A plentitude of Aha moments

The second week of the NVWP ISI provided me plenty of Aha! moments.  The first moment came with Katie’s free verse exercise.  Although designed for middle school students, I immediately saw the application to my 11^th grade AP Language and Composition class. I expect my students to have some experience with close reading but they often are at a loss when I mention that we are going to perform a close reading of a short non-fiction passage.  I plan to adapt Katie’s lesson to non-fiction to give my students another way of analyzing the rhetoric of a selection, something with which they struggle mightily and rarely succeed.  The critical aspect of Katie’s presentation for me was the fact that she provided a guided investigation of specific elements of the text.  Rather than expecting my students to discover on their own the way the author makes meaning, I can scaffold the idea by helping them look for certain elements to give them the idea.  I have used lessons from the AP Lang textbook but Katie’s lesson was more accessible.  Cool!

Aha 2- Amy W.’s research lesson offered engaging ways of helping my 10^th and 11^th graders understand the research process and argument development.  I especially thought the dueling positions scenario will be effective in class because it allows students to connect the opposing viewpoints with an image.

 

Aha 3-I have not stopped using strong verbs since Janique’s demo.  To my freshman and sophomores, get strong!  Out goes my pre-AP workbook lesson and in with Janique’s. 

Aha 4- John’s magnum opus lesson on description will be the perfect accompaniment to our reading of Lord of the Flies. 

I enjoyed the intense, and for some, emotional two days of self-discovery and writing during the Writing Marathon and the Progoff Journaling presentation. 

Aha’s 5 and 6- One unexpected outcome from my visit to Winchester was the chance to share with teachers from other districts their experience with and approach to teaching writing.  It helped me broaden my and develop of feeling for a broader community of teachers.  The read around highlighted some talented writers and gave me an insight into what my students must feel as they read aloud in class. 

Aha’s 7 and 8- I learned about not only myself but also some excellent methods to use with my students.  When I teach To Kill a Mockingbird, creating a dialogue with Jem, Scout, Atticus or Tom Robinson will be a new assignment for my students.  Regardless of what Pete says, I think journaling provides an abundance of ways to discover topics to explore further in non-fiction and fiction pieces along with the tools to help develop better writers. 

Aha 9-Can we have a presentation on non-fiction publishing? Amber started one-can we have another?

Supreme Aha- My writing group continues to help me discover new elements of my writing and ways to improve my student’s writing groups. Thank you for listening so many times to The Talisman. And thank you for the poetry and stories I have heard from you!  What a great writing group!