Exasperating Essays

Essay writing is hard. Really hard. Especially if you love love love to write heart-stopping narratives. The transition can be painstaking.

We are about a week and half into our essay unit and it has been a painful process so far. The unit starts when we push ourselves to make observations about the world around us, and then go further to have an idea about that observation. It starts as easy as...I notice that the leaves are blowing off the trees on this blustery day. This makes me have the idea that I love autumn in the mountains.  It has been interesting to see that my kiddos (who sometimes are unable to stop talking for 5 seconds) could be completely speechless when I ask them to have a creative thought. There has been a lot of pencil-tossing, nose-picking, window-staring, and bathroom-visiting.

We have been working really hard to come up with our ideas and find something that we really care about--something that makes us come alive. My fourth graders have been content with thesis ideas such as "Football helps bring my family together" or "My dog is so special to me". But it has not been so simple for my two older guys. I have modeled a hundred different strategies for brainstorming ideas, but nothing has jump started them. I finally tried to get them fired up. "Common. Tell me what really irks you. What drives you crazy?" I made a big web that said "Things that bother me" in the middle. I branched off with ideas such as "people driving under the speed limit in the left lane" or "how I live so far away from my parents". I gave them a little time to write (or maybe bang their heads against the table for a few more minutes).

I came back to find this as a list of irritating things from one kiddo:
 - When people don't think of people as people. 
 - There are a lot of supplies for all, but not everyone has access. 
 - When people force others to fight their fight. 
 - People having to fight for freedom. 
 - When people are killed for thinking independently. 
 - When people suffer from other people's mistakes. 

Mr. Fifth grade wasn't lacking in ideas. He was just lacking in surface-y essay ideas. Whoa baby. This kid has a lot of profound things to say. We are still figuring out what he really wants to say something about. But I know we are getting there.

He mentioned to me at the end of the day that I should check back at his "things that bother me" web. After an exasperating writing workshop day, he had added to the web "essay writing" :)