1. Critical Incident Writing in Eighth Grade
Thoughts, Processes, and Student Samples
Stephen Scott

2. Brainstorming Early Stages Conflicts, Uncertainty, &Difference
Questions:
What does Jefferson City value? How do you know?
What does Lewis and Clark Middle School value? How do you know?
How has Jefferson City changed?
Do adults take youth seriously? Why or why not?
What are some different interactions (situations) between youth and adults?
How are youth portrayed in media? How does this compare to your own perception?

3. Brainstorming Early Stages
Private and public worlds dominated by adults perspectives and norms
Questions:
What does Jefferson City value? How do you know?
What does Lewis and Clark Middle School value? How do you know?
How has Jefferson City changed?
Do adults take youth seriously? Why or why not?
What are some different interactions (situations) between youth and adults?
How are youth portrayed in media? How does this compare to your own perception?

4. Texts We Read Fiction: Walter Dean Myers’ Monster
Chris Crutcher’s Angry Management (2nd novella)
Ntozake Shange’s The Desert from Fires in the Mirror
Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Nonfiction:
Carnegie Mellon University’s Critical Incidents
From Newsela:
Black teenager says he was arrested just for buying an expensive belt
NYC teacher tricks 5th graders
Christian alternative to Boy Scouts bans gays
The Other Wes Moore, by Wes Moore
Richard Wright’s The Street

5. Connecting to Curriculum
First Draft Components
Connecting to Curriculum
Who was involved?
Who did what?
Whose Point of View?
Who said what?
Where did this happen?
W8.3a – Point of View
W8.3a – Sequencing
W8.3b – Relevant Dialogue
W8.3d – People Descriptions
W8.3d – Setting Descriptions

6. Youth Say… A student describing a principal correcting features
of African American Vernacular English

7. A student’s mother…
Jerry, a man my mother works with, has treated her differently since he found out she was gay.
“He’s on his best behavior around the boss,” my mother claims.
“Jerry, can you take a package really quick off the truck?” she said politely.
“Hold on, I’m doing something,” he responded harshly.
“Alright,” she said back. Fifteen minutes had passed and my mother noticed this kind of behavior had been going on for about a month or so.

8. On Student Council
Calling the shots

9. Calling the shots continued
On Student Council
Calling the shots continued

10. You’ve got a compelling critical incident when...
it dramatizes a typical moment or situation
there's a high "So What" factor
it's clearly important and something we should talk about, understand better, and figure out how to change
it gives people who don't typically talk together a reason to talk together
it features a situation that has no easy resolution, no easy answer
it features several people who don't necessarily agree: they have different perspectives on what happened and why it matters
it gets specific and freeze-frames a moment for readers (we hear their words, see who is doing what, care about the people and about what happens next)
it doesn't villainize or glorify any one of the participants 
all of the people who would need to come together to talk about this see something they care about in the critical incident
the situation ends but there is clear unresolved conflict
What is the work that you’re hoping this critical incident does? And with whom?
What decisions are you making to try to make sure it does that work with these people?

11. Connecting to Curriculum, continued
Second Draft Components
Connecting to Curriculum, continued
So what? Now what?
Putting the pieces together
Resonating Conclusion
Conventions
W8.3b – Reflective Narration
W8.3c – Transitions
W8.3e – Effective Conclusions
L8.2 – Standard English Conventions

12. Next Steps User Testing Themes Further action
When we talk about x, we also need to talk about y, z…
Creating texts to move toward community dialogue

13. Hard Work! The work of a critical incident “The good kids”
Differentiation
“My son/daughter is a good kid; they haven’t encountered these [relating to conflict, uncertainty, and difference] types of things in their lives.”

14. One piece at a time Mini-lessons Modeling User-testing
Feedback (lots!)

15. Why Critical Incident?
Writing and reading for real people and real purposes

16. English Language Arts New and scary Student accountability Public life
So much potential
Youth as cultural workers
Youth as active participants in public life
Transforming public life