A. Overview
I am impressed with the ease and success that I have recently experienced in becoming involved in the clustering process developed by Gabriele L. Rico in her book titled
Writing the Natural Way
. In clustering, a “nucleus word” or phrase is given to the students and acts as the stimulus for attention. This word or phrase is circled and a student is encouraged to write down rapidly any images, associations, thoughts, feelings that are evoked, using a word or group of words for each. He then connects each word or phrase to the preceding circle with a line, thus showing how our thoughts tend to “cluster.” The teacher may help students initially by also suggesting words, especially when a student begins to feel he has run out of associations. Such a suggestion may make the student aware that he does, in fact, have more thoughts. Later, students are encouraged to doodle a bit, or make lines darker, until their own associations come flooding back in (and thus encouraged not to be afraid of going “blank” temporarily). This process forms a first stage in the writing process of discovery through language; it can be used even with advanced writing as a first stage of finding out rapidly what thoughts and association one has on a given subject. The process should take about 10 minutes when learned; while the students are learning it, it will take longer.
Clustering requires no “educated” experience and is easy to use with the modeling approach. I feel strongly that the students I will be working with will experience the same relief from the frustration in thinking about what to write and will experience self-satisfaction in knowing how to approach an assignment in writing. This process of clustering will assist them in focusing their attention and call upon images from their past experiences. Upon completion of the 10 minute experience of clustering I will then follow Rico’s concentration on “vignette” writing. The vignette seems such a logical choice for taking these images evoked through clustering and bringing them together as a whole by either choosing to write a paragraph, poem, or dialogue. There is no right nor wrong but merely the experience of seeing images come together as a whole piece of written work. It also provides respect for individuality and creativity. I’m sure this will be thrilling for my students to experience.
Upon completion of each student’s work I will make copies of their work so that by the end of the semester we will have a collection of vignettes to be shared by all in the group
B. The First Week
The lessons of the first week are designed to give the students direction and support in the thinking process, positive reinforcement for exploring their own ideas, and to encourage freedom of expression. Often my students don’t think that what they are bursting to say can be part of writing, but this first week will emphasize that their experiences, thoughts, and feelings are an important part of writing.
I have planned on organizing the first five days in a pattern developed around sensory experiences. I plan to involve them in this stage of writing by using their sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Each sense will be assigned to one class during the week.
On the first day I will explore their sense of sight. I plan on projecting by an overhead a picture of popular wrestlers. A number of my students go to the wrestling matches at the New Haven Coliseum. Many of them bring in their wrestling magazines. They are always ready to share who they feel is the best wrestler. Even the girls get into the conversation or argument.
On the second day I will explore their sense of smell. I plan on having a small bag of popcorn for each student to hold. I’ll be sure to staple the opening so they won’t be able to eat it. They love popcorn. It will be interesting to read what they describe from such an inviting smell as popcorn. Upon completion of the vignette I will then allow them to eat the popcorn as a treat.
On the third day I will explore their sense of hearing. I plan on playing a soundtrack from the movie “Rocky.” Most of my students see Sylvester Stallone as a hero and have seen most of the Rocky movies. Because they admire him so, I’m sure they’ll be involved and write.
On the fourth day I will explore their sense of taste. I plan on giving each student a fireball. I have used fireballs many times for a behavior reward and the student will do alot of work to earn a fireball. They love them!
On the fifth day I will explore their sense of touch. I plan on having a plastic bag filled with several peeled grapes inside a brown bag. Each student will be blindfolded as they take a turn placing their hand inside the bag. I will isolate the area away from the rest of the group so the curiosity level will be increased. After a student experiences the feeling they will be told not to tell another student what they think they felt. It should be a fun experience and interesting to see what they write.
At the end of the first week, I will evaluate how well clustering around sensory words motivates them to write down ideas without worry or fear that they don’t have anything to say. I will look forward to experiencing the beginning of success in opening the students to an enjoyment of the writing process. I expect to see an eagerness to participate because clustering makes it possible for them to see an immediate accomplishment. Overall, I expect in the first week a new sense of discovery in each student of the possibilities of language. I trust that, because of my modeling each sensory experience along with recognition of acceptable behavior through the use of the behavior modification point system, this first week will be successful, exciting, and valuable in developing a relaxed attitude towards writing their own responses and thoughts.
