Classroom Activities
Brainstorm Webs
Brainstorming webs will have multiple uses within this unit. Their first use is as a way to generate lists of topics for writing. For their first love letter written about food, the amount of foods in the world can be overwhelming. Using a web, students can break down the topic of food into various categories, maybe starting with fruits a la Neruda or branching into a group of foods someone in their family makes or foods they eat at school or meals from a favorite restaurant. This way, students can write down a lot of different ideas to help them narrow their focus and choose one singular food to write about.
The webs’ second purpose will be to expand ideas for details within a piece. Once students have chosen a topic, they will use a web to examine that topic in different ways. Particularly for the exercise in using senses, students can branch off the web into a “smell” area and explore all the different ways that their chosen food smells. This will also aid in students leaning into complexity. Foods do not usually have one singular smell, but they have multiple ingredients that lend different and sometimes competing scents. If students started writing without this brainstorming exercise, they might be tempted to think of one single way something smells, one way it looks, one way it tastes. But by thinking through this before writing, they can paint a much more detailed picture of their love letter subject.
“Snaps”
“Snaps” are a way for listeners to interact with writing as the author reads it. They are also a tool for a writer to see what is most effective about their writing. A student will read their writing aloud two times. During the first reading, peers will just be listening. During the second reading, peers are listening for “snap” moments, moments where they are moved by what the author says, moments where the word choice is strong, moments where the author uses an affecting metaphor or other literary device. When those moments happen, listeners will make one single snap. This is feedback for the reader about what the audience enjoyed about the piece. It’s also a way to keep listeners active during a reading and to further hone their senses about writing and identifying choices the writer makes.
Peer Workshop
At the end of the unit, students will pick one prose piece and one poem to workshop into revised pieces for the class anthology. Using their peers as resources, students will share what they like about each other’s pieces, as well as suggestions for how to improve them based on the skills and strategies they have studied in the unit. For example, students might notice that where someone broke the line draws attention to a less important word in their poem. While this could be intentional, after hearing feedback from readers, the author may choose to change it. Additionally, students can point out what is missing. If someone did not include an example of personification in their work, their peers might suggest ways to incorporate that device to strengthen the piece.
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