By Celina Reynes

Some of the best classroom management solutions come from engaging, project-based activities. Here are my picks for the best writing units for middle school English and composition classrooms that incorporate technology.

SLAM POETRY COMPETITION

Students can have the opportunity to engage with politics, poetry, and performance through a slam poetry unit. There are many different ways to approach teaching slam poetry, but Scholastic has some resources to get you started: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/unit-plans/teaching-content/teaching-slam-poetry/

sourced from this webpage: https://oceanmhs.org/slam-poetry/

What I do in my classroom is I give students a week to learn about slam poetry and write a draft, a weekend to rehearse, and then I hold the slam poetry competition at the end of the following week, where students have the opportunity to present their final draft. To make things interesting, I purchased a golden pen to give to the “winner,” who is decided by a ballot of their peers.

This unit is great for a competitive class, or a class that has a particular interest in modern poetry or rap.

Tech can be incorporated into this unit through having all students record their performance on GarageBand or a similar program. At the end of the unit, the sound files can be compiled into a class CD or uploaded onto student blogs or teacher websites.

ONLINE DREAM JOURNAL

Introduce students to symbols and literary analysis through a dream journal. Students can use sheets of binder paper to create their journal, which can then be digitized and published through a scanner and https://issuu.com/.

Dream journals are great teaching segways into surrealism, symbol analysis, foreshadowing and other important literary devices, using sensory language, and using visuals to enhance communication of abstract ideas.  

“LITERARY CRITICISM” BLOG

Turn your class into a workshop of literary critics! Create a class blog through WordPress, and have students post their essays on the website and comment on each other’s work.

Blogs are a great way to create portfolios that can capture a student’s academic progress throughout the year. Just make sure you work with the parents and administration to make sure that students have adequate privacy restrictions!

SHORT FILM FESTIVAL

Students will learn the importance of dialog and setting descriptions through screenwriting format! For this unit, students can use https://www.celtx.com/index.html for free scriptwriting software. After creating a five-page story in a group, students will shoot and edit their movie project.

At the end of the unit, students can munch on popcorn while they enjoy watching the videos created by their classmates. Extra points if you have access to a projector and theater auditorium space!

NaNoWriMo YOUNG WRITERS PROGRAM

NaNoWriMo, a national novel-writing project that takes place during November, has a kid-friendly challenge that involves writing 20,000 words of fiction in a month! Their program includes resources for students like writing prompts, word trackers, and (age-appropriate) message boards. Teachers can also monitor student progress, and have access to each of their students’ novels through the teacher dashboard: https://ywp.nanowrimo.org/

Sourced from the official YWP NaNoWriMo website.

During the month, students have the opportunity to learn about world building, character development, and three act structure. At the end of the month, students can learn the importance of revision as they polish their final novels, and help their fellow students revise.