While it's completely wonky and way out there in the far reaches of left field, my LEGO Man template is ground breaking in the results it produces.
I had a eureka moment over the weekend while helping a struggling on-level sophomore construct a poetry analysis ...
Holy cow ... there are 9 compositional moves within my template ...
And a LEGO man has exactly 9 pieces.
So, in today's writing workshop video, you will see how my students simultaneously cobble together an analysis of Shelley's "Ozymandias" while constructing a LEGO man brick by brick.
For example, my inverted thesis template has four components.
First, students need to arrive at a thesis that answers the following question: how does the author construct meaning?
If they satisfactorily provide this sentence, they earn the head of LEGO man.
If they incorporate Strunk & White's Rule #18 ... they earn the eyes.
If they wield a tad bit of Tier II vocabulary ... they earn the mouth.
If they keep the promise of the 1st premise, hence sustaining a clear line of reasoning, they earn the arms.
Not only does this LEGO man template nicely demystify how to construct a literary analysis piece by piece, but it lends itself to an awesome opportunity to incorporate a really cool peer editing exercise and alternative grading method - all of which I illustrate in the video.
As silly and elementary as it may appear at first glance, the added aspect of LEGO man provides a huge accountability measure -- students cannot submit subpar, lackluster writing.
But the kicker -- engagement goes through the roof.
What you'll see is your students actually enjoying the writing process!!
Imagine that!!
Happy teaching and happy writing!!
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