We are now halfway through week two, and the students in the writing class have certainly been busy. Since the start of VAMPY 2017 the students have been learning about and writing in a variety of genres in preparation for constructing their overall project. This project is a self-driven and inquiry-focused assignment in which students will write in five different genres while focusing on a selected topic.
For each genre we have explored, we have focused on creating images for the reader. We have done a number of activities to help students learn about working with imagery, including taking a walking tour of WKU’s campus and writing about different locations. During individual reading time, the students have read graphic novels and studied how authors use images to bring a story to life. The class also examined The Mysteries of Harris Burdick and wrote short stories about the pictures included in the book. In addition, students wrote two-sided poems over a chosen topic.
On the Fourth of July, the class took a field trip to Starbucks, and the students gave Pecha Kucha presentations to the group on the topics they have chosen for their overall course project. A Pecha Kucha presentation consists of 20 slides, and the presenter has only 20 seconds to discuss each slide. The speaker must be concise, clear, and direct so that the audience is able to learn about the given topic.
I have greatly enjoyed reading the students’ work and observing how they are progressing in their writing and research abilities. The students’ passion for their multi-genre project topics is evident. In the next week and a half, the students will continue working on their projects. They will be challenged to think outside the box and to continually revise and edit their pieces. We will meet with a graphic novelist later this week and will also take a few more field trips to help inspire the students to write with an image in mind.