Writing Mini-Lesson
By Charles Martin
OBJECTIVE:
Students will learn to interact with literature by developing the skills to question what they are reading. They will develop tools for responding in writing to literature, i.e. free writing. And they will be able to take these written responses and develop them further into formal research papers, critical essays, etc.
RATIONALE:
Successful completion of writing assignments (i.e. research papers, journals, critical essays) is predicated first upon knowing how to interact in writing with a text.
Meaningful personal relationship with literature will be developed when students learn how to question what they are reading and explore their own responses to it. In doing so, they will come to learn something about themselves and their fellow man.
PROCEDURE:
1. I will seek examples from students on how they interact with literature. Through class discussion, I will elicit some examples of the kinds of tools students use while reading to gain comprehension, and what kinds of questions they ask themselves while reading. An effort will be made to tie this part of the lesson to the various stances Langer discusses.
2. I will hand out a short excerpt from "To Kill A Mockingbird" and give class 5 minutes or so to read it carefully. Using the list of tools students offered in the above exercise as a guide, I will have the class perform several minutes or more of free writing in response to the short excerpt. This exercise is designed to elicit their initial responses to the reading.
3. In open class discussion, I will solicit examples of the responses students developed through the free writing.
4. I will lead a class discussion of how these responses can in turn be developed into journal entries, rough drafts for critical essays, research papers, personal essays, etc.
MATERIALS:
- Writers Inc. textbook (398-417)
- "Envisioning Literature," Judith A. Langer (pp. 9-20)
- Short excerpt from "To Kill A Mockingbird."
EVALUATION:
I will be reviewing the free writing samples students will produce to determine if they communicate thoughtful, personal responses to the story excerpt. And I will read them for detail and accuracy to determine how closely students are reading the text.