Ok... so this was a pretty lengthy chapter, but I must say, I loved just about every bit of it. It's stocked full of different ways to get our students to write in the classroom. So, let's take some time to break it down. *And the beat drops*
One of my favorite ideas in this chapter is the idea that Christensen "teach[es] students specific methods of "retrieving" and "collecting" information from readings, media, and discussions, and I engage them in discussing the topic."(121) All to often in our HS experiences I am sure that we went through an entire unit, read the novel, and were THEN given the paper assignment, which we then proceed to having to go back and basically redo all sorts of work to find the evidence. This is so discouraging as a student! Why are these essays such a big secret for the whole unit, and then given at the end? It makes no sense. This is what Christensen is trying to argue in the first part of the chapter. Why are we not giving the students all the materials they need to succeed? Telling them at the beginning of the unit what will be expected of them saves everyone a lot of trouble in the long run and makes our students more successful evidence based writers and prepares them for college too.
I also think that is is really great when you give students an essay topic to write about, but really we all know that does not mean they will be interested in it. What Christensen is suggesting is that, "When students write for the teacher instead of writing out of a compelling need to speak out, the writing is often tedious, not work writing, and not worth reading."(122) This idea is important because we discuss all the time how we need to engage our students and use their personal narratives to fuel their work and their voices. So why can't that apply to the essay as well? I think we should be giving our students every possible opportunity to succeed. Let them connect their lives to the novels that you read and the curriculum you teach, and they won't soon forget it!
The thesis statement part of this chapter is HUGE. How can someone write a whole essay based off of one sentence that is written before all the evidence is even collected? It's blasphemy really. I think Linda is absolutely correct here when she says that we should allow for the thesis to SHAPE our essay, and not dictate it. Even now, a Junior in college, I struggle with this, so imagine how our students are feeling about this in HS?
Those are the big things I would say that I got out of Christensen's chapter this week. Then we pop on over to the Politics of the Paragraph. The main take away from this article I believe is to get our students away from the idea of "formulaic essays and writing," which is directly related to the ideas that Christensen has brought up through-out her chapter. Just because your school is using a PEAS method, or something else even, does not mean that you have to conform to the same ideas. Sure, your students understand how to use it. But that does not mean that we shouldn't take time to break away from that. Most colleges don't use these methods, and I think we need to consider this to prepare our kids for the future as well.
One of my favorite ideas in this chapter is the idea that Christensen "teach[es] students specific methods of "retrieving" and "collecting" information from readings, media, and discussions, and I engage them in discussing the topic."(121) All to often in our HS experiences I am sure that we went through an entire unit, read the novel, and were THEN given the paper assignment, which we then proceed to having to go back and basically redo all sorts of work to find the evidence. This is so discouraging as a student! Why are these essays such a big secret for the whole unit, and then given at the end? It makes no sense. This is what Christensen is trying to argue in the first part of the chapter. Why are we not giving the students all the materials they need to succeed? Telling them at the beginning of the unit what will be expected of them saves everyone a lot of trouble in the long run and makes our students more successful evidence based writers and prepares them for college too.
I also think that is is really great when you give students an essay topic to write about, but really we all know that does not mean they will be interested in it. What Christensen is suggesting is that, "When students write for the teacher instead of writing out of a compelling need to speak out, the writing is often tedious, not work writing, and not worth reading."(122) This idea is important because we discuss all the time how we need to engage our students and use their personal narratives to fuel their work and their voices. So why can't that apply to the essay as well? I think we should be giving our students every possible opportunity to succeed. Let them connect their lives to the novels that you read and the curriculum you teach, and they won't soon forget it!
The thesis statement part of this chapter is HUGE. How can someone write a whole essay based off of one sentence that is written before all the evidence is even collected? It's blasphemy really. I think Linda is absolutely correct here when she says that we should allow for the thesis to SHAPE our essay, and not dictate it. Even now, a Junior in college, I struggle with this, so imagine how our students are feeling about this in HS?
Those are the big things I would say that I got out of Christensen's chapter this week. Then we pop on over to the Politics of the Paragraph. The main take away from this article I believe is to get our students away from the idea of "formulaic essays and writing," which is directly related to the ideas that Christensen has brought up through-out her chapter. Just because your school is using a PEAS method, or something else even, does not mean that you have to conform to the same ideas. Sure, your students understand how to use it. But that does not mean that we shouldn't take time to break away from that. Most colleges don't use these methods, and I think we need to consider this to prepare our kids for the future as well.
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