WHO POEM
Reading Response #3
My writing assignment allows students to write candidly and without rules about the book they are reading to help them discover a paper versus asking them to fill out a structured outline. The assignment allows students to think in a way that comfortable for them rather than make them think in a certain flow. My goal is to use students' voices and natural style of writing and thinking to help them discover an academic paper.
Students will be given 10-20 minutes to write openly and candidly about the book they are reading. Students will have participated in a number of quick writes on the book so they will have many stating places to choose from, or they can write about something new. The only rules for this writing is that it needs to be positive, something centered around a theme, character, action, chapter, event etc... that they like in the book. Also, they must write the whole time, whenever they get stuck, or want to write about a new topic, they are to skip a line and start a new paragraph even if it is in the middle of a sentence. Other than those rules, students have the freedom to write, a poem, paragraphs, song, anything, even pictures. Once their writing time is up they will read through what they wrote and then write one sentence that summarizes the big idea they write about. From there, they will go through with a colored pen or highlighter and underline or highlight everything that falls under the same idea as their sentence summary. From here we will look at the structure of an analytical essay and fit their ideas and examples into an outline. This way, students will have a free write to refer to if they get stuck. I will also write along with them and go through the process of discovering an essay, or maybe a few from my quick writes.
Reading Response #2
In my Clinical Practice I, the unit that required students to think
critically the most was their persuasive speech unit. The unit started
with a review on ethos, pathos and logos and looking at advertisements.
What elements persuaded them to buy products and how did they already
use persuasion to get what they wanted from parents, siblings or
teachers? Then, we looked at Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream
Speech and identified his uses of the elements of persuasion. In the
next step, students were assigned controversial topics (is teen curfew
necessary? Is downloading music illegal? Are professional athletes
overpaid? etc...) and given 3-5 articles on the topic. One article was
for the argument, the other against and the remaining were informational
articles on the topic. Before meeting with their groups, students were
asked to skim through the articles and write down their opinion on
their topic and why they felt that way. Students then met by topics and
came up with arguments for and against; they came up with enough points
so they could break into smaller groups of three and not have any
overlapping points to their arguments. In their smaller groups of three
they were to create a speech that went over the background information
on the topic, for argument, against argument and then their stance on
the topic. Then, in groups of three they gave their persuasive
speeches. During the speeches, students followed along with a graphic
organizer. They filled in their initial opinion on the topic and why,
the after the speeches, they wrote if their opinion changed and why or
why not.
Kyle Who?
Kyle who lives passionately.
And asks, "What's next?"
Who is a dreamer and a photographer.
Who is determined and starry eyed.
Whose blue eyes pierce,
and capture true beauty
Who tells me, "we will make it through."
Who tells me, "because we are meant to be."
Whose strength and confidence is contagious,
creating art that intrigues.
Is living life to the fullest.
Is making every moment count.
Is a soul mate and an artist.
Who knows the hard times will pass.
Is excited for what the future has in store.
Asking "what's next?"
Asking "what's next?"
Reading Response #3
My writing assignment allows students to write candidly and without rules about the book they are reading to help them discover a paper versus asking them to fill out a structured outline. The assignment allows students to think in a way that comfortable for them rather than make them think in a certain flow. My goal is to use students' voices and natural style of writing and thinking to help them discover an academic paper.
Students will be given 10-20 minutes to write openly and candidly about the book they are reading. Students will have participated in a number of quick writes on the book so they will have many stating places to choose from, or they can write about something new. The only rules for this writing is that it needs to be positive, something centered around a theme, character, action, chapter, event etc... that they like in the book. Also, they must write the whole time, whenever they get stuck, or want to write about a new topic, they are to skip a line and start a new paragraph even if it is in the middle of a sentence. Other than those rules, students have the freedom to write, a poem, paragraphs, song, anything, even pictures. Once their writing time is up they will read through what they wrote and then write one sentence that summarizes the big idea they write about. From there, they will go through with a colored pen or highlighter and underline or highlight everything that falls under the same idea as their sentence summary. From here we will look at the structure of an analytical essay and fit their ideas and examples into an outline. This way, students will have a free write to refer to if they get stuck. I will also write along with them and go through the process of discovering an essay, or maybe a few from my quick writes.
Reading Response #2
The purpose of this assignment was more than met the students’ eyes. They thought they were doing it to learn about persuasive speech when actually I wanted them to be thinking critically and arguing in their groups to come up with a group stance. I know that this was what the students were thinking because they were asking me questions like, what is a good ethos argument for this? When I kept getting questions like that, I stopped the class and told them that I wanted them to talk to one another about the topics and come up with a group stance on the topic. That is when I started to hear the persuasion take place. When I heard a group disagree, I walked over and listened. When they were done, or came to a conclusion I asked guiding questions to show them that they were just using persuasive speech. My biggest error with this assignment was that there was not enough time for the unit. The students did not understand the assignment so I had to take extra time to go over the aspects and expectations which took up valuable group work time. Overall, I gave an extension but had to draw the line because it was the end of the semester. But before giving the extension, I had them write a letter to me about why they deserved the extension. By incorporating persuasion into their writing on a topic they had a strong opinion on, I was able to see if they did learn the elements of persuasion and if they were just anxious about the speech. Turns out they were masters of persuasion and just needed more time to organize their speeches with their groups.
This unit had my students think about controversial topics as well develop their way of forming an opinion and practice persuasion. To make that purpose more clear I could have provided them with questions and told them exactly what they should be doing in their groups, but I wanted to see the natural persuasion of teenagers in action. I learned, throughout CPI, but especially from facilitating this activity that students’ think in a way that causes them to ask, “What do I have to do to pass?” “What does the teacher want me to say?” The look of terror on students’ faces when they asked, “is this what you want?” and I asked, “is that your opinion?” was sad to me, but I had to push them into their own thinking. On speech day I was proud to see students who struggled with their day to day classwork shine because they knew how to form an opinion and support it. This unit challenged students and I wish I could have stayed with them to see how they have grown since.
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