Posts Tagged writing tips

STEM Tuesday– Cryptography (Math)/Spy Science– In the Classroom

By STEM Tuesday on December 10, 2024 / Cryptography/Spy Science, STEM Tuesday

In my former career, I worked with communications and communication security (which included cryptography). It is a topic that will always be near and dear to my heart. This month, I read the following books:

How to Be an International Spy by Andy Briggs

This book covers lots of different topics associated with being a spy. The science around it all ranges from psychology to quantum physics. It includes lots of practice activities to help you fully engage in the topic.

Top Secret Science: Projects You’re Not Supposed to Know About by Jennifer Swanson

If you’re looking more for the history of secret projects, this is the book for you. It looks at a variety of programs that were run in secret.

Can You Crack the Code? by Ella Schwartz and Lily Williams

If your goal is to learn how to create and crack secret codes, you might want to check out this book. It does a great job of covering the major cryptography methods. There are lots of secret codes to practice with, too.

Rather than making up activities to go along with these books, I want to share some of the fabulous resources that are already out there that would pair well with this month’s theme.

Check out “The Farm”

The CIA may be a secretive organization, but they’ve got an online presence. There are stories, games, activities, and other things for young readers to explore on their CIA Spy Kids site: https://www.cia.gov/spy-kids/games

They’ve also developed lesson plans for teachers: https://www.cia.gov/spy-kids/parents-teachers

Delve into Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity ensures that electronic devices are protected from criminal or unauthorized use. There are lots of career opportunities in cybersecurity, so it’s a great topic to learn more about.

The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Center for Infrastructure Assurance & Security (a.k.a. UTSA CIAS) has lots of resources for teachers and students on their website. Their activities cover grades K through 12. Here’s their main page: https://cias.utsa.edu/k-12

Their Cyber Games are found here: https://cias.utsa.edu/k-12/cybersecurity-games

Microsoft and Minecraft teamed together to provide resources for teaching cybersecurity, too. Check that out here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/blog/2023/10/elevate-cybersecurity-expertise-with-microsoft-and-minecraft-education

Learn About Public Key Encryption

Public Key Encryption is used to secure many different types of transactions on the internet, from email to online store payments. This video from PBS NOVA labs does a great job of explaining at a high level how public key encryption works: https://youtu.be/5xI4IJbHDiM?si=mM6cZJdTDUjeqVOs

NOVA Labs also has a cybersecurity game online: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/cyber – there is an educator guide to go along with it.

Cryptography in History

Pretty much all the books this month talk about the long history of secret-keeping (and cryptography to help with that). Here are some web sites that explore cryptography in history.

“The Secret Code of Lewis and Clark” activity: https://lewisandclarktrail.com/legacy/secretcode.htm

“Cryptology in the American Revolution” videos from NSA’s National Cryptologic Museum:
https://youtu.be/0smfiPWSHCQ?si=0ATj8hRevfpze0vo
https://youtu.be/WXEX7xFIz9E?si=AWh8GF4B7yD1Uo35

The National Cryptologic Museum also has videos on Steganography, Ciphers, or Visual Signaling during the American Revolution. For these and other videos, check out this playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWvkfYC3snpVYffYpKwjsbxwDO9IaNli7&si=3mYvmWEirAtp035P

More Resources

There are lots of cryptography and spy-related museums and websites out there to explore. Here are a few more you might want to check out.

The Spy Museum in Washington, DC: https://www.spymuseum.org – if you can’t get there in person, they also have some resources and activities online. They even have a podcast and a YouTube channel.

In the New York City area, there is the Washington Spy Trail. This includes a series of historic sites on Long Island that are associated with George Washington’s circle of spies during the Revolutionary War. If you’re lucky, you can tour some sites in person. If not, you can learn about some of it online: https://washingtonspytrail.com

You can learn more about American Civil War spies online: https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/spies.htm – each spy is associated with at least one National Park.

