Chapter 4: In Fifty Words or Less

Knowing how to write concise statements on a particular subject matter is key in reflecting a students understanding. Often time’s students take up too much writing space to write out dates, emphasize unimportant events, or repeat the same idea in different ways. Students may be knowledgeable in certain areas but if they cannot effectively express their understanding,  because their writing consists of all the cons listed above, then their writing does their knowledge no justice.  I think an effective way to tackle this problem would be to model exemplary brief bios like the reading suggests. If students compare an exemplary bio versus an unideal bio they can see how each sentence is transformed into an important concentrated fact. On page 62, “The task of the brief bio” covers five points that are essential to brevity.  These five tasks should be explained to students and then ensemble review the task that each sentence is serving.  Students can then individually practice writing their own bios covering all parts of the tasks required.  

I found the section on connotations to be of much interest. Once again through most of my schooling career I always thought that giving my opinion on something meant starting off with “I think” or “I feel.” My students are all notorious for writing this at the end of any paper they are asked to write. What stood out to me is that a lot of the materials I’ve read, which have molded my perception on things, don’t always start with I think/feel but they still managed to steer my beliefs. Perfect example would be the one they gave in the book about Christopher Columbus discovering America versus invading America. My textbooks wanted me to believe that Columbus was a hero of some sort for discovering this continent and I absorbed this information as if it was fact instead of realizing that it’s just an opinion. The only fact that exists is that he landed in America but whether it was discovered or invaded is a matter of opinion. It’s just since the textbook writers didn’t phrase it “I think or feel” I automatically figured it was fact especially since it was in a textbook. If I was a more detailed reader I would have read between the lines. For this very reason I think it’s important for students to learn how to read avidly into connotations and also learn how to utilize it within their own writing.

The chart on page 67 is also an effective tool in spatially organizing information before writing. I think it would be a helpful graphic organizer to hand out to students to layout what they know on whatever the topic is. Lastly, all of the model words provided in each section should be accessible to students so they can familiarize themselves with words that can help mold their writing style. Hanging these words up conspicuously would be beneficial.