (be) born
in Rivas, Nicaragua, Central America, in December, 1953. I _______________
(have) five brothers and one sister. My father _______________(die) four
years ago, and my mother ________________(live) with my sister in Honduras.
when I ________________ (be) a child, I ________________(have) many friends,
and I _______________(enjoy) being with them. All the time, we ______________
(run) and ______________(jump). I always ______________(remember) that
time because it ______________ (be) the best time in my life.
Fourteen years ago, I _______________ (be) a hospital secretary in Rivas.
My father ________________ (be) my boss. We ______________ (be) a happy
family, but we ______________ (leave) our country because a civil war _________________
(brake out). Many Nicaraguans _________________(flee) because of political
persecution. My family ________________(flee) to Honduras. In Honduras,
I _______________(meet) my husband, and we were married on December 12,
1986.
In January, 1988, my husband and I ________________(decide) to come to
the United States because we _______________(want) a better education for
our children. Beginning a new life _______________ (be) very hard for us.
We _______________(learn) to overcome our fear of the new language and
the new culture.
Now all _______________ (be) different. My husband _______________ (have)
a good job, my daughter has finished high school, my son will finish high
school in two years, and I am studying English at Delgado. I am very happy
living in the United States.
ACTIVITY C. Writing student idea maps and biographies (This is 2 of
3 linked activities)
Grammar Focus: Using past tense forms
Writing Focus: Developing a short piece of narrative discourse
1. Ask students to remember the idea map that was generated in the previous
activity. Draw the idea map with the categories of information on the board.
Ask them to draw an idea map for a biography of their own lives.
2. Next, students use the idea map to write a short biography of their
own.
3. Collect the compositions and use to suggest revisions and/or for use
in the next activity.
ACTIVITY D. (This is 3 of 3 linked activities)
1. Type up some of the students' biographical compositions. Select compositions
with few tense errors and edit to make sure they do not contain any distracting
errors. Change the subject to a pronoun where possible and where necessary
to protect the identity of the student. Then substitute a blank for the
verb form they used. Ask students to work in pairs to supply the correct
forms. They can pool knowledge to come up with the correct forms.
2. Return students' original compositions to them for any necessary revisions
of verb tense. Rather than marking the errors, for this exercise I indicate
the number of problems with verb tense and ask students to locate them.
ACTIVITY E.
Grammar Focus: Recognizing past tense and present perfect verb forms. Using
past tense, present perfect and past perfect forms in writing about the
passage. Using third person pronouns.
1. Brainstorm to share what students know about segregation in the South
earlier in the century.
2. Ask students to read "A Family Legacy". After reading, discuss
unfamiliar vocabulary. Re-read if necessary--this is a challenging piece.
Find the verbs and indicate the tense/aspect used.
3. Ask students to complete the exercise below. Why do they use the tenses
they use?
4. Why does Edelman choose the tenses she does? Note in particular the
use of present perfect to show how her past experiences are important to
her now.
Sample Text: "A Family Legacy" by Marian Wright Edelman From:
The Measure of Our Success: A Letter of Our Success.
South Carolina is my home state and I am the aunt, granddaughter, daughter,
and sister of Baptist ministers. Service was an essential part of my upbringing
as eating and sleeping and going to school. The church was a hub of Black
children's social existence, and caring Black adults were buffers against
the segregated and hostile world that told us we weren't important. But
our parents said it wasn't so, our teachers said it wasn't so, and our
preachers said it wasn't so. The message of my racially segregated childhood
was clear: let no man or woman look down on you, and look down on no man
or woman.
We couldn't play in public playgrounds or sit at drugstore counters and
order a Coke, so Daddy built a playground and canteen behind the church.
In fact, whenever he saw a need, he tried to respond. There were no Black
homes for the aged in Bennettsville, so he began one across the street
for which he and Mama and we children cooked and served and cleaned. And
we children learned that it was our responsibility to take care of elderly
family members and neighbors, and that everyone was our neighbor. My mother
carried on the home after Daddy died, and my brother Julian has carried
it on to this day behind our church since our mother's death in 1984....
