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Writing
Rights and Righting Writes
with Rick in Room 17What are
human rights, and what human rights issues exist around the
world? These were the leading questions for Room 17’s
expedition this year. Rick Lemberg’s class began the school
year with a “trip” to a fictional secluded island. Based on
their adventure, the students wrote their own Bill of Rights, a
“Global Bill of Rights,” which bears a remarkable resemblance to
the United Nations Universal Bill of Rights.This
activity was followed by the first of two major individual
writing projects: creating a story that illustrates a situation
where human rights need to be addressed. The story was in a
format of the student’s choice: e.g., fiction, diary, or
travelog. The end product was a book with cover, illustrations,
and even pockets for items related to the story.
The next
step in Room 17’s expedition was to discover how real people
cope with life in places where basic human rights are
not considered. The students interviewed family members, their
own or someone else’s, who emigrated themselves or had a family
member emigrate from such places to the United States. Using
this information and gathering more through research, Rick’s
students began their second, and current, major writing project: a biography of
their interview subject.
Writing projects in Room 17 usually begin with
a pre-writing activity, such as the interviews and research. In
other pre-writing activities students create a storyboard of scenes;
reflect on a topic; or brainstorm a web of connected ideas emanating
from a central theme, to create what Rick calls a “mind map.” The
type of pre-writing activity depends on the type of writing project. The pre-writing
activity leads naturally to the writing: the recording of the
language used to describe the scenes, the reflections, the
connected ideas. Here is where a lot of time is required
to find the right descriptive words, the best ways to connect
scenes and sentences, and the smoothest flow of ideas. It
is at this point that writing is shared and where editing
begins, by 3 or 4 peers and by the writer. Each editor
uses an editing guide, which varies slightly according to the
project. It covers all aspects of the project.
Editors
use the guide to shape their thinking about the writing.
They look at such aspects as descriptiveness, clarity, sensible
organization, and a good mix of simple and complex sentences.
Rick says, “We want the ideas in the writing to be clear,
well-organized, and interesting.” By editing for such
characteristics in others’ writings, the students become more
aware of them in their own. Editors mention positive
aspects of the writing first. Criticisms are then
structured as “I wonder” statements: “I wonder if this
character might have gotten home somehow first.” All is
done with the aim of creating the best possible presentation of
those ideas. Which peers do the editing varies also with
the project. At times students choose their editors, at
other times Rick decides. This part of the process usually
entails 3 or 4 drafts. Rick is always the final editor.
It is his job to make sure the writing is as strong as it can
be. In addition to editing for the above characteristics,
Rick also edits for grammar and conventions. It is here
where the smallest elements are considered and perfected, and
from here, the final draft emerges. At this point, each
student may type, illustrate, and cover the story to complete a
total work of art.
By the end of the year, Rick’s students have acquired a variety
of methods to prepare for writing; a good foundation in the
characteristics of strong writing and experience in editing for
such; and the understanding that good writing takes time,
effort, and much thought.Ellie and Leila’s
poster:
“Zimbabwe: Problems and Solutions”
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