Narrating difficult texts

[deltagal]

My 14 yo is on Unit 19 of CTc and is having difficulty staying focused on his history reading, Ancient Greece: Streams of History. He does not find it as engaging as other books he has read up to this point. As a result he is having a great deal of difficulty coming up with something for his written narration. How can I guide him? This is an important crossroads I think because not all literature will capture our attention as well as some. Your thoughts?

[water2wine]

I know others will have great answers but my first thought is what about breaking it down a bit. Sort of working up by having him narrate on a smaller portion of the reading or doing an oral narration first and translating that bite by bite into written form. I am big on breaking narration down a bit to learn the skill. It worked well with written and oral when we got stuck for us. Not sure if that is proper or if it even works for others but that is sort of my BTDT. I completely agree on different texts are going to appear more engaging and either way the skill needs to be learned. Sometimes information might feel more complex to them at times and that can be part of it. That is where breaking it down for the transition has helped us.

[deltagal]

W2W,

Good thoughts. This is what I did today - we first discussed what technique the author was using to convey the information. He was having a road block with the idea that the character Harold doesn't actually live in Greece, he's visiting Greece in his imagination. And then I asked him what the point of this imaginary visit was? Of course, he stumbled into the idea that it was to discover the culture. Which then led me to ask him and what have you learned about the culture through Harold's "visit." More specifically what can you tell me about Greek climate, architecture, food, dress, and society. Then, I said, "okay, write all that down!" I have a hunch that next week it will go more smoothly, since he will be "into" the book. We'll see. So many interesting things to ponder when you're learning together.

[my3sons]

One thing I am figuring out, narration skills (oral or written) cannot be rushed. They come in their own sweet time, and they need to be encouraged along slowly, which is tough for me sometimes, as I am admittedly not the most patient person. I think that you have high expectations for your ds, which is good. I think your expectations may be exceeding those for written narration within the CTC guide. Taking a step back, if you read this below (which is the 1st week of written narration plans in CTC), can your ds do this, especially considering the portions noted in color?

To prepare for writing your narration, think
about the questions below. If you do not know
the answers, find them on p. 30 or 31 of The
Story of the Ancient World. Ask yourself, Who
entered the ark? How was the door to the ark
shut? From where did the floodwaters come?
How long did the downpour last? What
happened to the living creatures on earth?
How high did the floodwaters rise? What did
the waters carry along with them? How long
did the ark float? Why did Noah send out a
raven? What happened when Noah sent out
the dove? Why was Noah filled with joy when
he saw the olive twig? When did Noah come
out of the ark?

After you have thought about the answers to
the questions, turn to Unit 1 in your Student
Notebook. In Box 4, write a 5-8 sentence
narration that begins with, Noah entered the
ark... When you have finished writing, read
your sentences out loud to catch any mistakes.

Check for the following things: Did you
include who the reading was mainly about?
Did you include what important thing(s)
happened? Did you include how it ended? If
not, add those things. Use the Written
Narration Skills in the Appendix for editing.

I think sometimes our expectations for our dc are on a sprint race, while our dc's are on a marathon - but slow and steady wins the race too! When I am feeling frustrated, I pretend to open my HOD guide and read the goals of the plans and the progression of skill I can expect with fresh eyes. I do the same with things noted in the Appendix. I usually find I somehow expected my dc to be far ahead of the guide's expectations, and find that in fact, they really are doing what the guide is asking them to do.

In regard to Written Narrations, the Appendix says this...
Written narrations allow children to use their writing to share their own version of the passage they have just read or heard with accuracy, individual personality, spirit, and originality.
This is a sentence I personally have reread and reread. It made me realize I was expecting my dc to narrate by giving a summary narration every time, or I was expecting them to narrate what I would have narrated. In fact, I was sort of waiting, waiting to see what they "missed" in my opinion, and pounce upon that as if it was an error. The truth is, if your ds is writing a 5-8 sentence written narration and it fits with the given topic at hand, whatever those sentences are are correct. In fact, even a little leeway is given for "individual personality" and "originality".

