B. Analyze a Model: Nasreen’s Secret School – W.7.4 (20 minutes)

• Review the learning target:

“I can generate criteria for an effective narrative.”

• Display and distribute the prompt for the End of Unit 3 Assessment: Write a narrative about a Lost Boy or Girl of Sudan, using information from A Long Walk to Water and the informational texts you have read in this module. Be sure to write the story in a way that displays key habits of character for the character in your story.
• Tell students that before they begin planning and writing their own stories, they will analyze a model story and think about what goes into making a good narrative. Display the Criteria of an Effective Narrative anchor chart.
• Ask students to think about some of the elements that make up a good story. Call on volunteers to share their answers. Add the elements that students come up with on this first grapple to the chart. (Responses may include the following: Good stories have interesting characters and settings. The plot can be suspenseful or surprising. There may be good description.)
• Display the model narrative, Nasreen’s Secret School, using the device. Inform students that they will hear this story read aloud to them just as their ebooks will be read aloud to elementary school students. Tell students that although this story is about a different subject than the Lost Boys of Sudan, it is for a similar audience to the one they will be writing for and will serve as a good model for them to analyze as they begin to think about their own narratives.
• First, read the author’s note at the beginning of the ebook, and ask students if they have any questions. Define concepts and names such as “Global Fund for Children,” “Taliban,” and “Afghanistan.”
• Read Nasreen’s Secret School to students.
• After reading, invite students to reflect on the following question by thinking, writing, or drawing. Students must be silent when they do this:

“What did this story make you think about?” (Responses will vary. Possible response: It is challenging in some areas of the world for children to have access to education.)

• Invite students to Think-Write-Pair-Share about what the gist of the story is, recording their ideas on a sticky note. Ask for volunteers to share their gists of the story.
• Refocus the class, and return to the author’s note for Nasreen’s Secret School. Ask students to Turn and Talk:

“What do you think the purpose of the story is?” (to spread the message about people like Nasreen)

“What does this author’s note tell us about the purpose of the story?” (It says that the Global Fund for Children asked the author to write a book about the people they help. The author says she was “drawn” to a group that founded a secret school.)

• Invite students to discuss with partners the ways in which they think the author was effective in her purpose. Ask for student volunteers to give specific examples of the way the author achieved her purpose, and record these elements on the Criteria of an Effective Narrative anchor chart. Consult the Criteria of an Effective Narrative anchor chart (example for teacher reference) as necessary.
• Ask elbow partners to consider how the author’s purpose for Nasreen’s Secret School is related to the purpose of the ebooks they will be writing. Call on volunteers to share out answers. (The purpose of our ebooks is also to spread the message about the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan.)
• Inform students that when they write their narratives about the Lost Boys or Girls of Sudan, they will be thinking of habits of character that they want to show through the story. After they write their narratives, as part of their performance tasks, they will have the chance to write a foreword similar to this author’s note discussing the habits of character shown in their stories. Ask students to discuss with a partner what habits of character Nasreen displays in the story. Ask students to give examples from both the story and the author’s note. (The author’s note mentions “bravery” and “courage” from girls like her who defied the Taliban. In the story, Nasreen is brave because she goes to school even though it’s dangerous. And even though she doesn’t speak for a long time, she shows perseverance when she makes a friend and starts to learn and enjoy school.)
• Distribute and display the Narrative Writing Plan graphic organizer. Tell students that this will help them plan their own stories. Inform students that they will fill out the first part—Task, Purpose, Audience—for their own narratives based on their analysis of the model.
• Guide students through filling out the Narrative Writing Plan graphic organizer, using Nasreen’s Secret School as a model. (For example, use questions such as the following: How is the task of Nasreen’s Secret School similar to the stories we will be writing about a Lost Boy or Girl? Refer to the Narrative Writing Plan graphic organizer [example for teacher reference] for possible responses.)
• Repeated routine: invite students to reflect on their progress toward the learning target.