Tuesday, February 19, 2013

As Not Seen in Classrooms

Serve up your  slice during The Slice of Story Challenge  in March and on Tuesdays
sponsored  by  Stacey Shubitz and Ruth Ayres of Two Writing Teachers 

My students and I have been reading about fast food and writing. We read quite a few restaurant reviews as mentor texts for our own review writing. My favorite from the reviews we've read is Pete Well's review of Guy's American Kitchen and Bar, "As Not Seen on TV." Rhetorical questions make up the entire review. We read the piece as our article of the week last week. We discussed it in terms of writing style and content during our Thursday Socratic Seminar. Students were fascinated with the style. So much so that they asked to imitate it--some in their own reviews and others just to play. Of course, I ditched my post-Socratic plans and chased that happy.  To their request I replied, "Sure! Let's try it. Why don't you write about teachers, just in general no names, and I'll write about students." Students faces lit up.

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Do we look like monkeys to you? Do you realize that you could take all of those papered assignments and design a boat, then sail off into the ocean? Do you think that would work? Would all of the red pen splotches fool the sharks into mistaking it for blood? Maybe your jokes about pencils and calculators would stop them from eating you? 

Do you like to hover over me like I'm a five year old? Does it make you feel motherly and nurturing? Can you not accuse me, of all people, of doing something wrong when I've been in my seat for the past 45 minutes? Don't you have papers to grade or a job to do? Do you expect us to do the work you assign even though it's as boring as watching paint dry? Are you willing to give up your holiday to work for us? 

Do you get scared when you're stopped by a police officer on the highway and he walks toward your window carrying his speeding ticket pad? Do you think showing me a pink referral form will scare me? Do you enjoy the look on everyone's faces when you say the words "pop quiz"? If you wanted to be a comedian why did you become a teacher? 

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 I compiled the lines students liked best from many of their quick writes. What we noticed after we shared and read them was that we all have lots of experience complaining about things teachers do that aggravate us, but we'd have to draft and draft again to add the level of detail and comparison to our own questions that Wells uses. Sometimes we missed the humor mark and criticisms made students say, "Whoah!" They cringed a little and then checked my face as students read aloud. I wasn't bothered, but there were a few lines that made me sad--why are some teachers so ___ (insert critical adjective of choice)?  hen I shared the lines with my student poets they saw a slam piece in the making. We'll see.

One student noted, "It's hard to write like this." Indeed it is.

Update
4/24/13
Do check out the New York Time's Common Core, Friday posts. In this one, teachers, Jonathan Olsen and Sarah Gross, share their ideas for using Pete Well's articles.


11 comments:

  1. Wow-there was a lot of wondering and thinking going on...I am not familiar with Well's work but I am excited to hear that you allowed the students to share the direction in which they wanted to go and went there! Hurray for you and for them!

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    1. Thank you for the encouragement, Amy. I love catching those moments as they come.

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  2. It is exceedingly difficult to write in Wells style. I love that as a mentor text to show students how rhetorical questions work as well as the text pattern of comparison and contrast. How fun to do it as a slam poem!

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    1. I'm hoping one of the poets will take it over as a slam piece and grow it closer to the three minute mark. We'll see. A few of them took Wells' review to read and think about today.

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  3. I'd also like to see another draft, Lee Ann. I imagine students will be talking about this for days! I love the red ink/blood & sharks connection-clever & harsh, too. Are we in their faces too much? I still think that they may gripe, but know that you're right there for them all the way. It's a tough call to decide when too much is too much. Thanks for this-you are such a good teacher-& slam poem it is!

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    1. Thank you Linda! I thought that shark was clever too (and I winced too, but then was glad I abandoned the red pen long ago). That image (and maybe the police officer) was the closet that students came to imitating Wells. He just does such a great job with comparison and hyperbole in the review.

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  4. Wow, what a unique style! I enjoyed your link to the original piece, and your students' imitations were very clever, although they made me sad too! I bet it felt good for them to get those feelings out though, and I'm glad they have you to provide a safe space where they can share them while also working on their writing craft!

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    1. That safe space...I try and I think it did feel good for them to vent in an acceptable (anonymous) sort of way. There was a lot of laughter and sharing once we'd written. I loved that.

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  5. I loved that you jumped into their idea and left your plans behind! Sometimes the best learning comes from the unexpected...

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    1. Doesn't it though--I loved that about the day too and this was really just our last 15 minutes or so. We wrote, read with a partner and shared.

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  6. The beginning of this made me happy as I was reminded of write-a-palooza and that collaborative effort. The students' writing made me a little sad as I considered the interactions and relationships with teachers that inspired this writing. But then I thought about some of my comments in the office sometimes, and I guess we all need a moment of venting now and then. And I suppose the model does lead you to focus on the negative. I love that they wanted to do this; that they saw a piece you shared as a model to mimic.

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