tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post2655132076495773537..comments2023-06-11T02:19:27.429-07:00Comments on Academic Cog: Let's start at the very beginning...Sisyphushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09880634753539329199noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-31721087909245328442013-12-19T20:46:19.680-08:002013-12-19T20:46:19.680-08:00Things my students say they enjoyed:
1. Write a p...Things my students say they enjoyed:<br /><br />1. Write a poem in one of the forms studied. I've also had them do parody poems. Both work well. <br /><br />2. For drama and staging, have them choose a scene in play and write about how they would stage/ direct it.<br /><br />3. For POV, have them id the pov in story, then pick a scene and write it from a different pov & explain the changes. This was way more popular than I expected.<br /><br />If the class is small enough to do groups, my students seem to really that. They say that they like being able to try out ideas with a few people and "practice" before speaking up in the whole class.Tree of Knowledgehttp://cheeseandresponsibility.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-63082592436016106672013-12-18T12:23:22.489-08:002013-12-18T12:23:22.489-08:00Okay, so, the short answer is yea, you can do lots...Okay, so, the short answer is yea, you can do lots of things with them that still support close reading and analytic skills and are fun. You can also do things that don't torture them but are more academic. I have taught this kind of class a TON and used to mentor teachers in same.<br /><br />Here are some ideas, all "borrowable": <br /><br />1) Have students write scenes that aren't in the actual story/novel. Like what happened next after the end of a story with a short justification of why.<br /><br />2) Have students write poetry in the style of one of the poets you read, with an explanation of the style and what they borrowed.<br /><br />3) In class, have them read things aloud and think about voices--who would sound like what, why, etc.<br /><br />4) Think of questions they might want to answer, that will drive them to analyze that you would never ask an English major. I like to ask students which character they could see themselves being friends with and why. It's a jumpstart to a discussion of particular scenes that help them observe who the character is.<br /><br />5) Create a group project around one of the scenes and do brief dramatic readings or performances. (Time, I know.)<br /><br />There are lots of possibilities, and I hope you get tons of responses. What you can do and how far you can stretch will depend on your department culture, but it does sound like you have some freedom. I always tell people to think of 3 50-minute classes as being able to contain two activities, just as a 75- or 80-minute class will hold three activities. Same number of things each week, just not on the same days.<br /><br />I would say that the most important thing to remember is that these kids want a fun class, and they have been made afraid of literature by their previous education. My focus in a poetry unit, for example, was to make them see poetry as not scary. I'd have them look for the story or the central "thesis" of the poem, and that helped them see past rhyme and meter, which made them think they could not read poetry. If you can, lean toward contemporary things, as for many non-majors, simply having language they recognize helps.<br /><br />Oh, and I totally think you should steal that book cover idea! Can't wait to see what happens.Monicanoreply@blogger.com