Not Just Words: Using Multi-visuals to Teach Writing Dana Horstein Universidad Tecnológica de la Mixteca

Agenda  Introduction  Why use multi-visuals with writing  Experience multi-visual writing activities  Reflection on writing activities

Why use multi-visuals with writing activities?

 Appeal to visual learners  Inspire imagination  Fun  Memorable  Inspire discussion and interaction  Encourages integrated use of 4 skills  Reflect real-life use of texts and images together (internet)

Writing Activity Guidelines  Make groups with 4 or 5 people near you

Writing Activity Guidelines  Make groups with 4 or 5 people near you  Each activity lasts for 7 minutes

Writing Activity Guidelines  Make groups with 4 or 5 people near you  Each activity lasts for 7 minutes  First 3 minutes is preparation for writing; last 4 minutes is for writing itself

Writing Activity Guidelines  Make groups with 4 or 5 people near you  Each activity lasts for 7 minutes  First 3 minutes is preparation for writing; last 4 minutes is for writing itself  I will keep time and circulate if there are questions

Writing Activity Guidelines  Make groups with 4 or 5 people near you  Each activity lasts for 7 minutes  First 3 minutes is preparation for writing; last 4 minutes is for writing itself  I will keep time and circulate if there are questions  Make groups while I hand out materials

Write a creative story (objects)  Imagine that your group is stranded on a desert island. The only objects that you have are the ones at your station.  Spend a few minutes discussing the story of what you will do on the island. You must mention all of these objects at least once in the story.  In a few minutes, you will write down the story that you discuss.

Identify the main idea of a paragraph (pictures)  Read through the paragraph. Then take a couple minutes to draw a picture that you think represents the main idea. The picture can be simple, like stick figures.  When you are finished, compare your drawing—and your ideas about the main idea—with your group members.

“The problem of ‘proper Spanish’ versus ‘street Spanish’ was illustrated by the experience of some friends. When they went to Mexico the woman had a degree in Spanish from a large university and her boyfriend knew several obscenities and no grammar—good ‘whorehouse’ Spanish. Within two weeks, she felt her nerves straining every time she was forced to speak Spanish, caught between the rigid grammatical training of school and the sloppy everyday speech of the people. He was right in there, waving arms, laughing, gesticulating over this and that, throwing in an occasional inappropriate obscenity and generally making himself understood and liked.” Carl Franz, The People’s Guide to Mexico

Write authentic speech (theater)  You have a new family—your group. With your group, decide on two people who will be the parents, and the other people in the group will be the children.  Imagine that the parents are trying to get the children to go to bed, but they don’t want to. Practice acting out these roles, making sure that each person speaks at least once.  Afterwards, you will write out the dialogue that you created.

Identify the parts of a paragraph (video)  Read through the worksheet “Watching a Video—Organization Paragraphs.” This will give you an idea of the information to look for in the video.  In a minute, we will watch the video together, and you and your group can complete the worksheet.

Reflection (creative writing, main idea of a paragraph, authentic speech, parts of a paragraph)  What activities do you want to try out, or adapt, in your classroom? Why?  What other ideas do you have for doing writing activities with multi-visuals?

Handouts  Activity directions and rationales  Sample 3-day lesson plans  Example of student writing  Video worksheet for analyzing parts of a paragraph

Feedback  What was most helpful to you?  What was least helpful to you?  Questions or comments?