September 19, 2012
Good Morning, and welcome to Writing Wednesday!
Today we’re going to work with an excerpt from a book called AMAZON DIARY.This is a fictional story about a 12-year-old boy named Alex Winter who is flying down to the Amazon jungle to visit his parents, who are anthropologists working there. When the small plane in which Alex is traveling crashes, he ends up living among an Amazon tribe, and keeping a diary about his experience.
This book is designed in a very unusual way. First, it uses handwriting (supposedly Alex’s handwriting in his diary) instead of printed text. It also incorporates drawings, doodles, and actual photographs of the Yonomami people. We’d like you to read this excerpt from Amazon Diary and as you read, think about ways in which how the story looks affects how you understand and enjoy what you are reading.
From AMAZON DIARY, by Hudson Talbott and Mark Greenberg
Your Assignment: Think about how the illustrations and pictures contribute to the story. How is this different than other books you have read? Then, write a reflection about how using diverse (different kinds of) media affects a piece of writing.
When you are finished, click on the yellow "Comments" below to post your writing. Enjoy today’s visit to the Amazon!
Note to Educators: Today’s Writing Wednesday exercise is designed to use in support of CCSS Reading/Literature Anchor Standard #7: Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem). Amazon Diary is one of the newly recorded and reformatted eBooks available in the StarWalk Kids digital collection. Click here for more information about signing up for a free, 60-day trial for your school.
Posted by: Liz Nealon
