Lesson 4 – Elements of FPN

Elements of First Person Narrative Style

Identify elements of the format that make for effective storytelling.

  • Objective:
  • Identify common elements of the format that will make their stories effective.
  • Resources:

NOTE: We STRONGLY recommend teachers go through the stories and the rubric  first before conducting the class

  • Time: 90 min
  • Instructions for the Teacher:
  • Introduction (05 mins):
  • Recap what format they have to use to write the story and what their stories can be about from the last two classes.
  • Identifying common elements (25 min):
    • Put students back in the same groups they were in last time. Give them all the 4 stories mentioned in the resources above- a printout of each story.
    • Ask them to read the stories and discuss what are some common things or elements they find among them
    • Students make a list in small groups and then share as a class. Teacher captures their list on the board.
  • Common Elements (20 minutes):
    • Make a couple of slides that show students the common elements from all the stories written by the HoNY. For each point, connect to a specific example or multiple examples from the stories they have reviewed so that the students can see how the points you are making are actually captured in the stories:
      • Direct quotes from the protagonists
      • Written in first person
      • Powerful incidents that leave a lasting impact on the reader
      • Stories clearly focus on some emotion (happiness, grief, despair, hope, etc.)
      • Short (most have a word count of 100-250 words)
      • DO NOT TELL The whole life story of the person
      • Accompanied by candid, beautiful, high resolution images (1-2). Images are all original taken by the HoNY founder, who is a photographer. Some photos are at the workplace or with another person. 
      • Stories are authentic and genuine, also very “human” – making them relatable
      • TEACHER CAN ADD YOUR OWN
  • Rubric (30 min):
    • Tell students that now you will be going through the CaL rubric to better understand how the stories they write will be assessed. The rubric gives students the guidance they need to score high marks when they submit their final project. So it is very important for them to understand it and follow it. Please stress this point.
    • Divide students into pairs and give one copy of the rubric to each pair. 
    • Project the rubric on the board and go over each part in detail
    • As a whole class, you can use the rubric to assess any one of the longer HONY story. It may not score high on the CaL rubric as these stories were not written for CaL, but it will give students a chance to use the rubric and get more familiar with it.
  • Closure (20 minutes):
    • Go over the theme for CaL again this year and go over the list of ideas and examples given for gender inequity
    • In their project groups, ask students to start narrowing down at least 5-6 ideas they find interesting and also to start thinking about who they or their parents or others in their network might know who fits the bill. 
    • Their homework is to come back with three ideas and actual people they can interview before the next class.
  • Note:

Teachers please send home a note at this point, explaining the requirement to parents. You can send the Theme Document. We also recommend that as a school, you can start reaching out to your own network to find people whose stories kids can tell in case they are unsuccessful at finding anyone.