All of these modes of literature had a common theme: nature. But not the kind of nature that talks about bunnies and cute baby bears, but real nature. The kind that causes disasters and can be deadly. That is what kids care about - real world problems. They like learning about something they can apply their knowledge to. And why not cater to that need? All of these pieces we were asked to look at dealt with serious stuff - serious yet interesting...intriguing.
Students from Washington would particularly find the multimodal article, "Snow Fall" interesting because it is local. It is about a group of pro skiers who were caught in an avalanche in the Cascade Mountain Range. This article was interesting because of the way it was written. Right off the bat it got readers hooked wanting to know more about the poor skier trapped beneath the icy surface. It also gave some background on avalanches, talking about the rising number of fatalities due to an increase in snow sports. "Vanishing Ice" ties in with my last sentence due to the fact that it talks about the reasons why we are seeing avalanches more often. It is partly because of global warming and how it not only affects humans, but animals and plants as well. We as humans need to be aware of nature and how it works. Who knows it could save your life someday.
The two video clips or trailers would probably catch the students attention the most. One, because it is a video and what students don't like to watch videos? And two, they are beneficial to the lesson. "Gasland" is a documentary on a guy who goes out and researches hydraulics. From the trailer we see dirty, undrinkable water coming from faucets in peoples homes. The video looked controversial because clips of court and officials were being shown that obviously do not condone what this man is researching. The Spike Lee video on the other hand dealt with flooding and exploding oil rigs.
Lastly, the poems. The poems dealt with nature too...but in a different more abstract light. "The Tyger" poem was very dark and used a lot of dark words to conjure the meaning and tone of the poem. It dealt with forest fires, which every summer there is a bad case of them. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" was much more euphoric. It described nature from a birds eye view.
I think that all of these forms of writing and literacy that have to do with nature are very beneficial to students. Each of these could be taken as controversial...which can lead to great classroom discussion. They are also about spreading awareness, dealing with real life scenarios that students can take this newfound information and actually apply it. And that is a lesson that students will want to learn.
No comments:
Post a Comment