Thanks to Jenny Gilbert whom I follow on Scoop.it, I have discovered this wonderful blog loaded with ideas for teaching writing – which of course, is my passion. One of the ideas which really took my eye, was Life is a Cookbook. Students select an event or an issue, and then write about it, as a recipe. One of my year 5/6 students selected the recent oil spill off New Zealand
The title for his recipe was “How to create an environmental disaster” and his list of ingredients included a Greek owned container ship, 1,368 containers, eight of which contain hazardous materials; 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 200 tonnes of marine diesel oil; a reef. The “method” as you can imagine, involved all the details of the environmental accident.
What I particularly like about this strategy, is that the students have to research the issue to be able to create the recipe – so they are reading, comprehending, rewording, explaining and enjoying the fun twist on writing about a current affair. I will be exploring more of Corbett Harrison’s wonderful ideas over the next few weeks.