Janet Slingerland has written more than 20 books for children. Her book History’s Forgotten War Stories – https://www.12storylibrary.com/non-fiction/hidden-history/forgotten-war-stories-history – includes secrets and spies. To find out more about Janet and her books, check out her website – http://janetsbooks.com

Writing Prompts: How to Make Yours Shine

By Ann Angel on December 4, 2024 / Articles, For Writers

Writing prompts, whether in a classroom or workshop setting, can be hit or miss–especially if the prompt is too general. If you ask students to choose an object in the classroom, for instance, half of them might focus on the ancient clock on the wall and how slowly the second hand moves from numeral to numeral. Or, if you ask students to write about a specific event in their lives, they might fall back on vague and/or generic descriptions that lack the tension required in strong writing. (The “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” and “I Remember…” prompts fall squarely into this category.)

Don’t get me wrong: Tried-and-true writing prompts are good in a pinch. But there are some excellent craft books available to help teachers, workshop leaders, parents and caregivers to infuse excitement and originality into their everyday prompts.

Help Is On the Way

One of my favorite writing-craft gurus is Ralph Fletcher, an educator who’s been helping other educators since the early 2000s. His first craft book, co-authored with JoAnn Portalupi, Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide, is a great guide for teachers, students, and workshop leaders. In this book, Fletcher breaks up ideas into days and weeks to help with lesson plans. His most recent book (pictured above), A Writers Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You, helps writers to see their world and, perhaps most importantly, how to react to what they see.

Advice from Ralph Fletcher

1. Make sure each writer has a writer’s notebook.
2. Provide adequate writing time of at least five minutes and up to 15 or 20 minutes, if everyone’s fully engaged. Ideas don’t just fly across space to land in a writer’s brain (well, at least not all the time).
3. Share a piece of your own writing before everyone starts writing. And write with them.
4. It’s okay to let workshoppers draw rather than write as all forms of creative expression are encouraged.
5. Help your group to find ideas by asking questions and sharing prompts.

Some great first workshop examples include:
–What do you know a lot about?
–Do you play sports, or enjoy an activity such as dance or chess?
–Who’s a special relative you spend lots of time with?
–Do you collect stuff?

Fletcher, a big believer in tying writing prompts to reading, provides some great ideas for read-alouds connected to writing:

—The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant. Write about a time you had relatives come to your house. What were you celebrating?

— Marianthe’s Story: Painted Words Spoken Memories by Aliki. What is a color-filled memory you have?

— If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christianson. Write about a found object and the things you might do with it.

— My Map Book by Sara Fanelli. Create a map of an object or place. Explain in writing how the object works or what makes this place special.

When time is up, ask participants to share their work, even if they’re not finished, and encourage them to come back to these pieces later. You never know what a bit of time and distance can reveal.

And finally…

If all else fails, you could probably encourage writers to write about all the places chewing gum gets stuck. But I need to add one more thought on my favorite writing prompt from Ralph’s toolbox. Have students write or draw what makes a safe place. The result of this prompt is both surprising and revelatory… in equal measure.

A Writer’s Thanksgiving

By Dana Edwards on November 28, 2024 / For Writers

I love the Thanksgiving season! It reminds me that I have so much to be thankful for. And it turns out, being grateful has its benefits.

In addition to promoting a positive attitude, research has shown that practicing gratitude for 15 minutes a day, five days a week (for at least 6 weeks) can positively affect your physical and mental health.

Expressing gratitude can also improve your sleep, mood, and immunity.

Writers often experience a boatload of rejection – query rejection, manuscript submission rejection, revision rejection. These experiences can easily produce a negative attitude toward writing, and life in general.

Writers have so much to be thankful for! For example,

books,
the ability to create,
critique partners,
honest feedback that leads to improvement,
time for revision,
quiet walks that spark ideas, and
frequent celebrations (nothing is too small. Ex. completing a paragraph or scene or meeting a daily word count goal).

We’d love to hear what you’re thankful for. Please leave a comment below, and let’s start practicing gratitude today!

Have a have a Grateful Thanksgiving!

Resources:

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00261-5

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/can-expressing-gratitude-improve-health