When my mother died, an old white man in my hometown of Bennettsville asked
me what I do. In a flash I realized that in my work at the Children's Defense
Fund I do exactly what my parents did--just on a different scale....
I have always believed that I could help change the world because I have
been lucky to have adults around me who did--in small and large ways. Most
were people of simple grace who understood what Walker Percy wrote: You
can get all As and still flunk life.(pp. 3-8)
"Family Legacy" Exercise
Directions: In the passage, Dr. Edelman describes her early childhood.
Working with a partner, complete the following sentences to make true sentences.
1. When Dr. Edelman was a child, ___________________________________________.
2. When Dr. Edelman lived in South Carolina,_________________________________.
3. After Dr. Edelman's father died,___________________________________________.
4. Her parents and other adults said__________________________________________.
5. Her brother___________________________________________________________.
6. Dr. Edelman feels that____________________________________________________.
7. Dr. Edelman believes_____________________________________________________.
8. Since she was a child, Dr. Edelman________________________________________.
Directions: Check the statements that are true.
By the time Dr. Edelman started college, she
1. _____ had known many good people
2. _____ had experienced segregation
3. _____ had become wealthy
4. _____ had learned to cook
5. _____ had written a book
ACTIVITY F.
Have students work in pairs and interview each other to find out what their
partners had done by age 5, age 10, age 18. Ask them to come up with a
list of five things for each category.
ACTIVITY G.
Ask students to complete fragments like these to make true sentences about
themselves.
I have always felt/thought.....
Since I was a child....
For the last five years....
ACTIVITY H.
Ask students to revise their autobiographical compositions and add a present
perfect conclusion
Segment 2: Overview
This segment presents the grammar of narrative through texts, activities,
and writing prompts related to story-telling and movies.
ACTIVITY I.
This is a story reading and story writing activity. By way of justifying
the use of stories in class, McCarthy (1991), like Biber (1988), notes
that there are elements that all narratives have in common. He writes too
that "the ability to tell a good story...is a highly regarded talent,
probably in all cultures" (p. 137).
I like an activity that Hedge (1988) calls "Working from opening sentences."
The teacher selects first sentences from a variety of stories, then asks
students to come up with possibilities for how the story could continue.
This could be done according to the think/pair/share model, with students
working individually for a few minutes before joining with another student
and ultimately entering a class discussion.
ACTIVITY J.
I find that asking students to write stories based only on opening sentences
can be too demanding at this level. I use the previous activity for discussion.
To engage students in story writing, I've successfully used folk tales
with lots of action. I copy the first half of the story for students to
read. I then ask them to work in small groups to discuss their ideas about
what happens next. Finally, the students write a group conclusion to the
story. I find that the student continue to use the past tense without explicit
instruction to do so.
ACTIVITY K. (This is 1 of 2 linked activities)
1. Introduce the subject of silent films by brainstorming about the major
developments in the history of movies. It might be helpful to put a brief
timeline on the board. For example:
First (c. 1894) Silent, Black and White
Second (c. 1932) Sound, Black and White
Third (c. 1952) Sound, Color
(Dates from Cook, D.A. (1981) The History of Narrative Film New
York: W.W. Norton.)
2. Ask students to read the following passage about the development of
movies and write their own timelines including the information from the
passage. Discuss the choice of tense for the passage.
Text from O'Neill, C. et al. eds. (1993) Fact Finder. New York:
Kingfisher Books.
Movies
The first moving pictures came from an invention called the kinetoscope,
built by Thomas Edison, in 1891. Shortly afterwards, Auguste and Louis
Lumiere built their cinematopraphe, which projected picutures from a piece
of film on to a screen. Early films were black and white, movements were
jerky and they had no sound. At first they showed only real events, but
soon filmmakers began to invent their own stories and use actors. By the
end of World War I (1914-18), Hollywoood in California had become the film-making
capital of the world, as it still is today. (p. 250)
ACTIVITY L. (This is 2 of 2 linked activities)
This activity uses a classic silent movie as a narrative text, and guides
students to write their own narratives based on this text. The movie I
use is Buster Keaton's Cops. (1922). It is about 19 minutes long
and is well suited for this activity although others could easily be used.