C. The Second Week
The lessons of the second week are designed to create respect for individual ideas, consistent writing habits and acceptable behavior standards in the writing environment, and integration of their life experiences with language skills. The emphasis this week is more on the actual writing than on verbalizing their ideas, although they will continue to verbalize through the clustering activity.
To begin the week, I will pass out to the students copies of the group’s vignettes from the previous week, to familiarize them with writing activity again. I will encourage them to express how they felt during the experiences and encourage discussion for approximately 15 minutes. I will also discuss how they are doing with the behavior modification point system.
I have planned this week around the five emotions of joy, pain, sorrow, fear, and love. Each student will have had a different experience with each of these emotions; thus the activity this week will emphasize how different each individual student’s ideas and experiences can be. I will continue modeling during these suggested topics so that I’m sure all students have integrated the experience of clustering and writing brief vignettes. I will present a topic by simply writing the key word on the board, then clustering around it.
The first day I will explore the emotion of joy/happiness. I plan on circling the words WINNING LOTTERY TICKET on the board. My students have many times told me what they would do if they won the lottery. Many, of course, say they would quit school. They have lots of plans for their money. I think this topic will generate a lot of ideas in writing.
On the second day I will explore the emotion of pain. I plan on circling the word INJECTION. Any time my students have to go to the clinic to receive a booster shot, blood tests, or tetanus shot they will always, if it’s on their arm, show me where the needle entered and describe in great detail how much it hurt. They will have no difficulty relating to this topic.
On the third day I will explore the emotion of sorrow. I plan on circling the word DEATH. Many of my students have already experienced the loss of a grandparent, parent, relative, friend, and pet. This might be a difficult experience for some and I will have to assess the situation as I present the topic. In general, I feel my students will become involved in this topic but I also want to be prepared for a student who might shy away from this because it is too painful.
On the fourth day I will explore the emotion of fear. I plan on circling the words NUCLEAR WAR. Throughout the year many students have raised the question of what would happen if we had a nuclear war. They are afraid of the results and are very free in voicing these fears. It should generate much writing and be very interesting.
On the fifth day I will explore the emotion of love. I plan on circling the word FRIEND. All of my students have experienced friendship. I’m sure that they will all have much to share regarding this topic.
At the end of the second week, I will evaluate how comfortable they have become in expressing their thoughts and ideas and then writing these ideas down. At this point, I’m not expecting perfection in their writing, but increasing interest in the writing activity.
D. Third Week
The lessons of the third week emphasize the ability to write independently and also encourage creative exploration. I also hope to see some pride and confidence develop from their ability to put into words their thoughts and ideas.
I will begin this week with a discussion of their writing experience. It is at this point that I will directly support those particular vignettes that I feel are exceptionally well written. I will point out why these vignettes I’ve selected have attracted my attention, and then I will invite student participation in choosing other vignettes that they enjoy. I want to keep this discussion positive so that no particular student will feel that his work is inferior or unacceptable. It is my hope that they will begin to develop a sense of accomplishment in becoming involved in a process that they have previously shunned or dreaded. I will give approximately 15 minutes for this discussion.
After discussion I will continue another week planned around the colors: yellow, white, red, black, and green. During this week there will be no modeling done on my part. I want to see if my students have internalized the process of clustering and vignette. I feel that after two weeks of going through the process with them they will most likely be secure in the process. If there are any students who are having difficulty I will individually respond to their needs otherwise, I will let them become independent of my direction.
The first day I will explore the color yellow. I will place on the board a piece of oak tag with a large swatch of yellow painted with no particular design. The students will be directed to cluster their own words that comes to their mind and draw images from their point of association. I’m already anticipating a connection with the image of the sun or a flower with this exercise. I hope there are many surprises in their writing.
