Telling a Story: 5 People, 3 Angles

Today’s exercise was fun. We first read the book “Joan Proctor: Dragon Doctor” which is the story of Joan Proctor, the first female curator of the Reptile House at the London Zoo. This non-fiction story is written is such an attractive way, using clever turns of phrase and alliterations. I quickly fell in love with this book and cannot wait to use it in my classroom this coming year. Among other things, it’s a great way to introduce what being a scientist is about (observing, taking careful notes, illustrating, etc), but there is so much more that can be used for writing instruction, and just plain enjoyment of reading.

After reading the book, Kate gave us a challenge: Think of five fascinating people, and then imagine three different angles for telling their story. I have to admit, thinking of five people was the hardest part. Once I got started on the angles for the stories, the ideas seemed to fly! I chose five people that I find fascinating right now. Tomorrow I am sure I would think of others. Here are my five people, and the three different angles I could use to tell their stories:

Five people whose lives I find interesting and three angles to tell their story:
   
    1. Langston Hughes (American poet)
-Take a poem of Hughes’s and fashion his life story around the verses
-Using the rhythmic parameters of a jazz song, write a story about his involvement in the Harlem Renaissance
-Hughes came from the Midwest but lived all over the world. Write about his life from the perspective of the Midwesterner wanting to explore the world (I have personal feelings about this, lol)
   
     2. Sylvia Ashton-Warner (New Zealand educator)
-From the perspective of a Maori child
-From the perspective of a Maori parent
-From the perspective of  a modern educator in New Zealand
   
     3. Megan Rapinoe (American soccer star)
-Beginning with her brothers incarceration and weaving his story in with her story
-From the perspective of playing soccer. Like a How-to book only weaving her story around it
-Using “This is the house that Jack built” as a foundation, tell her story (This is the shoe that kicked the shot that won the world-cup for the fourth time…)
   
     4. Andrew Carnegie (American industrialist and philanthropist) 
-A picture book using a model of a Carnegie library
-A story of his work with Booker T. Washington
-A book about the winners of the Carnegie Hero Fund
     
     5. Oprah Winfrey (modern celebrity and philanthropist) 
- A story about her dogs
- A story about best friends with Oprah and Gayle as subject matters
- From the perspective of “What I Know For Sure” tell her story

Sometimes the hardest part of writing is coming up with the subject matter, the second hardest is thinking of the angle. As teachers, using these types of mentor texts is an excellent way to model writing that goes beyond "what I did last night". It gives us a chance to show our students that we can tell someone else's story too. And we can do it in a way that is original, and one that brings the reader into the story organically.
What about you? Can you think of five people that fascinate you, and three different angles to tell their story?