I loved the cut and paste exercise/game. Even though I felt overwhelmed at first, trying to do justice to Carol, which was WORK, if eventually found PLAY when letting myself go and allowing the text to speak to me. Think of most of your light bulb moments...I bet you were having fun.
I did have fun with this activity and again, it's something that I can do with 4th graders - even if I use someone else's text, cut it into paragraphs and have them try to 'reassemble' it as they think it should be. On the most basic of levels, at least it's working toward sequence and order - which I know isn't the main thrust of this activity but still can have value.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carol, for finding a possible new conclusion for me. The order you arranged my paragraph in open new possibilities.
ReplyDeleteBobbi, thanks for giving be a chance to read both your essay and poem.
When does the song come out? Just don't let it be "Rollin' on the River."
This exercise works for number of purposes. I saw it as a way to encourage really close reading of a text. I know I was focused sentence by sentence and line by line.
ReplyDeleteThis might be a good activity for editing too. Some other class we were talking about how the mind glosses over editing mistakes. Jumbling it up allows us to see it with fresh eyes. I can see doing that with my kids.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Mark. I found myself lost in the jumbled paragraphs but was able to find my way out by looking more closely. It wasn't the path you'd intended but it worked.
ReplyDeleteI'm just wondering where the 'lost' paragraph is. Someone may get home tonight and read their paper just to say, "Hey, I didn't write that!"
I can see me using the cut and paste exercise in my class. I like the idea of putting more creativity in our student's hands.
ReplyDeleteHands-on is so much fun. I like the idea of using it for writing..... why did I never think of that????????
ReplyDeleteWe do this with reading...cutting paragraphs and putting them together to make a cohesive
passage... to help with comprehension. Kids love it also....