Out of Her Mind -- Musings on Education and Life

Crafting Your Writing for Specific Audiences: A Mini Lesson Essential Questions 1. How does considering the rhetorical triangle shape what we write? 2. How do we write differently for different audiences? Audience:  A Key Component of the Rhetorical Triangle When a good writer writes, she keeps her audience forefront in her mind as she chooses her topic, her words, and even the details to include.  Consideration of audience is so important that it is only one of three elements in Aristotle's Rhetorical Triangle. In order to write effectively, one must first know who (s)he is potentially writing for, considering their values, core beliefs, level of knowledge on the topic, and so forth, or, in other words, considering the demographics  of their audience.  This mini-lesson will help you (or your students) understand just how important it is to write for specific audiences. Following the instructions below to explore how we naturally code switch , shi...

Nature Poems Today, go outside and get your hands and feet dirty!  Look beneath a rock, examine the roots of a tree, or dig through soil and write about whatever you find lurking there: maybe you see ants working, perhaps you are alarmed by the coating of pollen, maybe you are enchanted by the juxtaposition of nature and man's creations.  Feel the sun on your face, the air on your skin.  Rejoice, and write about nature. Your Assignment:   Go outside and write a nature poem.  There are no word limits.  You will have 15 minutes outside for this writing activity. Remember to engage all of your senses.   This poem does not have to rhyme.   Be creative!  Try a concrete poem (written in the shape of your subject). Also, remember to write using figurative language--you know, all of those elements you normally have to analyze literature and poetry for: alliteration, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, rhythm, ...

Catch-22 Mini Essay Topic #1: Characterization DIRECT and INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION Direct Characterization Two techniques that writers use to create character are "direct" and "indirect" characterization. Direct characterization TELLS the reader about the character. For example, an  omniscient  narrator may tell the reader that Jacob was a patient and kind man. Indirect Characterization In contrast to "direct" characterization, "indirect" characterization SHOWS the reader who a character is through speech, thoughts, and actions, either the speech, thoughts, and actions of the characters themselves or of other characters in reaction to/about that other person.  An example of indirect characterization may read:  Jacob did not yell at Sally for taking two more hours to get ready when she had promised "Five more minutes!" over two and a half hours earlier.  Instead, he patiently waited, taking the time to finish up r...

Lesson Introduction The following is an assignment I like to use in my English classes when watching clips from Freedom Writers   and teaching with the book.  I have successfully used this assignment with all manner of students in grades 9-12, and they all flourish from this type of focused reflection, while learning to be more articulate both orally and written, and while getting comfortable in front of a small live audience.  Not only do students love writing about themselves, they also enjoy the integration of media, and they learn how to write better essays as they transfer knowledge learned from their work writing effective speeches. Feel free to message me Common Core connections.  I know they exist, and I am quite admittedly being lazy with my alignment here.  But surely speaking is still an important skill?  I am only partly being tongue-in-cheek(y) here. Step 1.  Viewing.   Show all or part of Freedom Writers.   Be s...

http://www.ltl.appstate.edu/prodlearn/prodlearn/summer_2007/Faulkner_Bobbi/art3.html Using I Poems to Teach Poetry, Literacy, and a Sense of Place to English Language Learners Context Then: This unit was created as partial fulfillment for RE 5130, Teaching the  Language Arts, with Dr. Beth Frye as I worked towards my masters in Reading Education K-12 at Appalachian State University.  With this project, we were introduced to the idea of using poetry to explore other content areas.  I am a lover of poetry, so I was enthused by this novel way of integrating poetry into content.  The focus of my communication skills class, a locally required class for 10th graders, is writing, mainly informational and research writing.  As soon as I was given this assignment, I began to think of ays to integrate the two types of writing we had been studying into the poetry unit.  The informational writing component of the course id geared to the NC 10th Grade Writing Te...