Survival Guides
Survival guides have some interesting potential for a variety of historical and literary analysis needs. This idea was jump started by the Brighid Survival Manual which was found via Super Punch.
Here’s a quick example for the Witch in The Wizard of Oz.
I’ll see if time allows me to make one for a Jamestown colonist. The problem is that these take a good bit of time and effort if they’re going to be good. That’s great in a project but it does make it harder on me.
Anyway, lots of English and history applications. It’d be fun to write survival guides for self-destructive historical or literary figures- maybe Edgar Allen Poe or Custard.
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Weird Books
My favorite kind of edtech use- free, quick and slightly oddThinking about it, it’s more about access to odd information and visuals. The tech part is relatively insignificant but could be expanding in most of the examples depending on what you had access to. For instance, with the time and inclination you might want to . The Weird Book Room is, obviously, a collection of really odd book titles and coversAppropriateness varies. Probably not safe to have your kids wandering around on their own unless you live in Amherst, MA. This is prime fodder for all kinds of entertaining creative writing activities. Things I would want to try- Show the students three or four covers/titles. Their task is to pick oneChoice is always good, but not too much choice or it’ll take forever. and write a Amazon style summary of the book totally based off the odd title and cover. The focus here would be on style, looking at how these reviews generate interest and what structural components they normally contain. Instead of a summary write a review of the book as if you’ve read it. Give it 1 or 5 starts and write your review accordingly. I’d put a heavy slant on opinion and bias on this one, encouraging students to put themselves in personality roles with strong opinions […]
Calling E.T.
This is another one of those little things I love that the Internet brings me on a silver RSS platterGranted, I’ve piled this platter so high with various feeds that a lot is lost in the shuffle. It may be time for a reboot.. From New Scientist As part of our special feature marking the 50th anniversary of the search for extraterrestrial life, we round up humanity’s radio messages to the stars. This is an awesome list of messages we’ve sent into outer spaceWe’ve done some very strange things. and leads to some potentially interesting English uses. Here are a few very rough ideas. Your Message – The standard idea would be “What message would you send into outer space? Write one paragraph etc. etc.” That’s OK but it doesn’t really do it for me. You need to add a lot of restrictions and bring to the forefront the things you need to consider when sending messages into outer space. I’d start by looking at the messages we’ve sent. What do they have in common? What assumptions are made about the recipientsThey can see, hear etc.? Then it’d be really interesting to start restricting the size of the message. How do you pack the most information into your message? The debates over what stays/goes would be really interesting as well […]
6 Word Teen Memoirs
This would be a fun way to start off the school year. It’s similar to a number of things I’ve posted before but I liked these and the presentation is really nice. Ways I might twist it for the first days of school – maybe it’s just your summer in 6 words, your prediction of the school year in 6 words or you have to produce one for someone else in the class on whatever topic is chosen. Make sure you show good examples. Just another example of rules and being “inside the box” driving some really interesting content production. Hat tip – Jackie Gerstein
Comments on this post
This is yet another great way to move past our traditional methods of teaching and embrace the digital age. I have been teaching social studies for some time and at some point in the year, students always make a brochure, but this is much cooler. Thanks!