Introduction
Read. Draft. Peer Edit. Revise. Repeat. This is the mundane formula of my International Baccalaureate Higher Level (IBHL) English I classroom. We read a variety of books and write a handful of different types of academic essays. While I pride myself on getting my students academically prepared for college, the one thing that is lacking is creative play. I am always looking for my students to take their writing to the next level and—by playing more with language, using a workshop model, and adding a little competition—I am confident that I can get my students to level-up while hopefully destroying the temptation to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) for writing assignments. In order to play constructively, my students will imitate five different personal essay styles and structures: the humorous essay, the segmented essay, the defamiliarization essay, the braided essay, and the hermit crab essay. By examining a variety of mentor texts, students will imitate or try their hand at new techniques to communicate their purpose in their own pieces. This writing of creative nonfiction will be done over the course of the school year and in preparation for their final college essay written in my class. The goal of this unit will be for students to write a college essay or personal statement to use in their senior year. But, more importantly, doing these imitation writings will allow for students to play with language and craft in a way that will benefit not only their creative writing, but their academic writing as well. So although we will continue to read, draft, peer edit, and revise, we will also interrupt the cycle to imitate, play, and create.
Comments: