I like it. Positive experiences build a constructive, collaborative environment.
I was recently reading about a lesson plan from Linda Christensen that speaks to this idea. On the first day of school she randomly pairs up all of the students and has them each write a portrait on each other. Now, of course she explains what this means and models one, and then she explains that each person will present their partner to the class the next day by reading his/her portrait he/she wrote.
At first I was weary of this idea, thinking about how poorly it could go, but then I realized that I should really give my students more credit! Here, Christensen is conducting this activity in a low achieving, inner city classroom. It turns out that 100% of the students completed the assignment. As one student explained, he said he was surprised everyone had so many nice things to say about one another without any use of slang.
It gets you to think about how else can we use writing to build a stronger community?
I like it. Positive experiences build a constructive, collaborative environment.
ReplyDeleteI was recently reading about a lesson plan from Linda Christensen that speaks to this idea. On the first day of school she randomly pairs up all of the students and has them each write a portrait on each other. Now, of course she explains what this means and models one, and then she explains that each person will present their partner to the class the next day by reading his/her portrait he/she wrote.
At first I was weary of this idea, thinking about how poorly it could go, but then I realized that I should really give my students more credit! Here, Christensen is conducting this activity in a low achieving, inner city classroom. It turns out that 100% of the students completed the assignment. As one student explained, he said he was surprised everyone had so many nice things to say about one another without any use of slang.
It gets you to think about how else can we use writing to build a stronger community?