Student Writer Instructions:
You should begin by doing a bit of research about important events that have occurred during your lifetime. These can be important events in history in general or you can research important events in a subject area that you particularly enjoy like art, sports, or music. To make your poem work, you will need at least one important event for each year you have been alive, and you should probably find several events for each year so that you have a lot to choose from.
Think carefully about sentence fluency. Often you must read something aloud to hear sentence fluency. Sentence fluency is the way that text plays to the ear. It has to do with using sentences of different lengths and sometimes even fragments to make a point. Repetition is also part of sentence fluency. Listen to and watch the video for “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” The first time just enjoy the rhythm of the song. Listen again while looking at a copy of the lyrics. Use the Sentence Fluency Four Square to evaluate how the author uses techniques like repetition, sentence length, and emphasis to help communicate his message.
Now think about idea development. Ideas are the heart of a writer’s message, and all of the other traits take their cue from idea development. We often tell writers that the more detail they have the better, but sometimes, less is actually more. Look at “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Find cases where one word represents an entire idea and cases where an entire sentence is needed to communicate an idea. Now look at your own list of events. What events would you need to explain? What events would you need to just mention?
Before you begin your writing, you might want to take a look at the student examples. How have these students done on the trait of idea development?
Now write your own poem about important events in your lifetime. You may use the format of the song as the model for your rhythm and rhyme scheme or you can come up with your own. It is your choice. Part of what made Billy Joel’s song effective is that he had at least one event for each year he had been alive, so try to make sure you cover your entire lifetime in your own poem.
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