Lesson 1 – Format

• Understand how to write a  first person narrative

• Notebooks to write
• Video and printed transcripts of mock interview conducted between you and another adult (made before class)
• Board and chalk

• Begin the lesson by recapping how the same sentence can be written from different perspectives of first, second or third person.
• First, second, and third person are ways of describing points of view.
  • • First person is the I/we perspective
    • Second person is the you perspective.
    • Third person is the he/she/it/they perspective.
• Take 2-3 examples of sentences and convert the perspective from third to first

• • Conduct a mock interview where a volunteer or a teacher will ask you about a memorable incident from your time in school. The interview should be short ,about 3-4  minutes. You can even record it beforehand and show the video in class.
  • Provide a transcript of the interview to the students for reference and give them 3-4 minutes to read it.
  • After the mock interview, discuss how they would write about the incident in the third person. Together as a class, construct the paragraph and write it on the board.
  • Now ask the students what they would do to rewrite the same paragraph in first person, as if you yourself were narrating the incident. Again, work with the whole class to model how to do this on the board. Remind children to refer to the transcript to take actual quotes of what you said to make the paragraph more authentic and true to your voice. 
  • After rewriting the paragraph in first person, ask someone to read it. Reflect on whether it “feels” like the protagonist (you) is directly talking to them.
  • Tell students that the stories they write have to be in first person, in this format.

• • Call a student to the front of the class and conduct a second interview for 3-4 minutes on the best trip they have ever taken with their parents or any other such specific topic. The topic needs to be specific. 
  • As you interview, tell students to listen attentively and write down some quotes the person used. 
  • Then they individually write about the situation in first person. They have to refer to quotes given by the other person. You can walk around and help them. 
  • Let a few kids share. You can write some of the more impactful statements, sentences, narratives on the board and discuss why they are well written. You can discuss which paragraphs stray from the actual story and which stay true to it. 

• • Tell students that the three stories they write for CaL will use this kind of a first person narrative style and they will learn more about it in future sessions. Clarify any doubts.