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Instructional Objective: Students will learn the
importance of the reading-writing connection by integrating the two together as
they work.
Behavioral Objective: After reading several selections
within Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II, students will be able to
relate the stories, by means of a writing activity, to one they themselves have
experienced.
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The lesson would have to take place over a two-day
thirty- five to forty minute period. Class would begin with my asking a few
students to come to the class and read a brief selection from the book,
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II (the selections in this book range
from one and a half pages to four). This is good practice for public speaking
and developing reading skills for those who are a bit behind. Because this
series of Chicken Soup books are so popular nowadays, students would be quite
attentive, I think. After the students were done reading aloud, then I would
hand out four stories photocopied from the book (probably different ones for
each student), and ask them to read the stories at their desk. When they were
finished then the writing process would begin.
Assuming I had already covered the writing process in an
earlier class, I would ask each of them to begin the pre-writing process by
brainstorming his own ideas about an experience that is similar to the ones
from Chicken Soup or that could appear in Chicken Soup for the
Teenage Soul III. Important points to consider would be feelings and
emotions, and what the experience meant to the student or how it moved the
student. I would ask them to tie their story to a positive realization with
which they came away.
After the pre-writing was over, they would continue the
writing process at home. There, they would compose a draft for the next
day’s class. The next day, rather than letting students exchange work for
revision and edification purposes, I would ask them to revise and edit their
own work. The reason for this is twofold: first, because of the personal nature
of the assignment; second, students at the age of 14 may not respond well to
criticism from peers. When their own revision and edification was complete,
keeping in mind that my role during this time is as a facilitator, there to
help the students with their editing, then I would collect the assignment for
assessment.
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Given the personal nature of the assignment, I would
carefully consider my method of assessing students’ work. Grammar and
spelling would count since they had ample opportunity to revise and edit their
work (with my help). Content itself would be judged insofar as the effort that
went into the work and the meaning or importance of each student’s story
to himself.
When I hand back their work, I would then have them
consider the final step of the writing process: publishing. For the students
who felt comfortable contributing, I would compile their stories into a
mini-book of sorts. We could call it Chicken Soup for the Grade 8-B Soul
and it would be available at the school library. This would give the students a
chance to showcase not only their writing abilities, but their feelings and
creativity with others.
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