Top 5 Reasons Listicles Might Be the Next Big Thing in ELA

I remember one year going to the Abydos Conference and there were five separate sessions about graphic novels and/or comics. A form of writing once thought lacking in legitimacy, became a new genre for English teachers and a new mode for students to write. Entire books were devoted to the use of comics to teach everything from inference to how to punctuate dialogue or sequencing.

I propose listicles will be the next big thing. Why?

5. Our brains like lists. This for of writing is prevalent because it gets clicked on. It gets clicked on because our brains enjoy the ease of instantly understanding how information is placed on the page. This means having students look at a listicle may help students quickly acquire new knowledge. Or having students transform an article into a listicle may help them breakdown and understand complex information. Not to mention the love affair with lists starts young by reading listing books like Green Eggs and Ham as well as being one of the first genres of writing for many children. (My daughter had just turned two when she started making our grocery list! Needless to say, while she wrote hers, I was also writing one that I could read. But still, listing!)

4. The popularity indicates this is a genre with longevity, so why wold we ignore preparing students for genres they will encounter in the future? While listicles may be a relatively new term and list-based articles have exploded recently, listing as a form of organization is not new. From poetry to satire to satirical lists about listing, listing spans many traditional literary forms. Why not blend the genres that rely on listing as a form of organization and include a listicle, a form they will be reading in the future?

3. Listing and journaling go hand-in-hand. Teachers have use listing as a brainstorming strategy for decades - if not longer - and those who journal for pleasure can easily find books on the subjects of journaling from lists. Instead of listing to come up with one idea, a listicle asks the writer to create an organization of the list and think of each point as a something to develop in a concise and focused manner.

2. Listicles are the perfect example of how to create a topical paragraph. If you are like me, you have students who just do not "get" the idea of a topic sentence. Each paragraph is actually several ideas mashed together like warping puzzle pieces to make them fit. The great thing about a listicle is it is based on reasons, not details. Most listicles have the first sentence for each point be the topical sentence. Having students thinking of their expository or persuasive essay as a listicle - after examining and mimicking listicles - is powerful. The essay becomes "3 Reasons How Working Alone is Better Than in Groups". The organization is clearer and instructions fits a very brain-friendly (see number 1) pattern. Add in and intro and conclusion, replace the numbers with transitions, and you can help students who would otherwise get poor marks because of lack of organization and focus, create a serviceable essay.

1. Ranking listicles ask for higher level blooms. There are three main types of listicles: ranked, thematic, and random. Asking students to write in the world of ranking is the evaluating level of blooms. In order to justify their responses, they have to provide evidence and reasoning. For example, while reading a whole class text like A Midsummer Night's Dream, students who have been exposed to a listicle can brainstorm whole class what ranking listicles could be created for the text: 3 Worst Mistakes in Midsummer Ranked, 3 Biggest Fools from Midsummer Ranked, 5 Best Characters in Midsummer Ranked. By having a smaller number than the students would want, students will be forced to decide who or what makes the cut. Add in requirements for textual evidence and students are writing a literary analysis.

While listicles would not replace formal process papers, they do offer additional opportunities to write as well as support in drafting stages. No self deprecating-humor or snarky comments required!

Feature Writing as Summary

There are a hundred ways I could use the newspaper feature on www.fodey.com, but one of my favorites is the idea to have students respond to a chapter by writing a news article over it. I think it is great because it adds a creative aspect to retelling events. For my 8th graders, I would require that the headline needs to hint at a thematic issue or message.

I love how the website (1) lengthens the page so the end product can be short or long, (2) creates a downloadable image file that can be easily uploaded to Edmodo, Padlet, or incorporated into an appsmash, and (3) super authentic! It looks like the ink print from other newspapers has been left on it. This could create some really cool "historical" documents. I used to do a research project where students wrote diary entries from fictional or real characters in WWII. Wouldn't it be neat to have the end product of a research project like that be a fictional online archive?

For my example, I used The Outsiders. I had to research where the country may have been that the boys ran off to and what a viable date would be for the book, including the day of the week for that date. I had to imagine quotations from characters that seemed authentic to what we know about those characters.

Directions:
1. Think of what event happened in the book/chapter/story that would be front page worthy
2. Use the newspaper function on www.fodey.com (make sure to pause add blocker if you have that on your computer) to write a newspaper article that reveals the events
3. Use a maps website to come up with an accurate name for the newspaper and locations
4. Research the day of the week for an accurate date
5. Make sure your headline acknowledges a thematic component
6. In your summary, include a quotation from a character. This quotation should not be dialogue lifted from the text, but rather dialogue you create based on what you know about the characters and who a reporter would interview about this event

Lit Analysis Gamifiction with Make Dice Lite

What is Make Dice Lite?

Make Dice Lite in an iPad that allows the user to customize dice and use up to 6 at a time. To roll the dice, students can tap the screen or shake the iPad.

Lit Analysis Set Up

In groups of three to 4, students use 1 iPad to create two dice. The first die is whatever literary elements you want your students to analyze. I use character, conflict, symbol, theme, connect two topics, setting.

The second die is one about thematic topics. Examples from The Outsiders: violence, family, loyalty, redemption, social pressure, equality, etc. (Students can choose their own).

Roll the Die

Students roll the dice and create a question with those two things. Provide question stems or example for the different literary elements. EX:

Theme: What is the lesson we are supposed to learn about ______?

