Allowing students to see how the work they do at school can be used in the so-called “real world” is an important part of the learning process.
The Passion and Authority unit taken by Grade 8 students at ISP offers exactly that, as part of Language Arts (LA), learners were taken analytical writing and focusing it on topics they were emerged in.
One student said: “It is very fun and enjoyable to write something we are passionate about and because of that it was really easy to write and have something good!”
Rather than just written texts, the students were able to write about a range of media from Nirvana to the NFL Draft to designer brands.
“My favorite aspect of the unit is that students get to spend a lot of time reading and learning from professional writers working in the fields that they are interested in. So they see the way that published writing looks and that sometimes changes their understanding of how writers can be creative in the ways they get across ideas and organize information,” said Mr. Fisher, Grade 8 Language Arts Teacher.
This unit emerged from the recognition that most of us spend at least some percentage of our waking lives immersed in real analytical writing, going beyond the typical English class thematic essay on To Kill a Mockingbird.
“The unit let us explore our interests which definitely motivated us way more than any other unit in LA. There were also no strong limits or restrictions when working on the essays,” said one student.
Published as part of the online magazine ‘Eye of the Falcon’, articles by students are written with passion and authority. The selections are published via the Padlet system
“I found their work to be insightful, meaningful, and very well done (and fun!), especially given the disruptive and sometimes isolating restrictions of Distance and Hybrid Learning,” added Mr. Fisher.
