DOCUMENT RESUME ED 445 346 CS 217 264 AUTHOR Mitchell, Diana; Christenbury, Leila TITLE Both Art and Craft: Teaching Ideas That Spark Learning. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, IL. ISBN ISBN-0-8141-0380-4 PUB DATE 2000-00-00 NOTE 243p. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 03804-1600: $18.95 members, $25.95 nonmembers). Tel. No. 1-800-369-6283; Web site: http://www.ncte.org. PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Teacher (052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC10 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Class Activities; Classroom Techniques; *Creative Teaching; *Language Arts; Learning Activities; Secondary Education; Thematic Approach; Writing Instruction IDENTIFIERS *Ideas ABSTRACT This book offers countless practical ideas for student activities in the areas of literature, reading, writing, and thematic units, from the exploration of ghostly themes, to the writing of resumes for heroes, to devising yearbook entries or Web pages for famous literary characters. The book provides the middle school or secondary school classroom teacher with a wealth of creative activities and strategies for the day, the week, or the semester. It presents a one-stop shopping guide for creative teaching ideas, including 50 alternatives to the boo]-. report, new approaches:: to the research paper, and how to craft a family study unit. An annotated list of teaching resources offers further alternatives. Beyond being a mere compilation of useful lesson ideas, the book also provides solid advice for teachers who wish to create their own activities and adapt them to their students and their classrooms. (NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Ill Ai U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND received from the person or organization DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS originating it. BEEN GRANTED BY Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality NI-Myers Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) du Both Art and Craft .3 NCTE Editorial Board: Jacqueline Bryant, Kermit Campbell, Xin Liu Gale, Sarah Hudelson, Gerald R. Og lan, Helen Poole, Jackie Swensson, Gail Wood, Faith Z. Schullstrom, Chair, ex officio, Peter Feely, ex officio 4 Both Art and Craft Teaching Ideas That Spark Learning Diana Mitchell Sexton High School Leila Christenbury Virginia Commonwealth University National Council of Teachers of English 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096 ... 5 Staff Editor: Bonny Graham Interior Design: Doug Burnett Cover Art: Ariel le Greenleaf Cover Design: Jenny Jensen Greenleaf NCTE Stock Number: 03804-3050 ©2000 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or trans- mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permis- sion from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a fo- rum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mitchell, Diana. Both art and craft: teaching ideas that spark learning/Diana Mitchell, Leila Christenbury. p. cm. Collection of columns by Diana Mitchell that originally appeared in the English journal. Includes bibliographical references and index. "NCTE stock number: 03804-3050"T.p. verso. ISBN 0-8141-0380-4 (pbk.) 1. Language arts (Secondary) 2. Activity programs in education. I. Title: Teaching ideas that spark learning. II. Christenbury, Leila. III. English journal. IV. Title. LB1631 .M49 2000 428'.0071'2dc21 00-055033 To Marilyn Wilson, friend and mentor To my teachers who, early on, showed the way: Miss Carney (second grade), Mrs. Pendleton (seventh grade), Miss Fountain (Latin), Mrs. Duke (music), Mr. Campbell (mathematics), Mr. Duncan (English), Sister Marita Denise, IHM (French) vi' Contents Preface ix Leila Christenbury Permissions xi 1. Both Art and Craft in the World of Teaching Ideas 1 Leila Christenbury 2. The Theory beneath the Practice 10 Diana Mitchell 3. Creating and Adapting Ideas for and from Your Teaching 22 Diana Mitchell 4. Literature 35 Diana Mitchell 5. Writing 105 Diana Mitchell 6. Thematic Units 152 Diana Mitchell 7. Resources for Your Teaching 202 Leila Christenbury Epilogue 218 Diana Mitchell Leila Christenbury Index 221 Authors 231 8 ix Preface was editor of English Journal (EJ) for five years (1994-1998), and dur- ing that time it was my job to solicit and publish the best articles on all aspects of secondary English teaching. EJ, published since 1912 by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), is a well-estab- lished, widely read journal, and it was a privilege to be its editor. Dur- ing my editorship, one of my most important tasks was providing EJ readers a balanced magazine containing both theory and practice. As a teacher, I knew well the frustration of picking up an education journal only to find mostly academic discussions and theoretical arguments with precious few practicalities. Under my editorship, EJ needed to re- main a place where classroom teachers could indeed find suggestions for something to do on Monday morning. While that something needed- to be sound, based on theory, and workable with real students, it nev- ertheless should also be practical, clear, and geared to the reality of today's classroom. And it needed to be in every issue of EJ. The only solution was a monthly Teaching Ideas column. And, as far as I was concerned, the only person to write it was Diana Mitchell. Diana and I have known each other for almost twenty years. We met at NCTE meetings and conferences, and over the years I came to know and value the kind of teaching genius Diana represents. Through conversations, her writing, her presentations at NCTE conferences, her discussions of her classroom and her students, I became familiar with Diana's work and ideas. What has always impressed me about her is her great devotion to the practicality of teaching and her firm grasp of the realities of the classroom. In addition, for Diana there are never just one or two ways to help students grasp a concept or learn a skill; she can come up with a dozen. There are never just a handful of project ideas; she can provide a basketful. And, in Diana's hands, they all ring true: the cornucopia of concepts that Diana Mitchell presents is uniformly solid, sound, and directly related to either an idea or a text. Further, it comes from her long experience in the classroom with real students in real schools. For me, Diana is a teacher's teacher who, throughout her career in the classroom and in her work with NCTE and English Journal, has been a virtual showcase of best practice. When she invited me to Michi- gan a few years ago to speak to her state teaching organization, I ex- pressed interest in visiting not just her home and her town but also her x Preface school. Walking into her classroom at Sexton High School, I saw what I expected to see: a colorful, lively room, packed with books and posters and plants, where her students were as engaged and busy and noisy and funny and smart and irrepressible as I knew they would be. That visit reinforced for me the fact that the EJ columns Diana had crafted for five years had come, front and center, from her work with these stu- dents and from her experience in the classroom over her long and event- ful teaching career. When I had completed my editorship with English Journal, I thought of the wonderful Teaching Ideas columns Diana had written and for which she had received much reader praise and notice. My own studentspreservice teachershad always turned first to her section of EJ for advice, direction, and help, and I had used many of her ideas in my own classroom. I decided I should make sure that Diana's col- umns from English Journal didn't stay buried in past issues but that they be collected as a book. Diana has been willing to cooperate in this ven- ture, and for me it has been a labor of love and respect. Diana Mitchell is the kind of classroom teacher I am still work- ing on becoming. I continue to learn from her and continue to be stimu- lated by her inventive, joyful approach to teaching. Her columns rep- resent imagination, energy, and all the worthwhile things that we and our students can accomplish in the English classroom. She views a book, a skill, an issue, an idea with fresh eyes and also with appreciation for her multitalented students. Further, like all teachers from whom I have learned, her work stimulates new connections, variations, and interpre- tations. Diana also insists on the importance of using student interest in her planning because she knows that students who are engaged can perform at superior levels and with a real sense of personal satisfaction. Teaching is an exciting but often arduous journey. We need com- panions along the way, master teachers who can inspire and guide. It is my hope that Both Art and Craft: Teaching Ideas That Spark Learning will accompany you on your journey and give you help and resources.