Symbol: What object in the text represents _____?

Setting: How does the setting contribute to the lesson we can learn about ______?

Two topics: How are _____ and _____ related?

For character and conflict, it so much depends on the topic I encourage my students to come up with their own way of asking. 

Gamification

Students number off A, B, and C. Students then complete to answer questions. Students take turn answering the question and give text support. For each question, 1 participant answers it and gives support. The other two people then rate the answer with evidence and explanation on a scale of 1-3. The person who answered the question get the combined score. The other group members can each get 1 bonus point for providing approved additional evidence. 

EX: How is setting related equality?

Student A: Tulsa is divided east and west in the novel. The rich Socs are on one side and the poor Greasers on the other, which keeps them separated and continues the idea that by being separated, they aren't able to take down the walls that divide them. If they got to know each other more, the inequality may not create hate. 

Student B: that was really good, I give a 3 out of 3.

Student C: I'm not clear on the theme you think Hinton has about equality so I say 2.

**Student A gets 5 points**

Student B: another thing that supports what you said as an answer is the setting of the dive-in. At the drive in the Socs get to sit in their cars while the greasers have to be out in the elements of the bleachers. 

*** student B gets a point ***

Student C: The school setting also supports that. Remember when Ponyboy talked about how he was in the more advanced classes? He pulled out a knife to dissect a frog and a Soc girl who was his lab partner was horrified. The way there is that divide in the classes at school also makes there be a divide int he social classes. 

*** Student C gets a point. It is now student B's turn to answer a question and try to get the three points ***

Text Smash/App Smash

With commonlit.org, creating a project-based learning experience is easy in that the website is organized by PBL questions! This makes it perfect for across text comparison and an opportunity for students to examine two texts answering the same question.

Thinking of across text comparison got me thinking of App Smashing - combining apps to make a project. So why not a text smash/app smash?

My instructions are specifically for The Outsiders, but check out my lesson flow on graphite to get a generic lesson that can fit no matter what whole class text your students have read.

Building a Better Webquest

Start with the Skills

Prior to a thematic unit or novel study, many teachers prefer webquests to build background over lecture. By providing students with links and questions, students are able to pace themselves and explore resources instead of being passive participants during lecture. However, with the increase of rigor and what feels like not enough hours in the day! Webquests must then serve two functions at the same time: prepare for the coming unit while building skills. 

Evaluate what skills I like to have my skills for the grading period written out. If there is a poetry standard, I know I’ll try to find a poem or song. Vocabulary and dictionary skills also tend to be TEKS for each grading period. I also try to use technology skills. Using the review feature in work for students to annotate the song “Imagine” for my Utopia/Dystopia webquest or using turnitin.com’s discussion board features or the synonyms feature of Word. 

Search for Varied Genres and Sources

When creating a Webquest, I want to take advantage of the media sources on the internet both audio and visual so I like to include things like YouTube/TeacherTube videos, a poem on Poets.org with an audio recording of the poet reading his work, and PBS LearningMedia pictures and videos. I also think that a Webquest opportunity is wasted if students are not participating in an interactive or Web 2.0 activities. To me, if a Webquest could be completed with library books, what is the point? PBS has some great resources like putting students in the shoes of a African-American man trying to vote during Jim Crow, or analyzing how advertising tries to trick the viewer, or learning about Edgar Allen Poe by investigating his death or interacting with his texts or exploring the nature of self-segregation with the Parable of the Polygons (my personal favorite!!!!) . 

Web 2.0!

Taking a couple days in the computer lab just to have students write answers on a Word document is a crying shame of the plethora of easy Web 2.0. Students can use the snipping tool to grab evidence. Some easy Web 2.0 to use:

• Read, Write, Think: Student Interactive
• Message boards and collaborative groups like Edmodo, Titan Pad, or Google Slides
• Make Beliefs Comix

Organizational Patterns with Video

Did you know there are goats with spider DNA? That little bit of info is the easiest hook for a student to be instantly engaged in introduction to text structures. After a matching activity using the handouts here , students practice applying the patterns to this video on spidergoats!

a.   2:30 – What organizational pattern was just used? (compared advantages and disadvantages of spider silk) What are the benefits and disadvantages of spider silk?

b.   4:30 – What org pattern has been used thus far? (problem solution) What is the problem? What is the solution?

c.    7:26 What org pattern? (sequential.) What are the differences between chronological, listing, and sequential?

d.   8:00 Looking at image, how do the graphics help you?

How the Backwards Bicycle is a Must See for Students and Teachers

Videos are a wonderful prompt for writing and class discussion. "The Backwards Brain Bicycle" by Smarter Every Day is my favorite video to begin a PD as well as totally accessible for my middle school students. The connections to be made are deep and rich. Watch it and see how many connections you can make to your own classroom!

The best rule of thumb for getting the discussion to be its best is for all individuals to write for 7-10 minutes after, making connections and expressing their thoughts. As Tom Ramano says in Clearing the Way, “During class discussions, I prefer to avoid the domino effect - the phenomenon that occurs when one student states an opinion emphatically and all the opinions after that one fall right in behind, unremarkably similar.” And so he always asks to his students to write prior to class discussion.

Great for the beginning of a faculty meeting or as a way of encouraging kids to not give up when faced with challenging learning.