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                                                                                                  Inspiration

                                                                                                  First, the class looked at young people and adults who have had the courage to take a stand and work to change the world for the better—in many different ways.

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  Each student wrote a short piece about someone in his or her own life that has taken on something very difficult and worked through it.

                                                                                                    We also talked about the different ways in which writing can help to change the world—through fiction, poetry, news articles, non-fiction, movies…

                                                                                                  Good Writer’s Know Where They Are Coming From…

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  Through experiential activities and discussion, we talked about how everyone has a particular world view that is influenced by many factors including heritage, nationality, gender, economic status and so on.

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  The class wrote poems—Let Me Tell You Where I am Coming From…

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  Exploring Our Own Issues and Strengths—And Showing More Than Telling.

                                                                                                  The class divided into groups to discuss their lives—then created movie posters. This process helped them to think about how images create mood and feeling as well as give information. Where you place images, how large they are in relation to other images impacts the whole poster. The same is true for writing. A writer has to choose good images and details and the right place to put them in order to make the most impact.

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  Making a Decision About

                                                                                                  WHICH Issue (Part I)

                                                                                                  After presenting the movie posters, the class made a list of all the “issues” and “concerns” that came up during the group process. We put them on a circular graph to show what worlds the issues impacted. For example, not having an mp3 player is probably just significant to a person. World peace is significant to, well, the world.

                                                                                                  The class then narrowed down the issues to two—world peace and animal cruelty.

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  Making a Decision—Part II

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  Time for more writing! This time, each student decided which issue they wanted the class to work on—and wrote a persuasive letter with the facts and opinions that they hoped would sway other people to choosing “their issue.”

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  These letters were posted on the class wiki and read by everyone.

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  Making a Decision Part III

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  After reading the letters, it was time to vote. Some students said that the letters had made them change their mind—some students stayed with their original choice. We voted by ballot, anonymously, and dropped them into a box. They were counted by Ms. Hurley.

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  The Result:

                                                                                                  We are Writing About Animal Cruelty Issues!

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  Animal Cruelty Issues that We Are

                                                                                                  Exploring

                                                                                                  1.Should people have exotic pets?

                                                                                                  2.         Animal abandonment—why it happens and how it can be prevented.

                                                                                                  3.         Cock fights—what they are how and what can be done to prevent them.

                                                                                                  4.         Wolf-dogs—why are they are often abused? What are the challenges of having one as a pet.

                                                                                                  5.         No Kill vs. Shelters that Euthanize—why are there both? What are the pros and cons of each.

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  Creating Awareness through

                                                                                                  Feature Stories that We Will

                                                                                                  Publish on a Blog—along with pictures and videos.

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                  The class is learning :

                                                                                                  -About the structure of features stories

                                                                                                  -The importance of first hand accounts through interviewing and a class visit to the animal shelter.

                                                                                                  - How to prioritize and sort through research information.

                                                                                                  -How to use quotes in an article.

                                                                                                  -How to write collaboratively.