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Course, Subject

Biology/Living Environment, English Language Arts (2005), Math, Science & Technology, English Language Arts (NYS P-12 Common Core), Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects (NYS 6-12 Common Core)

Description

This writing assignment asks students to take a stand and 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 podcast where authors describe their beliefs. After students understand the structure of these podcasts, they will listen to a “Science Friday” podcast that describes the state our oceans today and how they can take action to reverse the current path of destruction. Finally, students will create a "This I Believe" podcast about the oceans to publish to the classroom webpage.

Website(s)

Northern Nevada Writing Project
National Writing Project
NPR: This I believe
NPR Podcast #1
NPR Podcast #2

Six-Trait Overview

The focus trait in this writing assignment is voice; students will help their audience understand the importance of the issue through their writing's passion, word choice, and tone. The support trait students will work on is organization; they will make sure their introductions hook the reader/listener and organize their writing so that their beginning is strong, the middle is bold, and the conclusion convincingly ties all the pieces together.

Author

Science teacher and literacy trainer Yvette Deighton

Materials

• Copies of Student Models for Voice analysis handout (one per student)
• Copies of This I Believe Graphic Organizer (one per student)
• Copies of This I Believe Faces Handout (one per student)
• Copies of This I Believe Planning Worksheet (one per student)
• Student Models for VOICE analysis.pdf
• This I Believe Faces Handout.pdf
• This I Believe Graphic Organizer.pdf
• This I Believe Planning Worksheet.pdf
• This I Believe Pre-Writing Sheet.doc

Step-by-Step Procedure

Anticipatory Set: Introduce students to the concept of written voice by having them analyze three short samples of writing by three middle school students. Students can compare and contrast the three students' voice using the Venn diagram at the bottom of the worksheet.

Emphasize that it is the words the students choose that helps the reader hear the person behind the voice, and guides the reader to feel a certain emotion after reading the writing.

1. Distribute the This I Believe Graphic Organizer.
2. Students will listen to two different podcasts from the National Public Radio program “This I believe.” The essays I have chosen are written by people who were driven to make an impact or do something extraordinary in the world. Both of these podcasts emphasize the idea that we--as individuals--can and have the responsibility to make a difference. The Podcasts selected for this lesson are:
   Podcast #1: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18799392
   Podcast #2: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19277915
3. After students have listened to the essays, ask them to consider how these “mentor texts” (or models) used voice to help the reader/listener feel the importance of the issue (mood), understand their opinion (tone), and how they organized their ideas to engage and persuade the audience.
4. After students have been introduced to the format of the “This I Believe” essays, have them work in small groups to analyze the text (podcast) for words that helped set the mood or tone of the essays. The podcasts can be downloaded to your classroom I-pod to be played for the whole group. Allow students time to complete the graphic organizer which will help them record and discuss evidence of voice in the podcasts. You will also want to have the This I Believe Faces Handout available for students to fill out the second half of the graphic organizer.
5. If you have time to analyze written voice further, you might also want to find additional text samples for students to analyze for voice. For example, providing students with a poem, a letter, and a science text book could help students identify differences in mood and tone in different genres. After students have listened to the podcasts and analyzed voice, you will want to facilitate their thinking about organization. Ask them to talk about each podcast's beginning, middle, and conclusion.
6. Next, students learn some new information for their own.
7. Students should be ready to choose a specific ocean topic to base their "This I Believe" essay on. If students are struggling for a way to get started, or to select a topic, have them review the This I Believe Pre-Writing Sheet.
8. Additional time will be needed within the sequence of the lesson to allow students to research the problems in more detail. Given your unique situation, student backgrounds, and schedules this could take a few days or up to a week. You may want to support the research by using internet resources. Use what makes sense for you and your students.
9. Have students talk with a partner(s) about what issue they will focus on to write about, and how they will take a small part in planning for the solution to their ocean dilemmas. After they have had a chance to brainstorm and reflect on this, use the This I believe Planning Worksheet to help have students begin thinking about their writing.
10. At the end of the first page, you will want the students to take a “break” from the pre-writing. Have students share key ideas that they will include with a partner and discuss the relevance.
11. Allow time for students to continue completing the graphic organizer. Once students have completed the graphic organizer, you will want to set some timelines for the rough drafts. (For more ideas on promoting response and revision within the writing process, see Extension of Lesson below.)
12. Once students have completed drafts and their This I Believe pieces are ready to be published, you can even have students make audio-recordings and post an audio blog where other students and members of the worldwide community can be inspired by your ideas.

Extension of Lesson

To promote response and revision to rough draft writing, attach Revision & Response Post-Its to your students' drafts. Make sure the students rank their use of the trait-specific skills on the Post-Its, which means they'll only have one "1" and one "5." Have them commit to ideas for revision based on their Post-It rankings. For more ideas on WritingFix's Revision & Response Post-Its, click here.

After students apply their revision ideas to their drafts and re-write neatly, require them to find an editor. If you've established a "Community of Editors" among your students, have each student exchange his/her paper with multiple peers. With yellow high-lighters in hand, each peer reads for and highlights suspected errors for just one item from the Editing Post Its.

Content Provider

The Northern Nevada Writing Project: WritingFix

Related Academic Standards

New York State

W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

W.9-10.1.a Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

W.9-10.1.b Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience's knowledge level and concerns.

W.9-10.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

W.9-10.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

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