The most frequent frustration that I hear from teachers today is the seemingly unbreakable attachment between kids and their cell phones. I had a Twitter thread recently about this, but the gist of it is this: cell phones, like it or not, are the great playing-field-leveler when it comes to text exposure. We complain that kids don't read enough; cell phones are their tools to fix that. If a student lives in a text desert with no nearby libraries and no money for books, their cell phone might be their only exposure to text. The reality of it is, we get frustrated with cell phones because kids are using them to do what THEY want to do instead of what WE want them to do. Instead of fighting against their only autonomous source of information, we need to meld what we need to teach and what they want to learn. You can read the whole (lengthy) thread here, but writing it all out got me to thinking about the last unit of the year that I was writing for seniors. What did I want them to know how to do before they left? What was I worried about? What would they encounter and maybe not know how to handle? And then I recalled reading some statistics about teens and how they access news. Surprise, surprise: it's through entertainment and social media. The linked article is from 2016, but I'd wager that numbers are only growing in favor of social media consumption. With that in mind, I decided that in this last unit of the school year, I wanted to lead students through the process of exploring Twitter threads as a genre. This was only a section of a full unit that also included a formal debate, resume- and cover-letter-writing, and a student-written and delivered TED-style talk. Even this section segues from Twitter threads into traditional speeches and traditional texts. But it's a good jumping off point for any of you who want to explore Twitter as more than a way to kill time. Because the lessons are on our district's learning management system, I can't link them, but see below for a day-by-day rundown of how the six lessons progressed, what standards were linked to them (I'm in Texas where we have our own special standards, but they should be easily transferable), and what resources I used. Day 1: Words of Wisdom?
Day 2: Say What You Mean--Or Don't
#failingmasculinity Gun Violence and Toxic Masculinity #guncontrol The Intersection Between Gun Violence and Racism #healthcare An Appeal for Universal Health Care #blacklivesmatter Activism and Race #ownvoices Reviewing Authors of Color #metoo Reading Problematic Authors #dreamactnow DREAM Act Day 3: Mapping Author's Craft
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#failingmasculinity Gun Violence and Toxic Masculinity #guncontrol The Intersection Between Gun Violence and Racism #healthcare An Appeal for Universal Health Care #blacklivesmatter Activism and Race #ownvoices Reviewing Authors of Color #metoo Reading Problematic Authors #dreamactnow DREAM Act Day 4: The Jury's Out
Day 5: The Judge Is In
What are the pluses and minuses of communication and persuasion on social media? How are communication and persuasion on social media unique? What do you as soon-to-be graduates need to know about social media communication? Were you convinced by any of the texts you read? Why and how? Should your classmates join the movement you explored? Why or why not? Twitter Thread #failingmasculinity Gun Violence and Toxic Masculinity #guncontrol The Intersection Between Gun Violence and Racism #healthcare An Appeal for Universal Health Care #blacklivesmatter Activism and Race #ownvoices Reviewing Authors of Color #metoo Reading Problematic Authors #dreamactnow DREAM Act Categories
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AuthorTeacher of English, curriculum writer, conductor of literacy experiments. Archives
December 2021
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