2. Provide students with four to six stills from the movie. (These are
sometimes available from specialty movie rental stores and silent film
clubs). Ask the class to describe the activity taking place in each picture
and discuss any questions regarding vocabulary.
3. Ask students, working in groups, to arrange the stills in what they
feel is the correct order. Then ask them to write a brief narrative describing
the action that occurs in order. At this point, the narratives can be collected,
and the activity continued on the following day. Alternately, the verb
forms used in their writing (typically simple past and past continuous)
can be written up on the board and discussed. Be sure to collect the pictures
if this is the end of a class session.
4. If activity is being continued in the following class session, type
up one or more of the student narratives to copy or put on a transparency.
Begin the class session by reviewing the choice of tense and aspect.
5. Once again, distribute copies of the stills to the groups. Next, show
the film, asking the groups to put the pictures in order as they watch.
6. Ask students to write individual or group narratives, based on their
more complete knowledge of the movie.
ACTIVITY M.
(By Jane Dresser. Published in Pennington, M. C., Ed. (1995) New Ways
in Teaching Grammar) Alexandria, VA: TESOL)
This activity practices the past perfect tense in extended discourse and
clarifies tense contrasts by using popular films.
Procedure
1. Make one copy of the video summary for each pair of students (see Appendix).
2. Introduce the James Bond video by showing a few minutes of the movie
with the sound turned off. Have students guess who the characters are,
where the movie is taking place, and what is happening. Most students are
familiar with the Bond movies, so this is usually easy for them.
3. Play the segment from the time Bond wakes up in the martial arts school
through his escape across the bridge. Then have the students summarize
the basic story line. Help them with any new vocabulary, but do not highlight
any incorrect tense usage at this point.
4. Hand out copies of the summary, and have pairs of students fill in the
blanks using any appropriate verb tense.
5. Check the students' choices by replaying the video segment, if necessary,
to see the time relationship between events. For example, students will
see that Bond was hit on the head before he fell asleep. Therefore, the
past perfect tense form (had hit) would be appropriate. Likewise, Bond
was in the middle of drinking his tea when the karate performance began,
hence the need for the past progressive tense (as in He was drinking).
6. For a practice activity, have students watch another 5-minute segment
of the movie, and in pairs, write their own summaries using appropriate
tenses.
Appendix: The Man With the Golden Gun
The Man With the Golden Gun
Video Segment Summary
At the beginning of this segment, James Bond (wake up)_______________ in
a martial arts school. He (realize)_______________ that he (sleep)________________
for some time, probably because someone (hit) _______________ him over
the head the night before.
Anyway, while Bond (relax) _______________ and (drink) ______________ some
tea, the karate experts (begin) _____________ to perform. Soon after, one
of the students (invite ) ________________ Bond to join him, and seeing
that it would be difficult to refuse, Bond (agree) _______________.
They (step) ______________ onto the mat together and (bow)______________
to one another, but just as the student (straighten up) ______________,
Bond (knock) ________________ him out.
Consequently, Bond (have to) _______________ face Schula, the best fighter
in the school, and a man who (never/defeat) ______________ before. Dealing
with Schula was a lot more difficult, but eventually Bond (manage) ________________
to throw Schula to the ground, and by the time Schula (turn) _______________
around, Bond (jump) ______________out of the window.
Luckily, Bond's friend Lee and his two nieces were there to help him. They
(pick) _______________ Bond up, and (escape) ______________ when several
students (appear) _______________ and (block) ________________ their path.
However, there was no need to worry. Lee's nieces were karate experts,
and by the time Bond (realize) _______________ what was happening, the
girls (knock out) _______________ all their pursuers.
