from observation to analysis tricia mckenny eku writing project june 22, 2015
TRANSCRIPT
Picture: What Does it Mean??
Look at the image provided. Spend a few-some minutes writing your argument to answer this question:WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Billy CollinsIntroduction to PoetryI ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the author’s name
on the shore.
But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with
rope and torture a confession out of
it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Observation vs. AnalysisObservation: the action or process of
observing something or someone carefully or in order to gain information.
Analysis: detailed examination of the elements or structure of something, typically as a basis for discussion or interpretation.
Credit to Pete Edwards, Art Teacher, Madison Central High School
EKU Writing Project Demonstration: Questions art students use to analyze art begin with OBSERVATION
What do you see?Until the observation is complete and thorough,
students can not begin to ANALYZE
Moving Observation to Analysis
Moving Observation to Analysis with 3 Questions:1. What do you see?
2. 3.
Record a list of as many things you see in the text as you can notice in the time provided
Moving Observation to Analysis with 3 Questions:1. What do you see? 2. What could it
mean?3.
Record a list of as many things you see in the text as you can notice in the time provided
Choose items from your first list (one at a time) and brainstorm some possibilities of what that observation could mean…note the could and not does!
Moving Observation to Analysis with 3 Questions:1. What do you see? 2. What could it
mean?3. How do you know?
Record a list of as many things you see in the text as you can notice in the time provided
Choose items from your first list (one at a time) and brainstorm some possibilities of what that observation could mean…note the could and not does!
Choose items from your second list (one at a time) and explain your reasoning for how that item could mean what you say it means.
Try It Out Groups: Song, Article, PoemGroup 1: Song, “Imagine” John LennonGroup 2: Poem, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeGroup 3: Article, “Scientists Look at Wooly
Mammoth Genes to See Why They Died Out” LA Times; Newsela
1. What do you see? 2. What could it mean?
3. How do you know?
Record a list of as many things you see in the text as you can notice in the time provided.
Choose items from your first list (one at a time) and brainstorm some possibilities of what that observation could mean…note the could and not does!
Choose items from your second list (one at a time) and explain your reasoning for how that item could mean what you say it means.
Reading Like a Writer“Reading is the writer’s way of visiting another
craft person’s gallery.”“Reading-writing connections have gone
beyond written responses into actual craft apprenticeships in the writing workshop. Rather than garnering ideas for what to write about from their reading, students are learning to take their own important topics and then look to texts to learn how to write well about those topics.”
Katie Wood Ray, Wondrous Words
Reading Like a Writer: 5 Parts1. Notice something about the text2. Think about and describe the purpose of
that element of craft3. Name it4. Think about other texts that have used this
element of craft5. Envision using that element of craft in your
own writing
Reading Like a Writer: Try It!Notice (Quotation from Work)
Term/Name It (literary device/style technique)
Author’s Purpose (Impact on Reader)
Prior Knowledge (Where have I seen it before?)
Application(Where can I try this in my own writing?)
Connection/ExplorationI know the observation-analysis process is a
great first step to understanding difficult texts for my students.
I know the Reading Like a Writer process is a strong way to bridge the gap between how students read and how they write.
I see the observation step is the same first step as the notice step.
I would like to find ways to bring these two ideas together in more effective ways next year in order to strengthen the connection between what/how we read and how my students write.