“Everything is so linear, but this makes me think diagonally!” ~ a student describing Byrdseed.TV
Let’s rewrite Einstein’s quote about simplicity to make it more accurate.
Students rewrite the quote for a 5yo. They explain how the quote is slightly wrong.
Now they’ll rewrite the quote, creating a rough version and a few “catchy” versions.
Next, they write to Einstein, explaining their revised quote.
Finally, they write back as Einstein who defends his original wording.
Students will make an argument that a holiday should be on certain date or a certain day of the week.
First, students list holidays in categories based on their date.
Next they come up with pros and cons for the different categories of holidays.
Now they’ll decide which holidays would work better in a different category.
Next they’ll write out an argument for one holiday.
Finally they’ll develop a slogan and a poster to help make their argument.
Students will write a clever paragraph connecting how their mom helps them and something else she’s great at.
First, students brainstorm things that their mom is great at and ways she helps them.
Then, they combine those ideas to write small blurbs about their mom.
Next, they’ll pick a blurb or two and sharpen their writing, getting increasingly specific.
Finally, they’ll turn their best idea into an illustrated card.
Using old photos as a starting point, students will write about Thanksgiving from a particular item’s point of view.
Students spend time noting details in their photo.
They brainstorm possible perspectives within their photo.
Next, they write down sensory details using that perspective.
Finally, they write in free verse (or any structure you’d like) about the scene using their perspective. Repeat using a second perspective!
Students will write from the perspective of an object using specific details about a special person.
Students pick a person that they are thankful for. They also pick an object that this person uses often. Then they think about what that object might write about the special person.
They revisit their initial letter to get more specific about why the object is so thankful for their special person.
Students will analyze and judge a holiday from the perspective of another holiday’s mascot.
Students choose their two holidays and the mascot they’ll be using.
Students brainstorm facts about both holidays using three categories that they choose (food, songs, decorations, clothing, etc).
Using their mascot’s perspective, students write about each of those categories.
Students take that writing and turn it into a final product of your (or their) choosing.
Students upgrade their bland research questions using prompts of depth and complexity and then create a sequence of questions using concepts from Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Students pick a topic and create 3 – 5 questions.
They upgrade those questions by adding in a prompt of depth and complexity.
Students develop a sequence of questions by asking a compare and contrast question plus a question that requires them to make a decision.
Students will use key words to upgrade their compare and contrast writing from a mere list of facts to a deeper analysis.
Students pick the two related topics and brainstorm facts about them, noting which are facts unique to one of the topics and which are shared.
Students look for three patterns in their brainstormed facts, these will eventually become the paragraphs students write.
They add one of five keywords to their patterns to add a layer of analysis.
Students write out a paragraph using the keyword plus pattern.
Students will use propaganda techniques and logical fallacies to argue against something great.
Students are introduced to logical fallacies and how they are used in propaganda. They learn the definition of Ad Hominem and see some of my examples. Then they brainstorm some of their own examples of Ad Hominem on the Brainstorm Worksheet.
Students learn about the Slippery Slope technique, see some of my examples, and brainstorm some of their own.
Next, students learn about Stacking the Deck.
The fourth technique is Bandwagoning.
And the final technique is Appeal to Fear.
In the end, students pick a great idea, person, or invention and plan an argument against it using at least three types of logical fallacies.
Students will decide what one piece of content would appreciate about another.
Students will analyze the package of a healthy drink, searching for evidence of ethos, pathos, and logos.
First, students are introduced to the concepts of ethos (authority), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic).
Next, they will survey their peers about healthy drinks.
Finally, they’ll redesign the drinks’ packaging, building on the persuasive tools they have learned.
Students will notice the parallel between an essay’s overall structure and the structure of an individual paragraph.
Students will write (and re-write) directions to build a simple toy.
Groups of three get ten random toy bricks. They design a simple toy using them.
Now, they write their first draft of directions to build the toy. They define terminology as needed.
Next, they practice within their group and with another group of students in the class. They revise their directions to clear up confusion.
Now, they practice with groups of younger students, take notes, and then revise again.
Finally, they publish a final version of their directions.