I taught Writing for two years at B-Tech (2008-2010.) in 2009 I began the class focusing on Writing Conventions. Our guest presenter was Ptah Mitchell El. He lectured on the history of the Metu Neter (Sacred Writings of ancient Kmet.) We learned the alphabet and how to write our names.
Vision Boards
Students' vision boards are displayed on the wall behind Mr. Mitchell El. We prepared for Ptah's visit by first getting an understanding of the important uses of images and symbols in creating meaning in our lives. We cut out images from magazines and used photos from our own lives to create vision boards. The vision boards represented all the things we treasure in life as well as anything we would like to have more of. When we presented our boards we talked about concepts of love, relationships, family, health, wealth, education, careers and having healthy images of ourselves.
Writing Children's Books
Using a lesson plan from the Read, Write, Think website, I taught students how to write and illustrate their own 30 page children's books.
When I first told them about the project, they moaned and groaned. "30 pages! That's too much." They lamented. The idea overwhelmed them. But I broke it down into small parts and assured them I would be there to help them every step of the way. I began by reading a book to them and we analyzed it together as a class. We talked about what we remembered about our favorite childhood storybooks. Then students browsed through several books that I brought to class (some of the books were temporarily donated to us by the Science teacher who has a little son. Thanks Mr. Smith!) Students followed the guidance of a worksheet to analyze these books alone or in pairs. They examined content, text and illustration.
When it was all done, some students proudly shared their books with the toddlers at King pre-school. (Others were too shy and backed out at the last minute, so their classmates read for them.)
Tyler, Tiara and Abel prepare to read to the children
Tyler enjoys reading 'Don't Cry Baby Elephant' written by his classmate, Oleisha
Abel reads, 'Where's Buddy?' written by his classmate Lani
Cherie reads 'Leroy's Amazing Transformation,' written by her classmates Cassandra and Malia