Your Creative English Mind - Havo 4

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 4

Your Creative English Mind

(for Year 4)

Lesson Goals

When you have to write in any foreign language, your limited knowledge of it means it is hard to write texts that are not repetitive or simple, and this often makes what you write sound boring.  In this lesson we are going to help you experiment with English to develop the skill to write in it in a lively and interesting manner.  Although most of the writing here will be creative, it will help you to write your essays, reports and memos as well. 

Lesson Plan

This lesson consists of a few creative tasks to let you experiment with English.  It is the idea that you work alone, so that everyone creates their own answers, but of course, afterwards the answers will be shared so you can see what your classmates have done.   There are no wrong answers in this lesson, just answers that are original, but may have some grammar or spelling errors.

Task 1: Imaginary words

On the next slide, you will see two words.  These words do not exist in English, and therefore have no meaning.  It is up to you to write definitions for what you think each word might mean, depending on how it sounds to you.  THERE IS NO WRONG ANSWER, AS LONG AS IT IS NOT BORING

Example: Saccellet: a small animal that looks like a paper bag and crawls over the ground.

Create definitions for these 2 words:
Gloop and grile

Task 2: Haiku (1)

A haiku is a small poem, originally from Japan, consisting of 3 lines: The first line has 5 syllables ("lettergrepen"), the second has 7.  The first and second line together usually describe something real.  The last line is also 5 syllables, and usually says something about someone's feelings or thoughts. 

The next slide gives two examples. 

How many syllables are there in "RADIO"

1. 1
2. 3
3. 2
4. 4

How many syllables are there in "TELEVISION"

1. 2
2. 4
3. 3
4. 5

Haiku (2)

   1    2       3      4 -5

The wind blows softly

   1 - 2   3    4        5 - 6    7

Against the hard wooden door.

1  2    3   4       5

I wish it were spring.

   1     2  3   4      5  

Don't try to stop me.

1  2    3 -  4  5    6    7        

I am headed for the goal.

 1    2       3       4   5

My team cheers for me.

Notice the syllable count. 5 syllables on line 1 and 3, 7 on line 2

Haiku (3)

The wind blows softly

Against the hard wooden door.

I wish it were spring.

Don't try to stop me.

I am headed for the goal.

My team cheers for me.

Notice the first two lines describe an action.  The last line describes a feeling.

Write two haikus about two different things, for example, nature, a place, a person, an activity. Remember: 5-7-5!

Task 3: Found poetry

A "found poem" is one that is not created from nothing, but which is formed from an existing text.  For example, read the following article: 

If you're looking for a reason to care about tree loss, this summer's record-breaking heat waves might be it. Trees can lower summer daytime temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a recent study.

But tree cover in US cities is shrinking. A study published last year by the US Forest Service found that we lost 36 million trees annually from urban and rural communities over a five-year period. That's a 1% drop from 2009 to 2014.

If we continue on this path, "cities will become warmer, more polluted and generally more

unhealthy for inhabitants," said David Nowak, a senior US Forest Service scientist and co-author of the study.

Nowak says there are many reasons our tree canopy is declining, including hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, insects and disease. But the one reason for tree loss that humans can control is sensible development.

"We see the tree cover being swapped out for impervious cover, which means when we look at the photographs, what was there is now replaced with a parking lot or a building," Nowak said.

Making a poem from this text

The poem is made by selecting words and phrases from the text, in the order they appear, and using them to form new ideas.  The poem may be related to the topic, or it may not.  See the two examples. 

IF YOU CARE

If you care about trees,

this might be it.

Tree cover is shrinking,

cities become warmer.

Many hurricanes, fires, insects and disease.

The tree, replaced with a building. 

If you're looking for a reason to care about tree loss, this summer's record-breaking heat waves might be it. Trees can lower summer daytime temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a recent study.

But tree cover in US cities is shrinking. A study published last year by the US Forest Service found that we lost 36 million trees annually from urban and rural communities over a five-year period. That's a 1% drop from 2009 to 2014.

If we continue on this path, "cities will become warmer, more polluted and generally more

unhealthy for inhabitants," said David Nowak, a senior US Forest Service scientist and co-author of the study.

Nowak says there are many reasons our tree canopy is declining, including hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, insects and disease. But the one reason for tree loss that humans can control is sensible development.

"We see the tree cover being swapped out for impervious cover, which means when we look at the photographs, what was there is now replaced with a parking lot or a building," Nowak said.

Looking for summer

If you look for summer, 

waves might be it.

Low temperatures lost.

Our canopy is sensible.

Look at the photographs.

If you're looking for a reason to care about tree loss, this summer's record-breaking heat waves might be it. Trees can lower summer daytime temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a recent study.

But tree cover in US cities is shrinking. A study published last year by the US Forest Service found that we lost 36 million trees annually from urban and rural communities over a five-year period. That's a 1% drop from 2009 to 2014.

If we continue on this path, "cities will become warmer, more polluted and generally more

unhealthy for inhabitants," said David Nowak, a senior US Forest Service scientist and co-author of the study.

Nowak says there are many reasons our tree canopy is declining, including hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, insects and disease. But the one reason for tree loss that humans can control is sensible development.

"We see the tree cover being swapped out for impervious cover, which means when we look at the photographs, what was there is now replaced with a parking lot or a building," Nowak said.

Found Poetry: Your turn

On the next page, you will find a text.  Write an original poem of about 20 words, 5-6 lines), using only words taken from the text.  The poem you write does not have to be about the same topic as the text.  There are many possible answers, everyone should have their own poem.

It’s a sunny afternoon at the Bronx Zoo, in New York City. A monorail train approaches the elephant exhibit. A child screeches in delight as a female Asian elephant named Happy comes into view. Happy flaps her ears and wraps her trunk around the fence of her enclosure.

The Bronx Zoo is one of about 60 zoos in the United States where you can see an elephant. With the number of Asian elephants dwindling every year—about 50,000 are left in the wild—a zoo might be the only chance any of us will

ever get to see one.

But the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP), an animal-rights group, says Happy is lonely. A fence separates her from Patty, another elephant. Contact through a fence isn’t enough, the NhRP says. Steven Wise is the group’s president. “We understand what [Happy’s] life means to her,” he says, “which is almost nothing at all.”

So the NhRP is taking the Bronx Zoo to court. The group says Happy should be moved to a sanctuary where she can have space to roam and interact with other elephants.

Write your poem here. Remember: 20 words, 5 or 6 lines. It does not have to rhyme. Everyone should have their own original poem.

Reflection: how will what you've done today help you to be more original when you write in English?