The second day I will explore the color white. I will place on the board a piece of colored oak tag with a large swatch of white painted with no particular design. As with the first day I will follow the same plan of action in this exercise. Because the season will be winter I expect an association with snow. If by that time in December we have experienced snow I imagine that many of the students will write about that experience. If we haven’t experienced snow yet, they will most likely share their desire for snow so that they might enjoy a snow day and cancellation of school. It will be interesting to read what they have imagined or experienced.
The third day I will explore the color red. To give this experience a different invitation I am going to place several different pieces of red construction paper cut out in circles in many different sizes. I feel that the students will now have the challenge of taking in more than one stimulus. Different sizes will evoke different images in their mind. They will have to choose which direction they want to take in their clustering. Some of the students will stay within the security of one image, and others perhaps will have the ability to allow several images to flow in their clustering.
The fourth day I will explore the color black. I will place several large pieces of white oak tag on the board with a different focus on each. One will have horizontal lines painted in different lengths and widths. Another piece will have vertical lines painted in wavy lines. A third piece will have a very large area of paint covering most of the area. A fourth piece will have one circle painted in the center of the oak tag. The students will be invited to focus their attention on all pieces of poster board. I will then direct them to choose whether they feel comfortable staying with all the pieces or are particularly drawn to one piece. They will have to make that determination. I will also invite the students to close their eyes and visualize in their own mind the color black. They will then have to choose a word or words that come to mind for clustering.
On the fifth day I will explore the color green. I will simply place a large piece of oak tag with the color green painted with no particular design. I’m sure this color will evoke a number of images. One image sure to come to their mind at this time of year will be the Christmas tree. Upon completion of this exercise I will place at their disposal magic markers, paint, and crayons and ask them to give shape to their image in this exercise.
My evaluation at the end of this week will look at how readily the students are able to recognize what they want to say and how readily they try to write it. I will be especially interested in how well they can go through the stages of writing independently.
E. Fourth Week
Because this is the final week before Christmas Vacation, I expect the students to be bombarded by sensory input; the students will be excited and anticipating both Christmas and time away from school. The focus this week will be to stick to a single feeling or thought and develop that idea without getting off track. In this final week of clustering and vignette writing, I will present a poem, music, and a children’s story, and will ask for a short, written response each day.
As this is the final week planned for clustering and vignette I have chosen a different series of exercises to be presented. It will be very close to Christmas and the students will be excited and anticipating both Christmas and vacation. I have selected the presentations for the following days around a poem, music, and a children’s story.
The first day I will read to the group the Christmas poem “Twas the Night before Christmas,” with which most are familiar. I will ask them to choose a word or words that came to them during listening to this poem. I will invite them to cluster and write a vignette on this.
The second day I will play a series of traditional Christmas songs that are common to their experience at this time. The students will receive a choice to focus on one or more of those songs. They will be expected to cluster and write a vignette on their choice.
On the third day I will read an excerpt from the children’s story “The Littlest Angel.” I think they will enjoy the story and relate to the feelings and wish of the little angel. The students will be invited to cluster and write a vignette from choosing a feeling attached to this story.
We usually have a Christmas show in the school auditorium so I am not planning to include a plan for a fourth or fifth day.
Depending upon the day of the Christmas show, I will culminate these past four weeks of writing by presenting the group with a (movie &) VCR earned by their involvement in the behavior modification point system. I’m sure that after 4 weeks they will have earned the number of points assigned to this goal. It will be a great way to end this part of the planned curriculum unit.
At the conclusion of this week, I will evaluate how eagerly and with what ease the students organized their responses.
F. Christmas break
During vacation I plan on reviewing what occurred during the first part of the curriculum. I want to assess whether or not the first four weeks met my objectives in developing this unit. A simple checklist will suffice.
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Yes
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No
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direction
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support
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consistency
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organization
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integration of skills and experiences
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positive reinforcement
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freedom of expression
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experience of writing creatively
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pride
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respect for individuality
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acceptable behavior standards
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