I will be doing a unit on the Holocaust in an 10th grade English class. We will read the book Night, by Eli Wiesel. We will do a brief history lesson on this time period before we start to read the book, so they can have some background knowledge to draw from as they read Night. At the end of reading Night, students will do a multi-genre project. They can pick and choose from a number of projects, like a newspaper article, a letter, a poem, etc.
These supplemntal trade books will support the Holocaust lesson. Two books are on a 9th grade reading level, and one is on a 4th grade level. The books are all from a young child/adolescent's point of view going through the Holocaust. Night is from a young boy's perspective, so these books will help to reinforce themes, mood/tone, and the general idea the author is trying to portray. The Anne Frank book has lots of pictures, including some Holocaust history photos and maps for students who are more visual learners. Hiding Edith is a much easier read for students who might be struggling readers, but still is still very relevant and has similar themes to the book Night. I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree is on a 9th grade reading level, so it is one grade level below for students who are a little below average readers.
The two websites I found are relevant, because they will help students with the end writing assigment. There are grammar tips, writing prompts, writing tips, student work/examples, and brainstorming activities for students that need extra help with their writing skills or coming up with an idea for their project.
Anne Frank The Young Writer Who Told the World Her Story
Krammer, Anne. (2009). Anne Frank The Young Writer Who Told the World Her Story. National Geographic Children's Books: Washington, D.C.
Flesch Reading Ease 54.8
Flesch Kincaid Grade Level 9.0
I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree
Hillman, Laura. (2005). I Will Plant you a Lilac Tree: A Memoir of a Schindler's List Survivor. Atheneum Books for Young Readers: New York, NY.
Flesch Reading Ease 62.0
Flesch Kincaid Grade Level 9.0
Hiding Edith
Kacer, Kathy. (2006). Hiding Edith. Second Story Press. Ontario, Canada.
Flesch Reading Ease 80.1
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 4.6
Writing Forward
Writing Forward. Retrieved from March 7th, 2011. From: writingforward.com
One of us
Oneofus.Creative writing forum. Retrieved February 21, 2011. From: oneofus.co.uk
Monday, April 18, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
last inquiry post
I found this blog on integrating technology with teaching creative writing. Students like using technology, so it is good to integrate it when you can. It is so widely used in their lives out of school, so it only makes sense to let them use technology in the classroom. Kidscribe and Scholastic.com are both good websites where students can post their work for others to see. Students will take pride in their work, and will care about it more it if they know it is being viewed by others. These websites are a good tool to use to have everyone's work in the same place, so students can view it. "According to The National Commission on Writing, the use of technology tools can help motivate writers as technology-based writing creates some form of publishing."
technology
technology
Monday, March 28, 2011
last website post
Teen Ink
This is a great website for teens, since students like to write with their peers. There are different forums on here, like a writer's workshop where students can share their work with others, and a regular forum where students can exchange ideas and discuss interests and hobies. There is fiction/non-fiction, poetry and art topics for students to explore and use others ideas to brainstorm.
The story starter
This is a neat webiste. All you do is click a button, and you get a generated story starting sentence. This would be a great mini activity, like a journal writing thing, or a good group activity. You could group students together, and they could all have a different sentece, and all have to create a story from the sentence.
This is a great website for teens, since students like to write with their peers. There are different forums on here, like a writer's workshop where students can share their work with others, and a regular forum where students can exchange ideas and discuss interests and hobies. There is fiction/non-fiction, poetry and art topics for students to explore and use others ideas to brainstorm.
The story starter
This is a neat webiste. All you do is click a button, and you get a generated story starting sentence. This would be a great mini activity, like a journal writing thing, or a good group activity. You could group students together, and they could all have a different sentece, and all have to create a story from the sentence.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Inquiry Post
Tips on Teaching Creative Writing
by Shirley Kawa-Jump
What can teachers to specifically to promote creative writing skills?
Plan ahead, plan twice as much as material as you think you are going to need, plan activities that involve the whole class, develop several brainstorming activivies, don't push for the class to participate, cover the basics of business, and learn from your students were all the main points that were covered. This was a simple article, but I think it gave some good tips and advice for teaching creative writing. Being extra prepared is a good idea, in case a brainstorming session does not fill up enough time you can have extra worksheets and handouts. Teaching the whole class the basics like character development would involve the whole class. Not making the whole clas participate in every activity was good, have shy students submit work via email, if they do not want classmates to critique work. Also, showing how to do research online and where to find ideas for story ideas I thought was a good point.
by Shirley Kawa-Jump
What can teachers to specifically to promote creative writing skills?
