One of the ways that I try to make my students' writing more interesting is by having them focus on normal objects, the things that surround us and that many times we do not pay attention to. It can be more challenging for them, but the end result is more satisfying.
Objective: To improve students' writing by having them focus on normal objects in order to enhance their descriptive writing.
We begin the activity by reading a New York Times article that deals with a writer who, in her travels, has accumulated many souvenirs that are significant to her.
Article
After we read the article, I divide the class into groups and ask them to annotate all the interesting sentences that they see
I followed this up with Pablo Neruda's "Ode to my Socks"
Poem
We follow the same procedure that we did with the article
Assessment
At this point, my students have a pretty good idea of how good writers incorporate interesting details in their writing. I tell them that their job is to write a poem which deals with the normal experiences of their lives or the objects that they come in contact with on a daily basis.
Before they write their poem, I model one for them.
Poem
I always wanted to do this so here it goes. View this "60 Minutes Program" video. After you have watched it, what kind of lesson plan would you create about it? Let's not worry about the specific standards that would apply to it. Let's just have fun!
The New York Times published an article describing how authors of historical best sellers such as Laura Hillenbrand, John Meachem and many others are rewriting their original works when they write the same version for children in order to leave out things that may be uncomfortable for them to read. History cannot be sanitized. It either happened or it was invented. If a writer decides to tackle an uncomfortable topic such as the Holocaust, it needs to be described in all its violence and horror. Leaving things out to make it more palatable for children is a disservice and it is not honest. Let the kids read the real thing, so they can evaluate for themselves the information.
Article
It all depends where you work. Some districts are more liberal than others. Districts that use social media swear by it, while others feel that it can be an invasion of privacy for students and teachers. Read what these two articles report about it. What do you think?
Should Social Media be Allowed in Classrooms?
Abuse of Social Media
Teachers feel more prepared to teach the Common Core State Standards and are already starting to see students improve their critical thinking skills. But the enthusiasm has dipped since last year, and only half say the new standards will be positive for most students.
Read
Article one
Earlier this week a white Ohio woman sued the Midwest Sperm Bank, a Chicago-area company she’d used in trying to conceive. The alleged error? Providing her with the wrong “product”—the sperm of a black man. The plaintiff, Jennifer Cramblett, didn’t learn of the error until well along in her pregnancy—a pregnancy that resulted in a healthy, biracial daughter, Payton, who is now 2 years old.
Read Article
Article two
Going to jail for a robbery you did not commit.
Read
The following via the New York Times, I think, will be a teacher's definitive collection of resources for " The Crucible" Enjoy!
Resources
For this lesson, I use two famous commencement speeches, one by Steve Jobs and the other by Ana Quindlen. Both are definitely interesting in their own way. The one by Jobs is already well-known and has been quoted many times. He gave it in 2005 at Stanford University. The other, by Quindlen precedes Steve Job's speech and was not delivered, a speech that was to be presented at Villanova University in 2000. Her speech is also very popular. Prior to the reading of both speeches, I have the class watch a fun video that explains rhetorical devices.
The next video I show the class is one by Nancy Duarte, who is well-known for creating interesting presentations. In this video, she gives an analysis of Martin Luther King's " I Have a Dream" speech. She explains the rhetorical devices that King used in his speech.
Duarte's Analysis
Next, I have the class read the Job's and Quindlen's speeches, following it up with a handout.
Job's Speech
Quindlen's Speech
Questions
Finally, I have the students select a speech from here and ask them to write an essay identifying the rhetorical devices that the speaker used in his or her speech. The students can also incorporate the questions that they answered for the Job's and Quindlen's speeches for this essay assignment.
