My goal for my English classes this year is to try to help them think more deeply about literature. I am not sure but it may be an impossible task- something to do with an undeveloped frontal cortex. For my sophomores I have had them work in groups for two weeks. They are reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. They had to deal with at least one topic and get evidence from the book on that topic (Have I written about this?). They then get at least three quotes about the topic and make conclusions based on what they have found. It reverses the normal process of creating you classic high school literary essay, taking it from a deductive process to an inductive process. They look for evidence then make a conclusion based on the evidence.
Several of the English teachers here at Analy developed a clear way to write a cookie cutter essay for Freshman and Sophomores. In the first paragraph the student writes the thesis or the opinion. The next three paragraphs are evidence for proving the thesis. Each evidence paragraph has five parts. First the writer introduces the paragraph by giving the context of the quote that follows. Who said it? Where were they? What was the situation in the book? The second part the write just writes down the quote in quotation marks, of course. Then the student references the work and page. (Lynch 49) Part 4: The students puts the quote into his or her own words. Part five is the hard part. The writer must figure out how the quote helps to prove or give evidence to the thesis. We call it the ICCEE method: 1) Introduce the quote. 2) Copy down the quote. 3) Cite the quote. 4) Explain what the quote means. 5) Elaborate, explore or expand on the significance of the quote.
Beside being a good approach to deeper thinking in general, this process is perfect for high school students because they know very little anyway. Instead of forcing a topic that they know nothing about, they become educated on the topic, then make conclusion. The next step is to write the classic five paragraph essay from the evidence they have found. By this time the essay should practically write itself.
Just an aside:
In my sixth period class I saw one of my students draw a picture of penis and balls and give it to a girl. I don't know what was said, but I told him to see me after class. I said to him, "Whenever I see a high school drawing of penis and balls, I will think that you did it." "You drew that picture and gave it to a girl?", I continued. "It's not what you're thinking." He said. I am not really sure what I was thinking. I said, "Drawings of penises and balls do not belong in school. If you're going to draw it, do it away from here." He was deeply embarrassed and he apologized. I said that he could go.
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