Plan ahead, plan twice as much as material as you think you are going to need, plan activities that involve the whole class, develop several brainstorming activivies, don't push for the class to participate, cover the basics of business, and learn from your students were all the main points that were covered. This was a simple article, but I think it gave some good tips and advice for teaching creative writing. Being extra prepared is a good idea, in case a brainstorming session does not fill up enough time you can have extra worksheets and handouts. Teaching the whole class the basics like character development would involve the whole class. Not making the whole clas participate in every activity was good, have shy students submit work via email, if they do not want classmates to critique work. Also, showing how to do research online and where to find ideas for story ideas I thought was a good point.
Monday, March 14, 2011
website posting
Writing Forward
I found this website to be very user friendly and easy to navigate. There are tons of resources on here, like tips and ideas for creative wriring, grammar, journal writing, poetry, etc. You can find great tips on how to even get ideas, like finding them from dreams, or using the news to generate an idea. Students can practice using lots of these techniques.
Creative Writing prompts
This website is a useful resource for creative writing ideas. There are graphic organizers to help guide stories, which I thought would be very effective. There are a lot of writing prompts, brainstorming ideas, and what to do if you have writer's block.
I found this website to be very user friendly and easy to navigate. There are tons of resources on here, like tips and ideas for creative wriring, grammar, journal writing, poetry, etc. You can find great tips on how to even get ideas, like finding them from dreams, or using the news to generate an idea. Students can practice using lots of these techniques.
Creative Writing prompts
This website is a useful resource for creative writing ideas. There are graphic organizers to help guide stories, which I thought would be very effective. There are a lot of writing prompts, brainstorming ideas, and what to do if you have writer's block.
Monday, February 28, 2011
inquiry question #2
What are ways for teacher's to help bring out student's creativity?
A Writer's Bag of Tricks by Debra T Rotkow
This article gives several simple strategies to encourage and generate creativiy in a classroom. Students can refer back to their 'bag of tricks' when they are struggling to come up with an idea. The first idea is having a trade book list in the classroom of the books that students have read throughout the semester on a poster board. They can refer back to a book that interested them to generate some ideas for their writing. A second idea is to have daily journal writing. These idea prompts should be helpful in choosing a topic. They can leaf through their journal for ideas. Having a wall of fame is another idea. This wall of fame would have student work on it. Students can brainstorm from their peers projects. Doing a peer topic conference is another great way to generate creativity. If you have a structured question, students can bounce ideas off one another. Incorporating poetry to lessons is a way to enrich your lesson, students can keep these in a binder, and refer back to those as well for ideas.
Rotkow, D. (2005). A Writer's Bag of Tricks: A few simple strategies can provide your students with a bevy of great writing ideas. Teaching Pre K-8, v 35n 7p 50-51.
A Writer's Bag of Tricks by Debra T Rotkow
This article gives several simple strategies to encourage and generate creativiy in a classroom. Students can refer back to their 'bag of tricks' when they are struggling to come up with an idea. The first idea is having a trade book list in the classroom of the books that students have read throughout the semester on a poster board. They can refer back to a book that interested them to generate some ideas for their writing. A second idea is to have daily journal writing. These idea prompts should be helpful in choosing a topic. They can leaf through their journal for ideas. Having a wall of fame is another idea. This wall of fame would have student work on it. Students can brainstorm from their peers projects. Doing a peer topic conference is another great way to generate creativity. If you have a structured question, students can bounce ideas off one another. Incorporating poetry to lessons is a way to enrich your lesson, students can keep these in a binder, and refer back to those as well for ideas.
Rotkow, D. (2005). A Writer's Bag of Tricks: A few simple strategies can provide your students with a bevy of great writing ideas. Teaching Pre K-8, v 35n 7p 50-51.
Monday, February 21, 2011
creative writing website
Creative Writing Prompts
This is a great website to boost creative writing skills. Students just put their cursor on one of the 300+ numbers, and a text box writing prompt appears with a creative writing idea to try. There are poetry ideas, story ideas, and just some creative thoughts to get students thinking and writing. This is particularly helpful if students are unclear what to write about, this will give them tons of ideas and inspiration.
Ross, Sherry. Creative Writing Prompts. Retrieved February 21, 2011, from: www.creativewritingprompts.com
One of Us Creative Writing Website
This website is very hepful. It encourages teens to use the web to enhance thier creative writing skills. There are lots of different writing exercises. It also breaks down different elements of a story, and gives ideas for each one. There are some great articles on writing, a how to section, and a discussion board.