Segment 3: Overview
The reading for this segment is longer than those previously used, but
it is clearly organized in chronological order.
ACTIVITY N.
The text used in this activity contains many of the features of narrative,
including simple past, used to indicate sequential nature of activities
(Celce-Murcia, M. and Larsen-Freeman 1983) , perfect aspect verbs, 3rd
person pronouns, and present participials.
1. If your class did the activities in segment 1, ask them to recall what
they remember about segregation. Brainstorm about protest movements around
the world . What are some Examples? Discuss how boycotts work.
2. Ask students to construct a timeline for the events leading up to and
during the early days of the Montgomery bus boycott.
Suggestions:
3. This text can be used as the basis for exercises similar to those described
in Segment 1 for the Wright-Edelman piece.
4. This text could also serve well for focussed reading looking for verb
tense and aspect or present participials.
5. Ultimately, this text can be used as a model for student writing about
someone else--a biography rather than an autobiography. Such a prompt would
require use of third person pronouns which are another feature of narrative
writing.
Text (Re-printed in part from Martin Luther King: The Peaceful Warrior
by Ed Clayton New York: Simon & Schuster, 1968,) From the chapter called
"The Spark Catches"
One day, after Dr. King had been in Montgomery over a year, and there was
still only talk among Negroes about "doing something" to help
themselves, a middle-aged Negro seamstress, Mrs. Rosa Parks, did something.
After work, she boarded a bus in downtown Montgomery, paid her fare and
took the first seat behind a sign reading "Reserved for White."
Three other Negroes also sat near her in the white section.
As the bus began to fill up with white passengers, the driver ordered the
Negroes to stand and make room for them. The other three Negroes promptly
gave up their seats. Mrs. Parks remained in hers.
Again the driver ordered her to stand. She remained in her seat. A policeman
was called and Mrs. Parks was arrested and taken to jail. It was Thursday
evening, December 1, 1955.
One of the first people to hear of Mrs. Parks' arrest was E.D. Nixon, a
pullman porter. He once had been state president of the NAACP (the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People), the oldest Negro civil
rights group. Mrs. Parks had been his secretary. When he was notified of
her arrest, he immediately went to sign the bond for her release.
Mrs. Parks' arrest troubled Mr. Nixon deeply. He felt that it was an outrage
against the Negro community. Early the next morning, Mr. Nixon called Dr.
King and suggested that Negroes stop riding the buses as a protest against
Mrs. Parks' arrest. Dr. King agreed that the time to boycott the buses
had come.
That night, a meeting of Negro leaders was held in Dr. King's church. The
ministers who were present agreed to speak to their congregations on Sunday
about the tremendous importance of their refusing to ride the buses.
The group also planned to print and distribute seven thousand leaflets,
notifying the Negro community of the bus boycott.
The white community soon learned of the boycott, too. A Negro maid was
given one of the leaflets, and being unable to read, asked her employer
to read it to her. The while woman could hardly believe what she was reading--how
dared they? Outraged, she called a newspaper.
By Saturday morning, the planned boycott was on page one. Dr. King and
his associates were delighted--a white newspaper was giving them far better
distribution than they had planned. The leaflet was reprinted word for
word:
Don't ride the bus to work, to town, to school, or anyplace Monday, December
5. If you work, take a cab, or share a ride, or walk. Come to a mass meeting,
Monday at 7:00 p.m., at the Holt Street Baptist Church for further instructions.
When Monday morning finally came, Martin and his wife were up by 5:30 to
see how effective the boycott would be. The bus line which went past their
home was used by more Negroes than any other line. It was usually crowded
with domestic workers in the early morning.
As they watched from a front window, they saw the first bus roll slowly
by. It was empty! Fifteen minutes later, a second bus came by. It, too,
was empty. The third bus carried only two white passengers.
Dr. King dressed hurriedly and rushed out of the house to his car. For
more than an hour he cruised around, observing every bus. He counted only
eight Negro passengers. On any normal day the buses would have been carrying
some 17,500 Negroes to and from their jobs. (59-64)