Phase 1: My Story Based on a Sequence
Ben had been adopted when he was 18 months old. He was raised by his parents who never made him feel different than Olivia and Paige; his two sisters. He grew up in a modest home in a small town in central Illinois and was halfway through his junior year of high school. His favorite subject was French, which took him, and everyone else, by surprise. He excelled in the language and was almost fluent. One of his goals was to study abroad in Paris once he got to college. His other passion was watching documentaries. He watched them all and was interested in film school. He was satisfied with his life, but, like many adopted children, Ben often found himself thinking about his biological parents. Who were they? Where are they? Are they still alive? Why did they decide to give him up for adoption? Ben’s mind was constantly flooded with questions.
One afternoon, Ben was mindlessly sifting through the documentaries on Netflix and came across a new one: Finding Marcus: the incredible story of perfect strangers. The documentary was about a boy, Marcus, who decided to find his birth parents. Benjamin immediately related to the main subject’s feelings of guilt associated with the desire to seek out his birth mom. He loved his mom without any doubt in his heart. It didn’t seem right to want to find his “real” mom. However, right before the credits rolled, a website of an agency popped up on the screen offering help for those like Marcus. Ben stared at the website and then immediately took out his phone and looked it up. He discovered that the agency had a location in Chicago, which was just a quick 2-hour ride on Amtrak. He immediately questioned his bravery to call. It only took a minute to push those feelings away and his fingers started dialing. The second someone answered, he hung up. It took a week before he decided to call again, this time willing himself to stay on the line.
The following Wednesday, he found himself nervously gulping down his frosted flakes at breakfast. Little did his family know that he would be skipping school that day and hopping on a train to Chicago. He always rode to school with his twin sisters and today was no different. They parked in their assigned space and all three of them grumpily walked in silently, toting their backpacks and strategically thinking about how to stay awake during first period. Benjamin was nervous. He was an excellent student with almost perfect attendance. He was barely ever sick and now he was skipping school on purpose.
He mumbled goodbye to his sisters and stopped at the bathroom to wait. Once he felt comfortable, he slipped back out the front door, turning left to walk to a less busy part of the school. He waited to cross the street, looking back nervously. To his surprise, no one noticed. He had pictured Principal Williams running after him, chasing him down the street. But no one even glanced in his direction. He jogged down Willis Avenue and quickly waited for the cab he had called. His town was still too small to be serviced by Uber, the quick and friendly cab service app he had heard so much about. Benjamin constantly checked his watch as he waited for what seemed like hours before his cab showed up.
The cab pulled in to the small Amtrak station. Benjamin threw the cab driver a 10 dollar bill and hurried out of the car. He had two minutes to make the train. Running through the turnstile, he saw people loading the train cars and heard a mechanical voice repeating “warning, doors closing.” Ben sprinted and got stuck behind a man walking slowly onto the train. He waited, impatiently behind him and finally stepped on board, not even bothering to take a seat. As the train pulled out of the station, Ben breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the window while looking at his watch. In just three hours, he was meeting the Chicago agency counselor he had spoken to at a Starbucks in the River West area of Chicago. He had been to Chicago plenty of times with his family, but he was considerably nervous about navigating the city himself. He quickly found an empty seat on the train and spent the next two hours nervously checking his phone for any messages from his parents, or worse, his school’s attendance office.
When the train finally pulled into Union Station, Benjamin was jarred awake. He quickly stretched, glanced at his watch and made his way through the turnstiles and found himself on South Canal Street in the center of the city. He pulled out his phone and opened the walking route he had saved in his mapquest app. He sprinted down the sidewalk, only slowing to obey the walk signals at intersections. After running for what seemed like 10 miles, he still was not near his destination. He realized he needed a restroom, and fast. He popped into a corner drug store, looking down as he went in. He always felt guilty using the McDonald’s restroom on family road trips when his parents had no intention of purchasing anything. This was no different. However, with his head down, he accomplished his task and quickly walked out of the drug store, glancing at the clock. It was then he saw he had a text from the counselor that read “running late. Be there in 30.” Benjamin relaxed for the first time in hours. He walked out of the drug store and leisurely strolled down Dearborn Avenue, taking in the hustle and bustle of the city. As farfetched as it seemed, his birth mom could be living in Chicago. He looked around for someone that might look like him, but quickly stopped while he shook his head at himself in embarrassment.
