2015 Narrative Short Stories: Journey to America Volume 2
Unit Kick-Off!
This year, thanks to receiving the Eleanor Laing Law grant, I was able to bring Lost Boy John Bul Dau to Fargo South. He spoke to the entire school about his experiences as a refugee on October 6th, 2015. Now a successful CEO, author and president of his own organization, John inspires other refugees and immigrants to make the most of their lives. John's visit was the first day of the ELL English 4 student's narrative writing unit. After the assembly, John came to work one-on- one with the ELL English 4 students. He answered questions about his life, his role as an author and gave the students advice on how to succeed in life as well as how to write a good story.
The Writing Process
Students started brainstorming their own stories with John Dau. They continued to plan the following week, and then they worked on their rough drafts. Writing workshops took place for 8 weeks. Students from NDSU, MSUM, The Giving Plus Learning Program, NDSU professor Kevin Brooks' classes, as well as volunteers from The Refugee Consortium came to the classes during the unit to work with students on the technical writing aspects. In addition to this wonderful help, my student teacher, Kalai Laizer, who is native to Tanzania, also helped and inspired students during the unit. She even wrote her own "Journey to America" story, featured in the anthology.
The Publishing Process
First, students learned about the Flip-Snack publishing website. After learning the program, students created a book cover and site for their stories. These were published online and then linked to this site.
The students stories were published as a hard copy. The class anthology was printed and each student received one. some teachers and administrators also received a copy.
The Presentation
The students presentED their stories during a public reading at NDSU on January 27th, 2016. The students read an excerpt of their stories to the public to help further cultural understanding in the F-M community.
The presentation TOOK place in the Memorial Union from 10AM-12PM and WAS free and open to the public.
(Presentation made possible by NDSU, Stacy Duffield, Samantha Hamernick, Mallory Hoch)
2015-2016 NDSU Video PResentation
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English ELL 4 Class Period 1Click below to read their Narrative Short Stories: Journey to America: Volume 2
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English ELL 4 Class Period 4Click below to read their Narrative Short Stories: Journey to America: Volume 2
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