The theme of Chapter 5 in Allen’s book was teaching students how to show, not tell, about characters as they write. I liked the “Creat-A-Character” exercise that the author did with her students. This helped the students become the experts of their topic and gave examples of how to add detail. Many times we tell our students to “add detail” but providing examples of what we mean by adding detail is a great learning experience. The author went on to further help her students learn how to make powerful verbs rather than the weak everyday verbs we tend to use in our writing. I had the chance this week in our field experience to help a student add detail and strong verbs to a story he was writing. The student became really involved with his story after I explained how to use detail to show, not tell about, his character, Jack O’Lantern, who lived on Spooky Street.
Chapter 7 of Allen’s book helped me understand how I can help students incorporate art into their writing to express themselves better. I liked the way the author showed examples of previous student’s work so that the class could see the endless possibilities that they could create. Gone are the days of the boring research papers that students presented by simply reading them aloud. We need to teach students how to write and present their findings in ways that will help prepare them for the demands that they will face in the workplace.
Seedfolks is a great example of showing, not telling, about the charcters of a story. I read Seedfolks with the perspective of Sam, the older Jewish man. The author showed us what a caring personality he had. The author gave us examples of how Sam was a peacemaker and looked for the good in everyone, no matter their ethnicity. He would strike up conversations in grocery stores among people trying to get them to put their diversity’s aside, even if for a moment. Since he was 78, he knew that he was too old to plant in the community garden so he hired a Puerto Rican teenager to help him. Fleischman’s method of showing, not telling, about the characters in the story brings a true to life feeling for the story.
I thought the "create-a-character" was so intriguing. I could also really see children getting into it and letting their imaginations run wild. I also think this activity would work at all age levels depending on the style of writing or the depth the teacher wants the students to include.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the create-a-character activity and will definitely be doing that with my students. Actually, that is an activity we can have handy as subs when the teacher doesn't lay out lesson plans!
ReplyDeleteI think the create-a-character could be helpful to students as an independent activity as well -- they might be surprised what ideas come to mind and they have a good starting point for research. Their character has a pet iguana? What is involved in caring for an iguana? How could this shape their character further?
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