Gillespie’s article on multigenre responses to literature reinforces what I imagine will be an excellent resource for the classroom. Let’s face it, we will be working in an educational environment that has to compete with i-pods, IMs, i-friends and yes even cell phones (though David has a pragmatic solution to the latter). In this context, educators can choose to adhere to the antiquated FPT, or can open the door to student creativity. It boils down to our philosophies as educators. If we truly believe students are constructors of knowledge, then loosening our strangle-hold on rigid, formulaic organization will produce magnificently unanticipated results. Multigenre projects will be more difficult to grade(how do I grade a map anyway?), but Gillespies’ experience illustrates the importance of letting students direct their learning on an individual level.
Students constructing . . .
multigenre responses
have captured their minds
Does this mean that the five paragraph essay is completely irrelevant, or that explicit instruction on organization should be disregarded? The answer of course is a resounding "no". On both sides of the white board, the FTP works well. Students have an effective tool with which to organize thought, the teacher has a concrete method to teach and a rubric to grade objectively. The pitfall lies in students misunderstanding the uses of the FTP. In the classroom, this format should be used as a starting point with which to build from, not an absolute to be turned to at every opportunity. I agree with Wesley in that the teacher should be focusing on the fundamental structure of expository writing, the introduction, the body and the conclusion. The FTP is merely one variation of this structure.
Educator's Podcast Network From the site: The Education Podcast Network is an effort to bring together into one place, the wide range of podcast programming that may be helpful to teachers looking for content to teach with and about, and to explore issues of teaching and learning in the 21st century.
2 comments:
When it comes to multi-genre writing vs. FPT, I don't hink it's either/or. I'm with Angela; the FPT is a great way to teach the fundamentals of organization. It's one response to one audience and it's expectations. Other formats have other expectations, but organization will never be obsolete, despite the concentrated efforts of William Burroughs to make it so (long beofe iPods and IMs, I might add).
This is a great link. Thanks for highlighting it.
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