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Busyliving
February 5th, 2013, 04:21 PM
I'm an English teacher in Madison, WI, and I'm reaching out to anyone who has used On Writing in the classroom.
I'm teaching a class called "The Novel" and the idea is for the kids, mostly 12th graders, to write a major work (quite ambitious, I agree). To start the semester we've been doing some fun activities to get the ball rolling. One that we did I based on the 'Plums deify' notion that any verb and noun together can make a sentence. Randomly writing nouns and verbs, mixing them up, and pulling out combos, we ended up with some odd and hilarious sentences:
Perforate hamsters. Yeti crafting. Smash New York. Those were the favorites.

Question to teachers: have you ever used On Writing as a springboard for writing exercises? If so how did you incorporate the book, and was it successful. Thanks!
Dan

GNTLGNT
February 7th, 2013, 07:46 AM
...Yeti Crafting...I likes it..... a lot...

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qX9JHb-rB8o/UJ0ZUHkgfII/AAAAAAAABGM/XgplyY6o-KM/s1600/Yeti.jpg

Haunted
February 7th, 2013, 01:56 PM
Not a teacher, but loved On Writing because Mr. King explains how he (the writer) gets his thought on paper. Your examples if nouns and verb pairings shows me that your kids are getting a very basic BUT extremely essential tool for molding a story.

What a great thought project--Thanks, Dan.

91rewoT
February 7th, 2013, 05:33 PM
Yay for English teachers in Madison using King books in class!!! :y:

Welcome to the Board, from a fellow Wisconsinite..:smile2:

mjs9153
February 7th, 2013, 11:38 PM
Not a teacher, but loved On Writing because Mr. King explains how he (the writer) gets his thought on paper. Your examples if nouns and verb pairings shows me that your kids are getting a very basic BUT extremely essential tool for molding a story.

What a great thought project--Thanks, Dan.
Not a teacher either Dan,but I would think breaking up chapters into classes would work..for instance,I think his toolbox chapter would make for an excellent class to illustrate the need and method of building their own toolbox.I thought his personal history at the very start was important too,to show your kids that understanding where one comes from helps to shape where they wish to go..and so forth.Good luck with the class!