Ben finally arrived at Starbucks and looked around for the counselor even knowing he was early. The Starbucks was eerily empty for a Wednesday approaching lunchtime. Benjamin ordered his standard soy milk latte at the counter and took a seat near the window. Benjamin stared at the trees lining the sidewalks and waited nervously for the woman that could possibly help him answer the biggest mystery of his life.
Ben had been adopted when he was 18 months old. He was raised by his parents who never made him feel different than Olivia and Paige; his two sisters. He grew up in a modest home in a small town in central Illinois and was halfway through his junior year of high school. His favorite subject was French, which took him, and everyone else, by surprise. He excelled in the language and was almost fluent. One of his goals was to study abroad in Paris once he got to college. His other passion was watching documentaries. He watched them all and was interested in film school. He was satisfied with his life, but, like many adopted children, Ben often found himself thinking about his biological parents. Who were they? Where are they? Are they still alive? Why did they decide to give him up for adoption? Ben’s mind was constantly flooded with questions.
One afternoon, Ben was mindlessly sifting through the documentaries on Netflix and came across a new one: Finding Marcus: the incredible story of perfect strangers. The documentary was about a boy, Marcus, who decided to find his birth parents. Benjamin immediately related to the main subject’s feelings of guilt associated with the desire to seek out his birth mom. He loved his mom without any doubt in his heart. It didn’t seem right to want to find his “real” mom. However, right before the credits rolled, a website of an agency popped up on the screen offering help for those like Marcus. Ben stared at the website and then immediately took out his phone and looked it up. He discovered that the agency had a location in Chicago, which was just a quick 2-hour ride on Amtrak. He immediately questioned his bravery to call. It only took a minute to push those feelings away and his fingers started dialing. The second someone answered, he hung up. It took a week before he decided to call again, this time willing himself to stay on the line.
The following Wednesday, he found himself nervously gulping down his frosted flakes at breakfast. Little did his family know that he would be skipping school that day and hopping on a train to Chicago. He always rode to school with his twin sisters and today was no different. They parked in their assigned space and all three of them grumpily walked in silently, toting their backpacks and strategically thinking about how to stay awake during first period. Benjamin was nervous. He was an excellent student with almost perfect attendance. He was barely ever sick and now he was skipping school on purpose.
He mumbled goodbye to his sisters and stopped at the bathroom to wait. Once he felt comfortable, he slipped back out the front door, turning left to walk to a less busy part of the school. He waited to cross the street, looking back nervously. To his surprise, no one noticed. He had pictured Principal Williams running after him, chasing him down the street. But no one even glanced in his direction. He jogged down Willis Avenue and quickly waited for the cab he had called. His town was still too small to be serviced by Uber, the quick and friendly cab service app he had heard so much about. Benjamin constantly checked his watch as he waited for what seemed like hours before his cab showed up.
The cab pulled in to the small Amtrak station. Benjamin threw the cab driver a 10 dollar bill and hurried out of the car. He had two minutes to make the train. Running through the turnstile, he saw people loading the train cars and heard a mechanical voice repeating “warning, doors closing.” Ben sprinted and got stuck behind a man walking slowly onto the train. He waited, impatiently behind him and finally stepped on board, not even bothering to take a seat. As the train pulled out of the station, Ben breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the window while looking at his watch. In just three hours, he was meeting the Chicago agency counselor he had spoken to at a Starbucks in the River West area of Chicago. He had been to Chicago plenty of times with his family, but he was considerably nervous about navigating the city himself. He quickly found an empty seat on the train and spent the next two hours nervously checking his phone for any messages from his parents, or worse, his school’s attendance office.
