Posts Tagged writing tips

STEM Tuesday– CSI – Forensic Science and Anthropology- In the Classroom

By on November 12, 2019   /   CSI - Forensic Science and Anthropology, STEM Tuesday  

This month we’re investigating forensics and the science of crime scene investigation. Today, investigators rely on science to tell the story of a crime. High-tech cameras snap detailed crime scene pictures. Microscopes allow scientists to examine and identify the tiniest pieces of evidence. Understanding DNA and blood typing has created ways to tie a suspect to a crime scene without an eyewitness. Today, no one needs to catch a criminal in the act in order to solve a crime. The tools and techniques of science allow investigators to track down a criminal long after he or she has left the crime scene.

The books we’re highlighting this month show how science is used in crime scene investigations to find out what happened at a crime scene. They are a great starting point for different science activities and discussions in the classroom. Here are a few to try:

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Blood, Bullets, and Bones: The Story of Forensic Science from Sherlock Holmes to DNA by Bridget Heos
Crime scene investigation is not new; early detectives discovered ways to test for poisons, and conducted autopsies to determine cause of death. Over the years, crime-solving tools have become more sophisticated as technology improves. This book examines evidence from prints to ballistics, blood spatter to DNA and more.
• Make a timeline of the evolution of forensics and crime scene investigation.
• Discuss how changes in forensic science have changed the way investigators solve crimes today. Have students research a famous unsolved crime from the past (such as the Zodiac killings, the Whitechapel murders, or the Marilyn Sheppard murder) and discuss how modern forensic methods might have made a difference in solving these crimes.

 

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Fingerprints : Dead People Do Tell Tales by Chana Stiefel
Fingerprints are unique identifiers. Not even identical twins have the same fingerprints. This book explains the techniques scientists use to collect fingerprints and to identify criminals, and contains stories about how fingerprints helped solve real crimes.
• Have students examine their own fingerprints and find the marks and patterns that make them unique. Ask them to figure out how many of each type of fingerprint pattern they have among all 10 of their fingers. Have them compare their results with classmates.
• Have students try to lift fingerprints from a clear, hard surface. Have them sprinkle cocoa powder over the surface and gently brush. Next, have students place a piece of clear tape on the fingerprint and gently peel the tape off to lift the print. They can also experiment lifting fingerprints using different surfaces and powders.
• Have students attempt to match fingerprints taken from their classmates. Have them look for the patterns and characteristics that make each fingerprint unique.

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Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walker
Forensic scientists use their knowledge of human remains to help solve mysteries of remains found in colonial-era graves near Jamestown, Virginia. Using science, they help recreate the lives of a ship’s captain, an enslaved African girl, and more.
• Ask students to discuss what it means to be a forensic anthropologist. How does the job of a forensic anthropologist differ from that of a crime scene investigator?
• Often forensic anthropologists do not have an intact body or skeleton to examine. Instead, they build a picture of the victim with on a few bones as clues. Have students research how forensic anthropologists use the humerus bone (upper arm) and the tibia bone (inner leg) to predict the victim’s height. Have them test the correlation between height and bones by taking measurements from their classmates. Have them create a formula to predict the height from the length of a tibia or humerus bone. Then have students test their formula with measurements from another group of volunteers.
• What have forensic anthropologists added to our knowledge of the past? Have students choose and research a famous forensic anthropologist. Ask students to pair up and discuss how two different forensic anthropologists added to our knowledge of the past.

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Carla Mooney loves to explore the world around us and discover the details about how it works. An award-winning author of numerous nonfiction science books for kids and teens, she hopes to spark a healthy curiosity and love of science in today’s young people. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, three kids, and dog. When not writing, she can often be spotted at a hockey rink for one of her kids’ games. Find her at http://www.carlamooney.com, on Facebook @carlamooneyauthor, or on Twitter @carlawrites.

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How Middle Grade Fiction Can Fuel Young Writers’ Search for Truth

By on October 23, 2019   /   For Teachers  

In one of my Lit classes recently, students read I, Juan de Pareja, a Newbery Medal-winning novel by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño. This fictionalized account of the life of Juan de Pareja follows his childhood in 17th Century Spain to his role as servant-turned-apprentice to master painter Diego Velázquez. It’s a great middle grade book for studying voice, historical setting, and imagery. Though only a few factual consistencies are known about the life of Juan de Pareja, the author built this novel based upon those few facts, or what she called a “kernel of truth” (The Glencoe Literature Library).

This idea brought up a connected discussion regarding how events in real life inspire realistic fiction… and conversely, how fictitious characters and plotlines remind us of the real happenings in our lives. We began talking about our own “kernels of truth”—stand-out memories, transitions and moves, objects and possessions that hold special meaning, gifts given or received… so many authentic experiences that contribute to the construction of one’s identity! We then complemented the novel study with a writing project that became known as the “Kernel of Truth” creative non-fiction assignment. Each student wrote about an authentic experience that in some way contributed to or connected with his or her identity. With some established parameters and brainstorming sessions, they were well on their way to authoring excellent pieces.

Creative nonfiction is a great genre for middle graders to explore as writers. They get to jump directly into the writing process without time-consuming research or structured main points; instead, they can write what they know. It’s a way to express true narratives, nostalgic anecdotes, tales of travel or adventure, and stories of personal interest while employing storytelling techniques like dialogue, setting, plotting, and figurative language.

Best of all, creative nonfiction writing can work with any novel, and it can support another level of connection between the reader and the text. In other words, just as I, Juan de Pareja inspired my students’ ability to seek individual kernels of truth, most other novels have at least one feature (setting, history, conflict, etc.) that will inspire your students’ true stories, and their own creative nonfiction.

