Transcript Applying Verb Tense to Literary & Informational Text

Applying Verb Tense to
Literary & Informational
Text
Using present tense verbs,
retell a literary text with
audio & visual
reinforcement
“It has long been understood that when people see
images at the same time as they hear or read
information, understanding and retention escalate.”—
Robert E. Horn, Visual Language: Global
Communication for the 21st Century
Sample Teacher Modeling Text
Besa and Amari, both 15 and betrothed to one another, are keeping watch
of the outskirts of their small, 1793 African village. They see the Ashanti
escorting white men toward their village, and they hurry back to tell the
elders to prepare a welcoming feast.
After the feast the visitors pull out guns and shoot the villagers, sparing
only the young. As the youth return to their village in the morning, they
are captured and put in a slave coffle.
Amari and Besa are among those captured and marched to the slave ship.
On board they are stacked in small storage racks where they remain until
their arrival in the United States.
They arrive in South Carolina where they are both put up for auction.
Amari is purchased by Mr. Derby as a 16th birthday present for his son.
Amari is his personal slave. Besa is sold to another family.
Video Clip: The Slave Plantations of Colonial Times (2 minutes) This clip is
appropriate to the story, as it address life on a rice plantation in South Carolina
(Amari’s experience). The clip can be muted and narrated or played with audio.
After suffering much hardship and witnessing unmentionable horrors, Amari and
an indentured servant decide to take their chances and run away. Hearing they
can seek refuge at a Spanish Fort in Florida, they flee to the south.
When they are hiding in a farmer’s barn, Amari hears a familiar voice. It
is Besa. He is blind in one eye, crippled and laden with scars. They have
to leave him behind in their quest for freedom.
Video Clip: Escape Routes (1 minute 20 seconds) This clip highlights
many escape routes of slaves in Colonial America. It especially addresses
the routes that were taken to Florida and further south.
Finally, Amari is successful in her quest for
freedom.
► Note:
Sharon Draper received the Coretta Scott
King Award for juvenile text in 2006 for Copper
Sun.
► Note: Students and teachers can use Power Point
to engage all learners when teaching grammar
and rhetoric.
► Note: This is a model story; any story or
expository text can be narrated using present
tense verbs.
► The intent is to incorporate grammar across the
high school curriculum, not isolate in the ELA
forum.
This is a sample narrative of our 11-year-old daughter’s trip to Niagara
Falls and Cleveland. She uses the verb tense model handout to focus on
only present tense.
Strategies
► The
goal is to integrate grammar and mechanics in
all content area writing; eliminate isolation of this
expectation in only ELA.
► Apply verb tense expectations to all writing,
especially informational text.
► Utilize rubric to allow for flexibility in the
assignment: written, video, and audio text
produced by students can be graded equally, and
it empowers students to choose favorite medium.