One of Us. Creative writing forum. Retrieved February 21, 2011, from: www.oneofus.co.uk
This is a great website to boost creative writing skills. Students just put their cursor on one of the 300+ numbers, and a text box writing prompt appears with a creative writing idea to try. There are poetry ideas, story ideas, and just some creative thoughts to get students thinking and writing. This is particularly helpful if students are unclear what to write about, this will give them tons of ideas and inspiration.
Ross, Sherry. Creative Writing Prompts. Retrieved February 21, 2011, from: www.creativewritingprompts.com
One of Us Creative Writing Website
This website is very hepful. It encourages teens to use the web to enhance thier creative writing skills. There are lots of different writing exercises. It also breaks down different elements of a story, and gives ideas for each one. There are some great articles on writing, a how to section, and a discussion board.
One of Us. Creative writing forum. Retrieved February 21, 2011, from: www.oneofus.co.uk
updated trade books
This unit will cover the Holocost. Students will read Night by Elie Wiesel, they will be doing projects based on the novel.
Anne Frank The Young Writer Who Told the World Her Story
Anne Frank : The Diary of a Young Girl-The Definitive Edition
I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree A Memoir of a Schindler's List Survivor
Anne Frank The Young Writer Who Told the World Her Story
Anne Frank : The Diary of a Young Girl-The Definitive Edition
I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree A Memoir of a Schindler's List Survivor
Monday, February 14, 2011
Teaching Writing to Teens
Kristy Miller--Writing workshop
Garth Witmer--Writing poetry
Sara Roman--fictional/creative writing
Frank Romeo--Non fictional/instructional writing
Garth Witmer--Writing poetry
Sara Roman--fictional/creative writing
Frank Romeo--Non fictional/instructional writing
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Blog #1, first essential question
How to Teach Writing in Middle and Secondary Schools
Hollowell, Karen. (May 24, 2010). How to Teach Writing in Middle & Secondary Schools. eHow, Inc. Retrieved February 12, 2011, from: http://www.ehow.com/how_6547029_teach-writing-middle-secondary-schools.html
What are some ways to teach writing to teens?
Giving good feedback to students' work is important, so they can see ways they can improve and things they are doing well. Having students work together is a good way for them to generate creative ideas with one another. You can also have students grade each others work, and comment on ways they can improve.
Letting students write about what they are interested in, and know is a good way to get them excited about writing instead of doing standard topics and essays. Assigning prompts is another good way to encourage students to write creatively. Assign creative essays to students, and focus more on the originality and creativity instead of grammar and mechanics. This will allow students to think more freely if they are not focusing on the mechanics.
Hollowell, Karen. (May 24, 2010). How to Teach Writing in Middle & Secondary Schools. eHow, Inc. Retrieved February 12, 2011, from: http://www.ehow.com/how_6547029_teach-writing-middle-secondary-schools.html
What are some ways to teach writing to teens?
Giving good feedback to students' work is important, so they can see ways they can improve and things they are doing well. Having students work together is a good way for them to generate creative ideas with one another. You can also have students grade each others work, and comment on ways they can improve.
Letting students write about what they are interested in, and know is a good way to get them excited about writing instead of doing standard topics and essays. Assigning prompts is another good way to encourage students to write creatively. Assign creative essays to students, and focus more on the originality and creativity instead of grammar and mechanics. This will allow students to think more freely if they are not focusing on the mechanics.
Trade books
I will be teaching a unit on creative writing to 6th grade students. They will be writing journal entries on various topics using proper grammar.
Grammar in 15 Minutes a Day
Learning Express, LLC, 2008. Junior Skill Builders: grammar in 15 minutes a day. New York, NY: Learning Express, LLC.
Webster's New World English Grammar Handbook
Loberger, Gordon and Shoup, Kate, 2009. Webster's New World English Grammar Handbook. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing.
Writing Down the Days
Dahlstrom, Lorraine, 2000. Writing Down the Days: 365 creative journaling ideas for young people. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing
Grammar in 15 Minutes a Day
Learning Express, LLC, 2008. Junior Skill Builders: grammar in 15 minutes a day. New York, NY: Learning Express, LLC.
Webster's New World English Grammar Handbook
Loberger, Gordon and Shoup, Kate, 2009. Webster's New World English Grammar Handbook. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing.
Writing Down the Days
Dahlstrom, Lorraine, 2000. Writing Down the Days: 365 creative journaling ideas for young people. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing
Monday, January 31, 2011
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