When the train finally pulled into Union Station, Benjamin was jarred awake. He quickly stretched, glanced at his watch and made his way through the turnstiles and found himself on South Canal Street in the center of the city. He pulled out his phone and opened the walking route he had saved in his mapquest app. He sprinted down the sidewalk, only slowing to obey the walk signals at intersections. After running for what seemed like 10 miles, he still was not near his destination. He realized he needed a restroom, and fast. He popped into a corner drug store, looking down as he went in. He always felt guilty using the McDonald’s restroom on family road trips when his parents had no intention of purchasing anything. This was no different. However, with his head down, he accomplished his task and quickly walked out of the drug store, glancing at the clock. It was then he saw he had a text from the counselor that read “running late. Be there in 30.” Benjamin relaxed for the first time in hours. He walked out of the drug store and leisurely strolled down Dearborn Avenue, taking in the hustle and bustle of the city. As farfetched as it seemed, his birth mom could be living in Chicago. He looked around for someone that might look like him, but quickly stopped while he shook his head at himself in embarrassment.
Ben finally arrived at Starbucks and looked around for the counselor even knowing he was early. The Starbucks was eerily empty for a Wednesday approaching lunchtime. Benjamin ordered his standard soy milk latte at the counter and took a seat near the window. Benjamin stared at the trees lining the sidewalks and waited nervously for the woman that could possibly help him answer the biggest mystery of his life.
Phase 2: My Own Sequence
Using images in lessons is not only important to reach all learners, but a fun way to create engaging instruction. I noticed in the instructions for this assignment that there is a graphic organizer for decoding images. The organizer outlines the ‘who, where, what, but, so, then’ of a story. I use this exact graphic organizer to teach my fourth graders about summarizing. One of my favorite lessons to do with them is to summarize picture books. We go over the different elements of a story, emphasizing the various ‘who, where, what, etc’ elements. Once they pinpoint these pieces, they can use them to write a summary of what happened in the story. Even though they are using text in this lesson, the pictures in the books resonate with them. The pictures help them pick up context clues and pick out some of the more difficult plot points. This would be a very different lesson if we just used an excerpt or a book without pictures.
With so many free web tools available, students can create digital sequences using sites like Read Write Think’s comic creator. Graphic novels are one of the most heavily circulated genres in my media center. Allowing students to present information in comic format is both fun and educational. They are learning a new resource while expressing themselves creatively. I find that when I show my students a new way to present information, the more excited they are about actually conducting the research.
There are so many possibilities with creating images in the media center. Using picture books, creating comics and even shooting story sequences with iPads are just a few of the ways to encourage creativity while maximizing learning.
Using images in lessons is not only important to reach all learners, but a fun way to create engaging instruction. I noticed in the instructions for this assignment that there is a graphic organizer for decoding images. The organizer outlines the ‘who, where, what, but, so, then’ of a story. I use this exact graphic organizer to teach my fourth graders about summarizing. One of my favorite lessons to do with them is to summarize picture books. We go over the different elements of a story, emphasizing the various ‘who, where, what, etc’ elements. Once they pinpoint these pieces, they can use them to write a summary of what happened in the story. Even though they are using text in this lesson, the pictures in the books resonate with them. The pictures help them pick up context clues and pick out some of the more difficult plot points. This would be a very different lesson if we just used an excerpt or a book without pictures.
With so many free web tools available, students can create digital sequences using sites like Read Write Think’s comic creator. Graphic novels are one of the most heavily circulated genres in my media center. Allowing students to present information in comic format is both fun and educational. They are learning a new resource while expressing themselves creatively. I find that when I show my students a new way to present information, the more excited they are about actually conducting the research.
There are so many possibilities with creating images in the media center. Using picture books, creating comics and even shooting story sequences with iPads are just a few of the ways to encourage creativity while maximizing learning.