Likewise, the editing skills are to be learned one at a time. Again, I've needed to reread this many times, especially this part:
The skills listed below range from beginning writing skills to more difficult writing skills that require knowing higher levels of grammar, usage, and punctuation. Skills are based on a continuum of increasing difficulty, so related skills may be spread out to be placed where they each fall best on the overall continuum. For example, the third skill on the list is beginning and ending sentences correctly, as well as correcting sentence fragments. But, fixing run-on sentences, which is a related skill, is not addressed until the seventh skill. For this reason, it is best to read the list over in its entirety, so you can see the overall flow of the continuum. Focusing on teaching one new numbered skill at time in the order it is listed will help you to avoid overwhelming your child with too many skills at once, and will give your child a manageable plan for successfully learning to do written narrations.

For new or struggling writers, you should start with the skill listed first on the list below. Once that skill is mastered, move on to the next skill. The skills should be cumulative, meaning each time a new skill is added, the old skills are still required. You may either make gentle comments as students are writing each sentence of their narration, or wait until the narration is complete to make your gentle comments then.

This helps me not to become overly aggressive in trying to rush my ds through this lengthy list. It reminds me that one skill is to be learned at a time, and then and only then, does he progress to another one.

So, if your ds is writing 5-8 sentences for his narration that relate to what he has read, keeping in mind some originality is allowed, and if he is even working toward success of 1 of the things on the written narration list, he is in fact doing what he is to do. I struggle with this sometimes too, but I am finding that by focusing on 1 thing and then truly mastering it, instead of focusing on an entire list of things all at once, truly does move my dc along more quickly than expecting it all can. Maybe I have only managed to describe ME here, in which case, you already have some excellent advice on what can be tried, but in case you may have some of my tendencies, I have posted this. Please just ignore it completely if it does not apply to you!

In Christ,
Julie

[deltagal]

Hi Julie,

Thank you for reminding me of all the good "tools" in the guide. I'll need to revisit and take a look at my son's instructions and see if that can guide him a bit. He has been quite successful with written narrations up to this point and is progressing well with this skill. I'll have to be more intentional about using the questions in the guide to help him regain "focus" when he doesn't "connect" with a reading. IN fact, as I ponder this a bit more, I imagine that the written narrations have become so "routine" for him that he probably didn't linger with the guidance offered in the guide that would have helped him compile his narration. Thank you for taking the time to respond and everyone else, as well. Enjoy the day!

[deltagal]

I had some time today to pull out the guide and review the instructions for the written narration and discovered that my son simply had disregarded the guidance for the written narration and gone his own way. Imagine that?! So, thank you Julie for pointing me in the right direction...back to the guide. I think I'll have him do that exercise over tomorrow.

[birchbark]

Just letting you know that you're not alone and that we've been working on narrations too! And we're also in CTC. I got "convicted" after reading this great narration thread. (I wonder if I should add it to the sticky?) Anyway, we also have found cutting the length of the reading for each narration down to be the key to making improvements a little at a time.

[Heather4Him]

birchbark--same here! We're also working harder on oral and written narrations, too, since this thread! (and using the manual guidelines more closely!)

[deltagal]

Last night I had a chance to read the "great narration thread" and I pulled out 3 of the guides and just spent time reading the instructions and progression of skills. I've said it before and I'll say it again..."there is so much wisdom and solid teaching in the guides." As of today we're find tuning our efforts in the narration department. We have lots of room to grow! It does seem as if it would be helpful to have a sticky on narration. IMHO

[countrymom]

Yes, let's please have a sticky on narration!

[birchbark]

Okay, I added that thread to the first post of the "Reasons" sticky.

[my3sons]

Deltagal- that is good to hear, and I hope that this helps your ds! Because activities rotate and directions follow a routine, I too have found that there is a part of something I somehow looked over or my ds started forgetting to do, and then we've had to go back to reading the guide more carefully to take full advantage of it. In fact, we just had this happen today. My ds has been writing an average of 5-7 sentences for his written narrations, and I realized the guide is asking him to do 8-10. We had both just gone back to doing what was familiar from last year in CTC. Not great, as next year I know he'll be asked to do more in RevtoRev than what he's doing in RTR. Luckily we still have the end of this year to focus on building that skill. Anyway - I just wanted to say that your ds is not alone in missing something here or there in the guide's directions that is intended to be a help! We have that happen here too, and then we just have to go back to the drawing board and replace that old habit with a better new one.

In Christ,
Julie