8th Grade Writing - Motivation, Organization and Emotion
Using relevant, current events with historic literature makes for great writing.
By Debra Karr
The eighth grade language arts standards help prepare students for more advanced writing to be done in high school and college. With the help of PowerPoint presentations, students can more easily organize their writing, take advantage of graphic organizers and incorporate technology into content. "The Diary of Anne Frank" is an excellent resource for using PowerPoint, helping students utilize graphic organizers to create rough drafts, and serves as an impetus to better writing in general.
Reinforcing the steps of writing is crucial, so that students fully understand that writing is a process. Helping students develop critical thinking skills by answering questions from a myriad of perspectives, gives them practice in writing while also helping them to realize that there is more than one way to examine an issue. Although facts, dates, and figures are wonderful things to memorize, and may come in handy while taking multiple choice tests, effective writing, requires background knowledge of content, a personal opinion, critical thinking, and the ability to organize thoughts in an engaging, persuasive manner. With the "Diary of Anne Frank," eighth graders can gain an understanding of the personal, individual, and human experience, while combining their knowledge of history and social studies.
These next few lessons guide students towards a better writing experience. By taking the emotional impetus of the content, students are more apt to be motivated as they relate what’s going on in their own individual lives with the lives of Anne Frank and her family members. With the recent war in Iraq and Afghanistan, many students will be able to relate to the consequences of war on not just the historical level, but on the human, emotional, and individual level. These emotional levels are what make writing effective.
Blend History With Emotion:
A Teenagers Diary Speaks Volumes
This lesson combines history with writing. Students evaluate Anne Frank as an adolescent and as a writer. They analyze her diary, and her writing strategies while gaining knowledge of the historic events that occurred during the World War II era. Students answer essential questions, and learn about the many uses that a diary can serve. I would also have students explore the theme of universality. Although Anne lived several decades ago, in circumstances perhaps unfamiliar to most, students would benefit by creating a response paper that details the commonalities between Anne Frank and today’s fourteen year old.
We’re All Connected-Universal Themes
In this lesson, students write about how they are affected by the events that happen in the world. Students respond to a survey that asks questions about how specific events going on in the world make them feel. Using quotes from the "Diary of Anne Frank," students create their own autobiographies. This lesson has so many components to it, that it can actually be used for many different lessons. To differentiate instruction, I would have students create a Venn Diagram in which they can compare world events with the events of World War II that were relevant to Anne Frank’s life, and use this graphic organizer as a guide to create a compare/contrast essay.
This lesson is perfect for constructing the KWL chart (What I Know, What I Want to Know and What I Learned). The warm up begins with a question that asks: What do you know about the Holocaust? Students brainstorm a list of words. They research those words and answer research questions. Students not only learn about the events that happened, but how these events affected individuals (like Anne Frank) and the generations that followed. This lesson suggests writing a scene based on some of the events. I would suggest doing a radio play instead.
