Writing Fix
Writing Fix: c.s.i.: The Cory Crime Scene
The character talked about in E. A. Robinson's poem, Richard Cory, is about a man with everything, a man that everyone wants to be like, a man who ends his own life without explanation. Singers Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, intrigued by...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Beautiful Noise Poetry
In this lesson, learners will listen to just the sounds from two YouTube videos; they will use a graphic organizer to create a mind movie. Inspired by the images that their minds created, they will then listen to Neil Diamond's...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Ain't That America
Students think that classic literature and historic events have little in common with life today, right? Think again! In this lesson, students get a chance to compare themes from classic novels or from American history to those found in...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Creating Memorable Advice
Inspired by "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)," this instructional activity asks students to think about memorable writing--writing that has, in some way, touched them personally. Students will make multiple drafts of simple advice...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Advice to Youth on Things Now Gone
Poetry and music are unmistakably intermixed, and in this lesson, we focus on the word choice and idea development of both song and poem. After listening to the modern song and reading the famous old poem, "Gone" by Switchfoot and "To...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: This I Believe: Science
This writing assignments asks students to decide how they will make a difference in the effort to save our oceans. First students will listen to several episodes of "This I Believe," the NPR weekly pod cast where authors describe their...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Writing Across the Curriculum Lesson: This I Believe: History
This writing assignments asks students to assume the voice of a person from history they have researched. Focusing on a topic or belief the person showed passion about as history unfolded, the students write an essay modeled after NPR's...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: A r.a.f.t. Writing Prompt: This I Believe
This writing assignments asks students to assume the voice of a character from a novel they are reading. Focusing on a topic or belief the character shows passion about in the novel, the students write an essay modeled after NPR's "This...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Poetry Lesson: Things I Love Poems and Songs
This lesson plan and prompt encourages students to show information about themselves as they set the things that they love to the music of Tom T. Hall's, "I Love." Students will be further inspired after hearing Brigitte Minne's book, I...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: Bucket List Poetry
Using the song "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw from the soundtrack for The Bucket List as a model, students will take a look at their values and the things they would like to accomplish in their lives before they run out of...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
In this instructional activity, students will use the song "The 3 R's" by Jack Johnson to develop ideas about how to "green" up their own classrooms; they will learn two songs (written to the tune of old classics) that will inspire them...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: Teaching Character Traits
Inspired by the music "Free to Be. . . You and Me" by Marlo Thomas, this lesson, which will take several days, asks students to compose stories that teach character traits that will be shared with elementary school children. They will...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: Summertime Inspired Memoirs
By listening and then responding to multiple versions of the song "Summertime," students will understand how songs can convey various moods. Writing about a personal summertime memory, students will try to mimic a mood from one of the...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Poetry Lesson: Paradox Poetry
Jack Johnson's "Inaudible Melodies" creates an interesting paradox of how society perceives itself versus the reality of how society really behaves. After listening to a second song using paradox in order to further understand the...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: "Where Is the Love?"
Using the song "Where Is the Love" by the Black-Eyed Peas and "Excuse Me, Mr." by Ben Harper, students will begin to think about injustices that exist in our world. Ultimately, student writers will compose an essay based on a persuasive...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix:i Pod Inspired Writing Lesson:linear & Exponential Growth Poetry
This is a writing activity perfect for a math class, it's designed to help students see the differences between linear (arithmetic, adding) and exponential (geometric, multiplying) growth. Students explore the ideas of linear and...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: Itsy Bitsy Math Songs
This is a great writing lesson for math teachers. The picture book Take Me Out of the Bathtub by Alan Katz demonstrates his love of familiar songs and nursery rhymes by writing new lyrics that can be sung to them. For this assignment,...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: Boogie Woogie With a B
Using a famous World War II propaganda song, students will explore alliteration by changing the lyrics to create a new version of the song. After discussing what alliteration is and why this particular song was used and enjoyed by the...
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Writing Fix: I Pod Inspired Writing Lessons: I Say to You Today I Have a Dream!
Inspired by MLK's passionate "I Have a Dream Speech," the mentor text "Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.", by Doreen Rappaport, and U2's Pride (In the Name of Love)", students will write speeches that detail...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: Dancing With the Math Stars
This is a great math writing assignment. First, students learn about the patterns and shapes of polynomial equations and their inverses by making their bodies imitate mathematical concepts, using popular disco & 80's dance moves....
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: Podcasting Science
Using "Science Times" at NewYorkTimes.com, students will listen to podcasts to learn about and share science ideas that are currently in the news. By organizing and summarizing science thoughts, students will be able to effectively share...
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Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: What Skin Are You In?
Using two songs by India Arie as well as an excerpt out of Sharon Flake's The Skin I'm In, young scholars will explore their own self image. After analyzing the qualities that each student feels that they embody, they will compare these...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Writing Lesson: How Will You Be Remembered?
In this lesson plan, students will be exploring self image. They will be analyzing how they would like to ultimately be remembered by writing a eulogy, inspired by Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You." They will then explore a change...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: An I Pod Inspired Poetry Lesson: Favorite Things Poetry
Using the song "My Favorite Things" from the musical, The Sound of Music, as inspiration, students will create their own song or poem (to the same tune) that lists their favorite things. Each verse will focus on their favorite things...