Story and the Brain:

Students, over the next few weeks we will be working with two nonfiction texts.

Both of these texts are about how the human brain is "wired" for story.

Along these lines, think about your most and least favorite stories.

These can be stories you heard as a child or stories you've read/heard more recently.

Did you like/dislike...

• The characters (dialogue, complex, flat, etc.)
• The plot (twists, mystery, obstacles, adventure,etc.)
• The setting (South, boat, fantasy, etc.)

"Qualities of Our Most and Least Favorite Stories"

Today's Agenda

1. Read Aloud.

HEADS UP! We may encounter unfamiliar words. Don't worry if you don't know all the words. This is why I'm reading the text aloud.

2. Mark unfamiliar terms and moments that are confusing or unclear.

2.5) Simultaneously, jot down notes in the margins to the following question:

What is the author telling us here?

3) After the read aloud--Socratic Seminar.

Topic: "What We Learned About Our Brains and Story"

FYI: We will revisit today's text some time, so today's discussion is not comprehensive--meaning today's work is geared towards getting the "gist" of things.

4) Lastly, we'll transfer our notes into google classroom and record unfamiliar words and terms in a provided chart in preparation for a future lesson.

Lesson Overview

• Read Aloud
• Mark unfamiliar words/Margin Notes (What is the author telling us here?)
• Socratic Seminar (Topic: What We Learned About Our Brains and Story)
• Transfer notes and record unfamiliar terms (future lesson)

Questions?

Read Aloud

• Mark unfamiliar terms/moments
• Margin Notes Question: What is the author telling us here?

Socratic Seminar:

Google Classroom

• Transfer Discussion notes--"What we learned"
• Then record unfamiliar words/moments.

Search and Study:

The next part of our work with Story and the Brain requires collaboration.

Specificially, our next objective is to work in smalls groups in order to solve the difficulties identified from our previous session.

We are doing this to gain a greater understanding of the text.

What's the Plan?

1) You'll need to find your Socratic Group members. There should be 3 of you.

2) Next, you'll need to support one another in figuring out what's the best way to resolve "unfamiliar moments" in the text.

How to resolve Unfamiliar Moments

• Careful and thoughtful rereading
• Consider what you know about root words (aquaphobic)
• Internet search
• Ask a friend

3) Then your task is to record what you learned from tackling unfamiliar moments.

Put differently, your last group task is to record your new understanding of the text--How does it make more sense now?

4) Lastly, we'll come together as a whole class to "test" some of your group's findings to see if they fit within the context of the text.

Overview

• Get with your group.
• Choose the best way to resolve unfamiliar moments.
• Record greater understanding of text.
• Test Findings for correct context.

Questions?

Freytag's Dramatic Arc:

Today's goal is to figure out how the science on brains and story can explain the importance of Freytag's Dramatic Arc when it comes to reading and writing.

In other words, our goal today is to explain why Freytag's Dramatic arc is important for anyone wishing to tell/read a compelling and memorable story.

The Plan

1) We will "walk down the line", discussing a guiding question, to review what we learned previously :

How does science explain the reason why humans hunger for story?

2)Afterwards, we'll integrate what we know scientifically about the brain to answer the following questions in a Socratic Seminar.

What is Freytag's Dramatic Arc?

How does what we know about science relate to Freytag's Dramatic Arc? In other words, how does science explain the importance of following Freytag's Dramatic Arc for the benefit of readers and writers?

3) A written reflection of our Socratic Seminar will record your understanding of today's discussion.

Overview

• Review what we learned about brain science and story ("Down the Line").
• Then we will use what we know scientifically about the brain to discuss the importance of Freytag's Dramatic Arc when it comes to telling/reading memorable stories.
• Written Reflection

Questions?

Down the Line

How does science explain the reason why humans hunger for story?

Socratic Seminar

What is Freytag's Dramatic Arc?

How does what we know about science relate to Freytag's Dramatic Arc? In other words, how does science explain the importance of following Freytag's Dramatic Arc for the benefit of readers and writers?

Marketers:

What is a marketer?

What's Rekenthaler's advice to corporate marketers?

What will we do with what we know?

1)Analyze adverstisements to see how they use story to get consumers to buy a product

Things to look for

• What's the story being told?
• What's the conflict that can be solved with a particular brand?
• Who's the Character and why do we care about them?

2) This work will be done in Socratic Seminars using different ads. Person with the shortest last name will go first.

3) Afterwards, we'll use what we know to create our own ads using the power of story to sell a product.

4) A gallery walk will end this activity.

As you look at our advertisements, your goal is to look for how your classmates used "story" to get consumers to buy their product.

Closing Story and the Brain

Close Reading

• Marking unfamiliar words
• Careful thinking with Margin notes
• Socratic Discussions

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