The Unfamiliar Genre Project is a student writing project that was designed by seasoned educators Cathy Fleischer and Sarah Andrew-Vaughn, and is presented clearly in their book, Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone: helping students navigate unfamiliar genres. According to Fleischer and Andrew-Vaughn, we tend to stick to what is comfortable to us when it comes to writing, and can have major fears around many genres that are uncomfortable. Through this project, students are encouraged to choose a genre that is not attractive to them, and that may be downright scary. By doing this, we as students, and teachers, will delve into the unknown, a challenging space. We will be supported by the research we do on the genre. We will read in the genre, think about the how-to's from what we read, research and study. And we will most importantly reflect. This reflection piece will be part of our research. It's as if not only are we researching other's work in the unfamiliar genre, but we are also researching ourselves as writers, our habits, fears, desires, skills. We will also collect five to ten pieces of work in the chosen genre.
I am excited to begin this project. What comes to mind for me for an unfamiliar genre is haiku. It is something I have never tried. It is so filtered and boiled down, which is hard for me to do with my writing. I usually have a roundabout way of writing to discover the nut of what I am trying to express and get at. I think I will be doing a lot of writing to exercise and whittle down to what my haiku will be.
What I must say I love about this book and project is that it is exactly the opposite of what standardized testing is in k12 schooling. It is working over time, with a team, and community, using a number of different mediums, to learn a certain subject or genre. It includes self-reflection, and peer evaluation, as well of course as teacher evaluation. It incorporates community evaluation too. It is so much more than studying for a multiple choice test, or even an essay prompt. It is more than an essay, it is a process. It reminds me of what I have read about portfolio assessments in schools. One website that I used for a debate I did last semester in my Public Argumentation class was Professor Mueller's website that is quite clear and covers the broad spectrum of what portfolios encompass. As a future teacher, I would totally utilize this project to bring portfolio type grading into my class.
I totally agree with your idea that this is the "opposite of standardized testing." It's community learning, it's total growth mindset, it's student-centered -- and very difficult. I love that it involves creativity and critical thinking; I'm also excited but very nervous!
ReplyDelete