For example, here are a few recent realistic fiction titles along with some potential leads towards CNF writing projects that might accompany them.

Another Kind of Hurricane by Tamara Ellis Smith – What experiences have you had witnessing the power of nature? What’s the most curious coincidence in your life you can remember? Have you ever discovered a connection between you and someone with whom you originally thought you had nothing in common?

Hunger by Donna Jo Napoli – Home can be a complicated word. What joy do you find in your home (town, city, residence, or whatever home means to you)? What, if any, frustration? What situations have you encountered or witnessed in which a choice that went against the rules seemed justified (for the good of others)?

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson – Any real-life mysteries in your experiences? What books have you read that have stayed with you long after you finished reading, and what does that book mean to you now?

The Orphan Band of Springdale by Anne Nesbet – What unexpected turn of events has contributed to your own “plot twist”? What curiosities have lately caught your attention, like pigeon photography caught the attention of protagonist Gusta?

Middle grade students may wonder initially how a historical or fantasy could inspire them to write about something from their own lives in a CNF piece. Take the time to brainstorm as a class, and soon they’ll see how many elements and factors about the character’s life and story are possible points of connection with their own lives.  Depending on the readers in your class or library, you may decide to give the group a lot of freedom of topic, style, and length… or that it might be better to put some guidelines down on paper. Guiding questions like the ones above or general topics and suggestions can be especially comforting to the hesitant writer. Sometimes it takes prompting and parameters for imaginations to lose their inhibitions.

Hope these ideas are useful ones for your bag of tricks! Good luck and thanks for encouraging reading and writing in middle graders.

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STEM Tuesday –Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and More! — Writing Crafts & Resources

By on October 15, 2019   /   STEM Tuesday, Transportation  

 

Getting into Character

Planes, trains, automobiles, and more – this month’s look at transportation books might seem a bit impersonal, characterless, emotionless. When I looked closer, though, I found all kinds of characters. Let’s spend a few minutes examining how authors infuse character in these books about more technical topics.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgBiography is an obvious approach, one taken in Elon Musk: And the Quest for a Fantastic Future. Following one individual’s life, author Ashley Vance shows us the development of his passion, the technical challenges he conquered, as well as the human challenges he dealt with. The results are an in-depth look at the skills needed to develop advanced transportation systems such as spaceships and electric cars.Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

When tackling a topic such as the Titanic, which incorporate so much human tragedy, utilizing character is a natural fit. In Titanic: Voices from the Disaster, author Deborah Hopkinson interweaves individual’s stories to convey the magnitude of this event.

But even in a book with a much more technical focus, such as Who Built That? Bridges by Didier Cornille, space is given to including character. A single paragraph at the beginning of each chapter presents a brief expository bio before the chapter dives into the history and a step-by-step look at how each specific bridge was constructed.Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgUse of character isn’t limited to actual human characters. Take a look at Save the Crash-test Dummies by Jennifer Swanson and you’ll see how inanimate dummy characters play a role in conveying the mechanical and historical content.

Why did each of these authors use character? I’m thinking deeper than the obvious answer: to draw the reader in. I’m comparing and contrasting how they presented these characters. The placement in the sequence of the text, the words used to describe the characters, the impact of character development, or lack of it. In analyzing this, I’m considering how I’ll use character in future writing to present topics that appeal to a wide variety of readers.

 

Try It Yourself:

  • Compare the first two pages of the first chapter of two books. Titanic and Elon Musk work well. Highlight every word or passage that characterizes the humans. Which techniques do these authors use? How similar or different are they? Consider why.
  • Now focus on a single book, Save the Crash-test Dummies, is ideal for this exercise. Scan the book for places where the nonhuman characters are characterized. Where is that in the sequence of the book? Can you find examples of characterization in places other than the main text?
  • Think about characterization in expository versus narrative text. Look for examples of each in this collection of books. Find an example of expository characterization (as in Who Built That? Bridges) and rewrite that is narrative. Yes you probably have to make it up; that’s okay for an exercise. Find an example of narrative characterization and rewrite that as expository. Which was harder? Why? How would making that change to the text impact the larger piece of writing?


Heather L. Montgomery writes books for kids are wild about animals; she’s learned to bring characterization into her works. Her recent Something Rotten: A Fresh Look at Roadkill follows an inquisitive narrator who visits scientists who use roadkill bodies to make discoveries. Her Little Monsters of the Ocean: Metamorphosis under the Waves characterizes juvenile marine creatures to tell the story of how they each grow up.

THE O.O.L.F. FILES

Podcasts are great forgetting your regular dose of science. Here are some great ones for kids and adults:

  • Science Friday: In-depth looks at current science research. These stories dive deep into questions that are at the forefront of our minds. Their website has episodes sorted by topic (health, math, energy) as well as further reading and resources for each episode.
  • Brains On! Science Podcasts for Kids: From American Public Media, this podcast is perfect for kids and curious adults. Each week it focuses on a different fascinating question such as: How do elevators work? What is dyslexia? How do ants and spiders walk on walls?
  • WOW in the World: in this high-energy podcasts produced by NPR, the hosts take you on an imaginative trip, a journey into the wonders of the world. Inside brains, deep into the ocean, or far out in space. Perfect for the whole family.
  • Tumble Science Podcast for Kids: Hosted by a science reporter and an educator who are also parents, this podcast asks questions, shares mysteries, and interviews real scientists. Episodes include: The Secret Senses of Plants, Earth Rangers, and What Would Happen if There Was No Moon?
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