(Images: Pinterest)
Being able to write effortlessly, and to the point, is something I see my students struggle with daily.
To be able to formulate an argument, or write a juicy description seems to be unattainable for most.
I get it, writing is one of the most difficult skills to master. It requires a lot of hard work, practice, and polishing of drafts, which is why so many people fail to accomplish it. It doesn’t help our cause when the way we go about teaching writing can be overly structured and at times mundane. And, for students with a speech language impairment, dyslexia, or intellectual disability, it is information overload.
The best teaching encourages creativity and imagination, and one of the possible ways to motivate students is by utilising pop culture in the teaching and learning process. When we incorporate popular culture into literacy instruction within the classroom, students can directly identify with the content and it's purpose, and by making something difficult seemingly fun, our students of all developmental levels will be unconsciously learning and engaged in literacy. (Petrone, 2013).
Click play for a brief description of pop culture in classrooms:
While not every idea of teaching writing will work for every class or every student, there’s enough variety that there’s bound to be something for everyone.
Here are my top 6 pop culture inspired ways to help our students:
1. Challenge your students to set up their own blog
Blogs are a student-centered medium that allow for individual expression and a collaborative space for students to critique, reflect and/or collate a collection of work. We want our students, especially those with learning difficulties, to practice writing in any way they can. A blog gives them a sense of ownership. When students feel ownership over something, they will be much more engaged, and when they are engaged they
will produce work! (Duffy & Bruns, 2006). (Image: Pinterest)
2. Use podcasts
You could record your own podcast, or ask students to listen to a particular podcast to then discuss later in another lesson.
Here’s my favourite site to get you started:
3. Spark debate using current events
One way to get your students communicating is to introduce current events. Give your students a trending topic that will be of interest, ask them to do some reading on what the topic is about and form a point of view that will take less than a minute to explain back to the class.
Creating a scaffolded task sheet can help students stay on track.
For a great example click here:
4. Ask students to share their favourite songs
If your students are into music, then talk about music. Songs are a modern form of poetry that students can analyse by looking for metaphors, syntax, alliterations, and jargon.
(Image: Pinterest)
5. Edit a social media site
With the loose rules, invented and abbreviated language around social media, it can be fun to get your students to take a closer look at a post, site or tweet and correct the grammar, punctuation and spelling they find. They will often impress themselves with how much they pick up.
(Image: Pinterest)
6. Use graphic novels for reluctant readers
Graphic novels are a great way to engage reluctant readers. Check out these few below:
(Image: Pinterest)
Not every student is going to buy in when you bring pop culture into the classroom, and not everything you discuss will be relatable to every student. But, checking out what’s trending or listening to what your students are interested in will go a long way to grabbing their attention with your lessons.
What do you do in your classroom?
References
Duffy, P. & Bruns, A. (2006). The Use of Blogs, Wikis and RSS in Education: A Conversation of Possibilities. In Proceedings Online Learning and Teaching Conference. 31-38.
Petrone, R. (2013). Linking Contemporary Research on Youth, Literacy, and Popular Culture With Literacy Teacher Education. Journal of Literacy Research. 45(3), 240-266.
Secondary English Coffee Shop, (2015). What’s trending right now? Secondary English coffee Shop Blog. https://secondaryenglishcoffeeshop.blogspot.com/