The Book of UsIn this project, 52 eleventh graders, spent four weeks brainstorming, writing, experimenting, rejecting, revising, critiquing, compiling, designing, formatting and ultimately signing off on the collection of non-fiction pieces contained in The Book of Us.
Each student’s journey began with a single topic, often not more than a single word. This (inspired by the brilliant writing teacher Kelly Gallagher) expanded to 18 potential pieces, then narrowed to six “quick writes”, and finally a single draft. At this point, some students threw out their drafts completely and started fresh (for example, I promise you will never guess which of these pieces began as a short memoir about sushi) while others expanded and refined their initial idea into a finished piece. You can buy a copy of The Book of Us here |
What students said about The Book of Us
"When I first began writing my piece, I thought that I wanted to write something that described the daily struggles of teenage life. Dr. P let our minds wander with a few free writes (my two personal favorites were "What's a lesson you learned the hard way?" and "Would you rather have fingers as long as your legs, or legs as long as your fingers?"). I finished brainstorming, and I realized that I wanted to create something more than an essay about why being a teenager is hard. I wanted to create something beautiful that I can look back to in the future. I started to think about some of my fondest childhood memories, and came up with the idea of writing about travel. Then, the next day in class, the free write prompt was "The taste of ____ reminds me of____" and my idea soared."
-Cristina (you can read more on her Digital Portfolio) "The critiques on my paper were severe because the flow was not a smooth as water running down the stream, it was more like a wave crashing down on the shores of a beach. But as the weeks passed, I was able to recover and make my wavelike writing piece into a smooth stream of writing."
-Brandon R (you can read more on his Digital Portfolio) "About three days before our final draft was due, I erased everything and decided to write something completely different. I just couldn't get into creating a piece about scientific writing, no matter how much I like science. It seemed so dull, and I was bored to tears reading it myself. So I made a last minute leap of faith, trying to write about something that I actually felt something for. I honestly wasn't surprised when I found myself writing about school. This piece was much more personal than the last, and I could connect to it more, resulting in me being more passionate about what I was writing. I had the ability to make the language eloquent and sharp at times, bending it to my will, rather than sticking to stuffy definitions and scientific language."
-Aine (you can read more on her Digital Portfolio) After several revisions and critique from others, I noticed a pattern: this sense of negativity people got when reading my piece. But what if that is what I wanted them to feel? Maybe I wanted them to see how frustrated I get when someone asks me why I am quiet. I did however agree that I could be a little less harsh in the tone I use. So I revised and revised and revised. After a total of four completely different drafts, I finally was proud of my piece.
-Ashley (you can read more on her Digital Portfolio) |
You should take a look at these students' digital portfolios too:
These digital portfolios explain the process of writing, critiquing, and publishing the stories - as well as creating and running the exhibition!
These digital portfolios explain the process of writing, critiquing, and publishing the stories - as well as creating and running the exhibition!