A Writing Project Moment in My Classroom
My class had just read the personal essay, “Man in the Water,” about Flight 90′s crash into the Washington, DC bridge and thus into the Potomac River. The students never seem to get over the one man giving up his life to save four other people. We were discussing this when I admitted if I’d been on that flight I’d probably been shoving old ladies out of my way and grabbing the life preserver for myself. Students are always shocked when I admit I am so selfish. So I tell them at least I’m honest about it. During this discussion I just happened to ask if anyone in the room thinks they are they type of person who would give up the life preserver to others first. Five of my students said they knew they would.
Before I knew it, we were finished reading and discussing the essay and still had seven minutes left in class. Uh-oh! It is my rule that I have my students working for the entire period. The students saw me eyeballing the clock and groaned, “Can’t you just give us a break? It’s only five minutes?!” To which I answered, “Of course not! And it’s seven minutes. The citizens of Ironton have entrusted your English education to me. It is my duty to educate you to the fullest!” But I was stuck. I could think of nothing to begin with now only six minutes left.
Survivor! I’d heard of teachers playing this game when the tv show was at its peak of popularity. But to what value would this game possibly be? I decided I’d figure that out later. Now, I drew a huge circle on the board and began, “We are all trapped on an island. A lone helicopter has come along and can only save ten of us. The rest of us will have to die. We have to decide who gets to go and live and who stays to die.” Students started making excuses as to how we all could survive. “Nope,” I said, “no excuses. Only ten of us can live. If you can’t decide who, I will. First, I think I should survive since I am a single mom and my son needs me.” I wrote my name under the word “Survivors” on the board. “Ok, who were the five who said they would give up the preserver? You’ll be the first to stay and die.” I began writing their names under the word “Casualties.” This was all it took for students to begin defending why they should live above someone else. The dilemma wasn’t solved when the bell rang.
My class was in the computer lab the following day. By the time we were in class two days after the game, I figured the class would’ve forgotten all about it. Instead students asked, “When do we finish Survivor? I want to know who lives!” Wow! My students loved the game and were so engaged. I told my fellow teachers, Mrs. Murphy and Mrs. Webb, about it. They responded, “You need to look at this and see what you can do with it. I’ll bet there are quite a few standards you could meet using that.”
With their encouragement, I developed my lesson plan to go beyond the normal discussion and quiz for this essay. I have to teach propaganda as part of my standards. I also have to teach my students to present a persuasive speech as well as actively listen to arguments and identify modes of persuasion the author is using. To accomplish this, my students are going to write a persuasive essay in which they must make three arguments as to why they should / should not be rescued. The arguments must be from each of the three main types of propaganda. Each student will present their essay to the class. Based on each student’s essay, the class will vote for who ultimately survives our game.
I can’t wait to see how this turns out!
