Writing for Meaning
Module 1, Activity 6.2 - Using Literary Technique
(student page for this lesson)

Introduction:
This lesson is designed to help students understand that an article can be written in different styles. It also challenges students to make judgments about what is good journalism and why. Students do these things through re-working the feature article they wrote in lesson 5.4.

Activities:

Task One - Stream of Consciousness
The students use the process of Stream of Consciousness to let their thoughts about their own articles flow. If the group you are planning for has difficulty with this sort of activity, try having them re-read their articles before starting.

Stream of Consciousness is viewed in literary terms as unbroken narrative of thoughts. Sometimes called an internal monologue, it is a good method for helping students to think differently about something they have already thought a lot about and formed strong opinions on. This process is different than free writing primarily because the topic is already so ingrained in the students thought patterns.

When your students are using the streaming process, have them start with a blank piece of paper and encourage them to write anything that comes to mind, even if it seems irrelevant. See the student page for this lesson for post streaming parts of this task.

Task Two: Think, Pair, and Share a Pitch

In this task, students use Think, Pair, Share to thoughtfully assess the viability of their own ideas for a story (pitch). Have students start by thinking about a new slant for their stories. The only requirement is that this time, they must try to write based on real experience. Once they have their ideas, they should watch a video that will help them assess if the idea will be useful. Following this assessment, students are ready to work with a partner.

After they have paired with a partner, students may need a reminder about the three things the partner is assessing, including the principles of literary journalism.

Need more information on Think, Pair, Share? View the On-line Learning Center's page on Think, Pair, Share .

Instructional Strategies:

Task 1 - Writing for Meaning (indirect)
Task 2 - Think, Pair, Share (interactive)
Task 3 - Field Observations (experiential) and re-writing (indirect)

Task Three: The Process of Re-framing
Students will go through a series of steps in reworking their feature pieces. During this process, your role is to guide students through suggestion and support rather than explicit teaching. Encourage organization by monitoring the steps, and ensure that students read the assessment tool before proceeding with the assignment.

As explained here, the assignment will take quite a few days of class time. You might choose to shorten the assignment by having students re-write only the first 1/2 page of the assignment.

Assessment and Evaluation:

The focus in the lesson is on students assessing and building analytical skills. They start by assessing areas for growth in a completed piece, and testing their ideas against criteria set in a video. Then students move to assessing a partner's work. Here they evaluate a partner's pitch for its ethical value and a specific style.

The final task asks students to assess the quality of their own work against a number of statements that focus on style, tasks, editing and product. The self-assessment could be used in several ways. You could use it as the focus of a writing conference, compare it to your own assessment of the student and award a grade based on its accuracy, or simply add it up and record it as a grade given by the student. You might also choose to add it to an informal checklist of your own assessing student ability to think critically.