Identity Exploration through Narrative Writing
Uploaded by
Kat HallfordIdentity Exploration through Narrative Writing
Uploaded by
Kat HallfordMultimodal Project:
Identity through Narrative Writing
Katherine Hallford
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
December 3rd , 2018
Multimodal Project 1
For my multimodal project, I decided to explore identity through narrative writing. One
of the most pressing issues with my fifth grade students is finding who they are in the world.
While they are still small, they have big ideas and big feelings about the world around them and
where they belong. I want my students to feel confident and secure when they leave my
classroom and enter into middle school and beyond, making one of the more difficult periods of
their adolescence a bit easier than it will be if they are insecure.
I left this project as a more open-ended project intentionally, partially inspired by the
multimodal project itself. I made various changes throughout the semester when planning my
project but am happy to see where I’ve landed. I wanted to take this into the classroom and
utilize it as a project this year, but my narrative unit came to a close in the midst of my action
research project for a different class, and we needed to move on. My unit plan is a one-week
culminating project on narrative writing and/or poetry (I cover both during my narrative units) to
allow students to explore their identity and self-expression through writing. During this unit,
students will create identity webs, decide on how they want to create their narratives, and let
them explore and publish through [Link]. This will allow them to practice varying
strategies they’ve learned throughout the unit. These strategies include utilizing graphic
organizers to plan their thoughts, using templates to create poetry, and utilizing their skills with
descriptive language and narrative writing.
The first step to the project is for students to create an identity web through
[Link]/create. In their identity web, I will have them include a variety of things. First, their
name, then 5-10 words that they feel define them. We will focus on descriptors and character
Multimodal Project 2
traits to maximize their word cloud being about who they are, not just what they love. As an
example, I created my own word cloud to show students.
After students create their identity word clouds, I want to provide them with any options
they can consider to explore their identity. However, to give some structure to the project, I will
spend some time providing options and templates to further their options and stretch their
creativity. The first option is an “I Am” poem. Using the outline provided by
[Link], I will show students how creating a poem in this structure will showcase
their thoughts, feelings, and personality in a unique way. This is the format I chose to publish my
multimodal example in and will show my students that example as a reference.
Multimodal Project 3
Figure 1 via [Link]
The second example I would provide my students with is the “Best Part of Me” project. I
did this project with my first year of students (and sadly lost photos of the finished projects!) and
they were a phenomenal exercise in self-expression and identity. I will read The Best Part of Me
by Wendy Ewald and give students the option of creating their own bit of prose. While I don’t
have the photos of the original finished projects, I do have some of the images students created
of their best parts. This image is one of those my students decided were the best part of them.
Multimodal Project 4
Another option for my students would be to write either an autobiographical picture book
or personal narrative and publishing it via [Link]. This is an option for students who are
more interested in lengthy writing or are more comfortable with traditional writing activities.
With all options, students will publish on [Link], a website that allows students to create
poems, chapter books, and picture books for free. Students are able to utilize hundreds of images
to enhance their writing as well.
Multimodal Project 5
Multimodal Project 6
References
Ewald, W. (2011). The best part of me children talk about their bodies in pictures and words.
Brantford, Ont.: W. Ross MacDonald School Resource Services Library.
Hallford, K. (n.d.). I am. by khallford1 on Storybird. Retrieved from
[Link]
Word Cloud Art Creator. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2018, from [Link]
Writing an I Am poem. (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2018, from
[Link]