The excitement of the holidays thrums through our hallways and all of the festive delight creates a unique frenetic energy that is a joy to be around. Teachers, however, will attest to the difficulty in harnessing this energy into focused writer workshops, especially when December also means state testing, late-night choir and orchestra concerts, the start of winter sports, and (not to mention) family gatherings or out-of-town guests.
Try as we might, students struggle to focus on that research paper, that lit analysis, or that synthesis paper. It is around this time when we must turn toward real-world writing and use it as ongoing fuel for the Yule log that seems to be ever-simmering in our student’s minds.
The parties, dinners, and gatherings around this time of year are perfect subjects for student writing. Models from the NYT such as the magazine’s Eat column or the student opinion prompt “What are you grateful for?” are perfect for style minilessons and timely reflection.
One such model, “Who’s Coming to Dinner” has proved to be a particularly joyful piece of writing for students, a way to reinforce specific writing skills, and another lovely manner in which to celebrate all the cultural holidays that our students partake in. (*Note that it is helpful to know your students before embarking on a piece of writing like this since religious, cultural, and social sensitivities may surface during this type of writing).
Brainstorming and Introducing
The first thing I ask students to do is brainstorm a list of all the upcoming meals and parties they are looking forward to, no matter how large or small. Brunch with grandma, dinner with the neighbors, or a holiday party with the basketball team are all fair game here. These gatherings may be holiday or religiously related, but they don’t have to be. Students waste no time discussing all the events they are anticipating.
With these moments prepped, I introduce articles from The New York Times Style section, “All Together Now. It’s 9pm in . . “ Note that some of these articles focus on adult parties, and as such, need some vetting. I have used Claire Foy, Naima Green, and Big Freedia’s gatherings as exemplars with my students.
We read one article together, and then they pick one to read and annotate with the following in mind:
· What do you notice about the tone, references, pace of the paragraphs?
· What kind of interesting punctuation has the writer used?
· What do you notice about the use of quotes?
Prewrite
After our brainstorm and introduction to our model essays, we prewrite with observational notes. I give students some homework over break -gasp!- yet the assignment is motivating and innately reflective; many students don’t mind it.
Homework for break (Thanksgiving or Winter or really any break) includes the following prompt that students place in their notebooks and then share in groups when we return:
Over break Set up for “Who’s Coming to Dinner?” Paper (note dinner can be replaced with brunch, lunch, snacks, or a party.
In your Notebooks, take some notes (in real-time or afterward as a reflective moment- probably the more socially appropriate option)
Consider this ‘ritual’ as a part of a larger context and briefly describe how often you do this kind of dinner or gathering? What is the main purpose, goal, and what’s the vibe?
Jot down who is in attendance and their ages/ jobs/ relationship to you
Jot down a list of the food
Jot down some of the music (specifics!) or type that was playing
Jot down a couple of your conversation topics
Most importantly, snag a couple of great pictures of the group eating, drinking, and discussing
(Be school-appropriate!)
Students were actually excited for homework over break or over a weekend leading into winter break because the prewrite was built into an activity they were already engaged in; furthermore, this assignment offered a way to build classroom community and get to know my students better through celebration of the many richly layered traditions in their lives.
One student even acknowledged the generosity of his friend’s family and a tradition that differed from his own family’s:
Mini lessons and drafting
Beyond all the possibilities with content, this writing assignment is the perfect one to stretch a writer’s stylistic tools or review a skill that has become particularly problematic for the class or for a particular writer. Throughout this writing unit, I teach minilessons and ask students to try some of the following:
Elongating sentences with preps, appositives, and participles and absolutes
Analogies/ similes
Detailed sentences with imagery
Stylish punctuation like the Dash/ Colon/ Semi colon/ Parenthesis
Varying quote integration with colons, quote attribution, or seamless embedding
Subtitles that hint at the content of your paragraph or use a witty pun
Layout that includes attention to visual detail, pictures, and professional-looking communication of your topic
Revision and Reflection
Each student has a unique checklist based on what they are stretching or trying and what they are reviewing and practicing. Students have the option of color coding or annotating these two approaches. Here is an example of a student who is reviewing the use of appositive phrases and is also stretching and trying a semi colon:
We have large multi-racial family who love spending time together. We also always let my grandma and aunt Myra take care of the cooking, an assortment of Guatemalan and American cuisine like pulled pork, lechon, Cole slaw, hoagies, and tamales. With dishes going back and forth from one end of the table to the next, the conversation is blabbing chaotically about nothing at all; this means everything to me.
The entire writing piece feels joyful, less work, and more like play; like a type of show and tell. It is the type of writing that can be full of purpose and enlarged by student engagement. Once we move through our typical drafting moves, the best part is professionally putting the final pieces together complete with pictures, color, and headers. Students peruse each other’s work in a gallery and all that frenzied energy is just right.
Do you see other applications for this idea? Send them my way @SouthWriting or jtannous@cbsd.org.
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