It's BREWED! It's READY! It's the POTION to (real!) Creative Writing!
- Aug 2, 2017
- 6 min read
Remember this? "Something Wicked is Brewing!"
IT IS NOW READY!
Enjoy the Brew!
After rounding up the two-part series "Feather, Wood and Dog", I am going to begin another series entitled, "The Potion to (real!) Creative Writing".
More accurately, it is entitled, "Picture, Prose, Poem and Pirouette: A Beginner's Guide to (real!) Creative Writing".
This new series is not just for budding writers who are honing their skills, or beginner writers who are looking for some inspiration to get started. It is also for English Language and/or Creative Writing teachers, both novice and experienced teachers. Or if you are just like me, who simply thrive in INTERDISCIPLINARY and MULTIMODAL approach to learning and teaching , then this is pretty much your cup of "te-o".
To begin with, I shall start with something I have already worked on with my students. This is no rocket science; it is just common sense to share with you, my readers, what I have done, not what I haven't done. As such, I shall also spare everyone visiting my blog from a pedestrian (boring-looking!) lesson plan. Instead, I shall take you through my experience--with words and pictures.
"WEATHER PHENOMENON".
This was the theme I chose to work with my students, whose English was not their First Language. For some of them, it wasn't even their Second Language. (So, you see the odds stacked against both the English teacher here and the learners?) Nevertheless, they had produced some of the most amazing piece of writings I have ever seen.
Once the theme was chosen, I would be proactively WAITING for the the RIGHT RESOURCE to show up at my doorstep (quite literally!), as well as the right configuration of students.
Right resources + Wrong Configuration of students = Recipe for Non-Learning
As a Christian teacher, I know that God is more interested in my teaching --the What, the How, the Why and the Whom-- than I am. After all, Lord Jesus Christ is the BEST OF THE BEST TEACHERS in the whole wide world and He has the ENTIRE UNIVERSE AT THIS DISPOSAL.
Therefore, for all these years of teaching, I have always been very blessed with what I call the "D.O.M. E." -- Divinely Orchestrated Materials and Experience. THAT, itself, is a phenomenon.
So, when I needed rain, I had rain--and gallons of it. And I am, by nature, quick to go with His Flow.
On 18th May 2016, at around 3pm, the storm descended onto the island with a vengeance. As I was teaching my afternoon class, I quickly got my students to observe the weather phenomenon--under the roof of the centre, of course. I encouraged the students to come up with adjectives and adjectival phrases to describe the storm. Of course some could only provide the words in their Mother Tongue. Then I would try my best to figure out what they had meant and provide the English-equivalent for it.
"Heavy downpour"
"Torrential!"
"Pelting against the window, like pebbles!"
"Big puddles and pools on the ground!"
The next day, The Straits Times published an article about the storm. (A link is provided here for you readers. http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/3pm-a-storm-is-brewing-over-singapore )
I prepared some hardcopies of the news article for the students. Besides the news article, I also pulled out one of my favourite teaching poems, "There Came a Day that Caught the Summer" written by Ted Hughes.
Using the Visualizer available , I showed the students the following awesome picture first, without telling them what it was or where it came from. Their jaws dropped!
"WAH! Alien invasion!" one exclaimed.
"Horror Movie?" another asked, looking a bit scared.
Another took a closer look, gasped and yelled, "That's MBS!"
The other students began to question the reliability of his observation. Sometimes, we teachers do not have to say much. The students themselves have the critical mind to check out the reliability of any account.
"How you sure?" one challenged, in his limited English.
"You see the pointed part? That's the swimming pool!" the observant student replied.
At this juncture, I should jump in.
"Pointed part? That's the cantilevered portion, to create an asymmetrical structure for MBS." Immediately, I inked those two words, "cantilever" and "asymmetrical" on the board.
Meanwhile, the observant student was elated that he got it right and the other students kind of jeered at him, albeit a friendly gesture among friends.
Some students still could not figure the meaning of those two words. When words and picture eluded them, it was time for action. Literally.
I invited two students to come forward to strike some poses: Symmetrical shapes and Asymmetrical shapes (with cantilevered portion). Then they got it.
Then I distributed the hard copies of the articles and read the write-up together with them. A copy of the article (downloaded from The Straits Times website) is provided here:
3pm: A storm is brewing over Singapore
Dark clouds loomed ominously over Singapore's skyline at around 3pm yesterday, signalling the arrival of thundery showers across the island, and what is expected to be a wet second half of the month.
More rain may help keep hazy skies at bay and ease the critically low water level in Johor's Linggiu Reservoir, which helps to meet half of Singapore's water needs.
The weatherman said in its fortnightly forecast on Monday that the Republic is likely to experience short- duration thundery showers in the late morning and afternoon on six to eight days over these two weeks.
In addition, thundery showers with gusty winds can be expected in the morning on one or two days, added the Meteorological Service Singapore.
After the hottest April in Singapore since 1929, the rain could bring some sweet respite.
The remainder of this month is expected to be slightly cooler. The daily maximum temperatures are likely to range between 33 deg C and 34 deg C on most days, potentially reaching a high of 35 deg C on a few days.
About two-thirds of Singapore received above average rainfall in the first fortnight of the month.
But storms bring their own set of hazards. Last week, a 20m-tall tree toppled during a thunderstorm, crashing into a pedestrian overhead bridge near Bishan Street 12.
The National Environment Agency has warned that flash floods could occur if prolonged heavy rain coincides with high tide.
by Samantha Boh
As we read, I would highlight (as shown above) certain pertinent (relevant!) phrases and words of which they could worked into their own writing later. For the unfamiliar words, the students have to check them out using the dictionaries.
Subsequently, I introduced the poem, "There Came a Day that Caught the Summer" to the students.
Instead of conducting another round of poem analysis, I had decided to turn it into a Performance Poetry. I allocated the stanzas to respective students and train them to ENUNCIATE the words and ACT!
Literature, especially Performance Poetry, is a wonderful platform in the classroom. It engenders the Creative Process for students to actively apply the language skills and literary techniques they have learnt. And they do so with their Voice and Movement.
In this poem, the students identified the words and mood that went with the ideas in the poem. Then the students had to think of gestures to express the imagery and ideas. The Creative Process helped to reinforce their understanding of literary device: Personification and Imagery.
Certainly, practice and repetition do help the students to remember better.
Some students performing "There Came a Day that Caught the Summer"
In subsequent sessions, I started the students on their writing process. The trick to go about doing so was to get them to imagine. As much as they had personified Autumn in Ted Hughes' poem, now they had to imagine Storm as a person in their prose.
Writing in English was not the students' strength but they were willing to try. As their teacher, I did not lower my expectation just because English wasn't their 1st or 2nd language. I expected them to deliver ABOVE THEIR PRESUMED ABILITY.
Of course, with expectation comes correction. I corrected their drafts at least three rounds until they got a decent piece for themselves. This is known as Process Writing. Below is an example of a student's prose writing.
After they had written their respective prose, after giving them the grades they deserved, I raised the bar for them. It was time for them to convert their prose into POEMS!
That was when they were a little astonished. What? A poem? In English? For all of them, it was the first time they compose a poem in English. That I understand. So, I guided them along, letting them play with various words. The result was amazing! Below are two examples.
After the entire season immersing in "Weather Phenomenon", the students had a chance to showcase their performance poetry to the rest of the school. Their prose and poems were also published on the bulletin board.
I hope that you readers have picked up some useful ideas here. Do come back for more "Te-O" Brewed Potion!
Happy Dancing with Your Pens!
Readers, how many "P" words have you identified in this post? :)
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