Chapter 11

Starting with Little, Nearby Things I really like the idea of writing about things that you can physically see near you. I want to work with high schoolers and I know that not all of them may be motivated to write. Asking them to think about abstract ideas may cause students to be discouraged in trying to find a topic to write about. But I believe that if they have to write about something they can physically see in the classroom, it may make the writing process easier to start. It will also require students to think more creatively about random items they are to write about, say, a whiteboard eraser or a chair. They will learn how to write about things that may or may not have a significant value to them. This activity will challenge they to learn more about a certain object they have seen and known for years. I believe this will also encourage them to write more outside the classroom, because they can apply these same skills anywhere. 

Writing into the Fact That the Present Contains the Past and the Future I think this is a good section for a mini lesson as well too. It takes the knowledge of students and stretches it either to past or future events. For instance, a student may think about living on a farm. He or she can expand this by pretending to think what life was like 50 years before he was born. Or he can predict what farms will become in the future. To every story, there is both a present and a past. Students can use their imagination for the future or the past, while using a true present story as the foundation. 

Intentional Strategies This portion of chapter 11 stresses the importance of students' control over their own writing. In order for them to enjoy writing and using it outside of the classroom, they need to feel like they have a choice in what they write. From what I read, it seems that the notebook would essentially be their sketchbook. They do not feel like their work has to be perfected in their notebook, but they can still collect ideas from it to develop an assignment elsewhere. Students should feel comfortable enough writing in their notebook for anything. It should be a free space where their imagination can run wild. This will help them to develop a healthy habit of writing based and rooted in their own interests.