Blog #2- Keep a Writer's Sketchbook

Hello Everyone,

I'm calling upon my troops of INLA cohorst for help on today's blog issue. I've been reading through Harry Noden's book, Image Grammar, and have found myself asking several times, "how do I use these strategies in a real-life classroom with all the time constraints and pre-determined curriculum objectives?" Oh, and by the way, check out the link above if you want an online source for the book that breaks down the concepts and strategies into an easy-to-follow format.

Because it is an activity that I find very interesting and could see being an effective strategy, here is the example that I would like to focus on: Keep a Writer's Sketchbook (pg. 85). Now, the activity itself is easy enough to facilitate, but the amount of time required to do this strategy in its entirety is four weeks (that's a lot of time), not to mention the amount of time that it takes to familiarize students with the process of using more description in their writing. What I have to figure out is how to make the time that it takes to facilitate this activity. I could either find a text in the curriculum that has great examples of "professional sketches" that I could have students search for, or I could condense the whole activity down into a couple of class sessions. Or, I could consider whatever suggestions all of you out there in TV-Land can throw my way...

So, all my INLA Allies, check out the activity in Image Grammar, pg. 85, and throw me back your comments and ideas.

-Sam P.