Bits Flashback for April 24

Bunny RabbitI have a weakness for bunny rabbits. I encourage them to visit my yard and exclaim happily when they comply. Not so for the folks at Long Beach City College. Their campus was so overrun with cute, fluffy-tailed bunnies that they embarked on a bunny-reduction campaign. The campus is now down to 70 bunnies from an all-time high of 300 rabbits, according to the head of the college’s Rabbit Population Management Task Force.

You think I’m making this all up, don’t you? That’s why I think it would make the beginning of some interesting classroom projects. How do you write about “Rabbit Population Management” persuasively? What strategies will convince readers to take your story seriously? How would you talk about the project with students, faculty, staff, and the public? This one little story from the Chronicle of Higher Ed has so many possibilities for discussing persuasion, business reports, and technical writing!

If you’re looking for other classroom activities and teaching strategies, hop on over to Bedford Bits for more on these entries, which were posted last week:

  • Holly Pappas considers the many concerns teachers face when they assign the personal narrative and wonders how teachers can best respond when students write about intimate or painful topics in The Trauma Narrative.
     
  • Andrea Lunsford describes the peer tutoring program at Stanford in Writing Tutors Save the World!
     
  • Jack Solomon explains why educating students about the complex operations of social class is one of our most important tasks in the teaching of cultural studies in The Middle Class Goes to the Movies.
     
  • Barclay Barrios discusses the difference between Ideas and Examples and shares a response worksheet and some teaching strategies.
     
  • Steve Bernhardt reflects on thirty years of attending the CCCC Convention and describes the highlights of the convention in What’s up at CCCC?
     
  • Traci Gardner reviews a free, online resource classes can use to share student work and discuss current events or pop culture in Paper.li in the Classroom: The Basics.
     

  • Jay Dolmage explores what Disability Accommodations look like in the writing classroom with some specific examples.

A Few Extra Links

Let us know what you want to know about teaching writing or about using digital tools in the composition classroom by leaving a comment. Your response will help shape upcoming posts.

[Photo: Bunny Rabbit by wwarby, on Flickr]

Spring Ahead: Bits Flashback for March 13

springWhen I was little, I couldn’t remember the difference between Daylight Savings Time and Standard Time. Mom always repeated a little saying: “Spring ahead; Fall back.” I haven’t seen a flower pop its head above ground yet, but as I set my clock ahead this weekend, I know Spring can’t be too far away.

We’re springing ahead with a brand-new website for Bedford/St. Martin’s. It has a cleaner look and feel, new navigation elements, and helpful resources that make your search for course materials quick and easy. Check it out, and let us know what you think!

You probably noticed that we’ve been busy at Bedford Bits this past week too, with posts on posts on plagiarism, class discussion, video games, and more. Here’s a look back before you spring ahead into a new week:

—Traci Gardner

[Photo: spring by Aunt Owwee, on Flickr]

Lesson Plans and Resources for Script Frenzy

Day 30 - Fade In:If you are thinking of challenging students to take part in the Young Writers Program (YWP) for Script Frenzy, you’ll want some resources to support the project.

As I explained in more detail yesterday, Script Frenzy is the free event that asks writers to spend April writing a script for a screenplay, stage play, TV show, short film, comic, or graphic novel.

The YWP site has information for teachers that includes lesson plans for all age levels walk students through the basic tasks from setting their goals to building conflict and developing dialogue. You can even apply to borrow computers for classroom use during the month—deadline March 15, so hurry!

Help students find the focus for their scripts by trying one of these ReadWriteThink lessons (plus one from Thinkfinity partner EDSITEment):

 

Cross-posted to the Reading and Language Arts Discussion Group in the Thinkfinity Community and to the NCTE Community ReadWriteThink eGroup and Graphic Novels eGroup.

 

[Photo: Day 30 – Fade In: by Kurt Thomas Hunt, on Flickr]

Challenge students to take part in Script Frenzy!

P170409_20.38Script Frenzy is a free event that challenges writers to compose an entire script during the month of April. There are many more official details on the site’s About Page. All kinds of scripts are welcome: screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, comics, and graphic novels.

Students from elementary, middle, and high schools can take part in the Young Writers Program. These writers set a personal page-count goal, begin writing on April 1, and upload evidence that they’ve met their goal by April 30. There’s a step-by-step page of instructions as well as information for teachers. You can even use the letter to families to keep everyone in the loop.

College students and the rest of us can take part in the adult program, which challenges writers to compose a 100-page script. All the details for adults are on the site.

The site includes how-to’s for all the genres, like this Intro to Graphic Novels, and there’s even a Plot Machine to check out on the homepage. Here’s the first plot I got:

In an attempt to evade taxes
a disgruntled child actor
must cross a ravine on a tightrope

Obviously, they may not all be classroom-friendly :-)

The event is the dramatic cousin of the National Novel Writer’s Month project, which takes place in November.

So are you interested? Will you tell students? Thinking of organizing class participation? I’d love to hear some stories from other teachers thinking about getting into a script frenzy.

 

Cross-posted to the NCTE Community Teaching Writing eGroup and Graphic Novels eGroup.

[Photo: P170409_20.38 by robbelaw, on Flickr]