Muriel (Meg) Shuman, Fifth Grade, Barringer Academic Center
Synopsis
Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie has coined the term “single story” to refer to people or groups
who are relegated to one encompassing, preconceived story, usually erroneous,
to describe their lives.[i] This judgmental view is demeaning to
individuals and detrimental to society.
This unit strives to use the writing of Memoirs and the sharing of these
to tear down the single story mindset in our classroom and to create an
understanding and informed, classroom community. We will use writing practices
and exercises to reinforce the proper use of the writing process, along with
the use of mentor text for modeling.
Our unit will include various tools and activities structured so as to
enable connections between the students’ memories and their writing. The
students will share their pieces throughout the creation process and will
receive feedback from their peers which will also facilitate building
community. The final culmination of this
unit will be an Authors’ Sharing Celebration that coincides with our quarterly
student-led conferences.
[i] Adichie, C. “The Danger of a Single Story”. October 7, 2009, Accessed September 18, 2018. https://youtu.be/D9Ihs241zeg
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