Employing Innovative Composition Assignments with Mandated Literature: Infographics and The Scarlett Letter, Student-led Poetry Writing Workshops, and Student-generated Great Gatsby AP Prompts
Mentor 1
Conan Kmiecik
Location
Union 191
Start Date
24-4-2015 2:00 PM
Description
As a future English teacher, it is challenging to come up with or find assignments that meet the many needs of the classroom; such as meeting the state standards, covering the mandated literature, and keeping students interested in the topics. This presentation will focus on three unique writing activities that can be used with certain pieces of literature often used in an upper-level High School English classroom. The presenter will read her paper and supplement some information through the use of a PowerPoint presentation and share her process for choosing these innovative assignments that fulfill the Common Core State Standards that she will likely use in a possible future teaching situation. The first assignment addressed in this presentation has students read a widely read novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and create an infographic that compares their chosen outcast in American society to a figure within the novel. The second assignment addressed in this presentation has students create mini lessons on the forms, themes, and elements of poetry that they would present to their classmates as well as guide them through their group-led exercise utilizing their poetic theme, form, or element. The third assignment addressed in this presentation has students come up with critical questions of society regarding the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, similar to the prompts asked on the AP English Exam. They would come up with a statement about society related to these questions, and then write an essay using nonfiction sources, as well as the novel, to prove or disprove their statement. Overall, this presentation will focus on these three assignments, how they fit the needs of the Eleventh-Grade English classroom, and how they may be used in a possible future teaching scenario of the presenter.
Employing Innovative Composition Assignments with Mandated Literature: Infographics and The Scarlett Letter, Student-led Poetry Writing Workshops, and Student-generated Great Gatsby AP Prompts
Union 191
As a future English teacher, it is challenging to come up with or find assignments that meet the many needs of the classroom; such as meeting the state standards, covering the mandated literature, and keeping students interested in the topics. This presentation will focus on three unique writing activities that can be used with certain pieces of literature often used in an upper-level High School English classroom. The presenter will read her paper and supplement some information through the use of a PowerPoint presentation and share her process for choosing these innovative assignments that fulfill the Common Core State Standards that she will likely use in a possible future teaching situation. The first assignment addressed in this presentation has students read a widely read novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and create an infographic that compares their chosen outcast in American society to a figure within the novel. The second assignment addressed in this presentation has students create mini lessons on the forms, themes, and elements of poetry that they would present to their classmates as well as guide them through their group-led exercise utilizing their poetic theme, form, or element. The third assignment addressed in this presentation has students come up with critical questions of society regarding the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, similar to the prompts asked on the AP English Exam. They would come up with a statement about society related to these questions, and then write an essay using nonfiction sources, as well as the novel, to prove or disprove their statement. Overall, this presentation will focus on these three assignments, how they fit the needs of the Eleventh-Grade English classroom, and how they may be used in a possible future teaching scenario of the presenter.
