The best topics for writing have a strong personal connection.
Regretfully, most research papers are boring for students to write and painful for teachers to read.
Family Reports will contain both:
Primary interview information from two different people.
Secondary textual information from academic articles, books, websites, newspapers etc.
Hospice Table of Contents:
Collage with quotations from hospice volunteers and patients.
Poem--Patient Two
Phone Log
Menu--Clyde’s Bar-B-Cue Barn
Diary of a hospice nurse
Birthday Party Invitation
Obituary- Timmy Clark
Help Wanted Ad
Conclusion- letter from a hospice volunteer
A friend who belongs to club like Civil War re-enactment.
A neighbor who has an unusual job like a mobile dog groomer.
A community member who volunteers like art museum docents.
A hobby group who restores old cars.
A person who has a booth at a local farmer's market.
A coach for a children's soccer team.
An elderly person who belongs to a senior sewing circle.
A home nurse who visits elderly patients.
Huge writing projects are frightening for both teachers and students.
Projects will be broken down into smaller parts with frequent deadlines.
All of the work will be started in class.
Writers must have a topic
that is important to them
.
Brainstorming sheets are a great prewriting strategy.
Brainstorming sheets should have lots of prompts which help students to think of more ideas than they might have thought of independently.
The goal of brainstorming is to generate a bazillion ideas.
If the prompt does not apply you, CHANGE IT to be about something that fits your life.
Instead of family, the questions could be answered for friends, neighbors, teachers, or pets.
Instead of community, the questions could be about where you work, visit, or vacation.
Instead of a group, the questions could be about someone you know who has a hobby, collection, or once did something strange.
Tell which type of folklore project you are considering: family, community, or group.
Tell what stories you know about.
Tell which people you could interview.
Tell about another possible topic.
Ask questions
Have local, cooperative, talkative informants.
Pique your interest.
Tell stories that can inspire, educate, or entertain.
Represent people, places, and issues that are important to you.
Ask other family and friends to tell you about good stories that they know.
Take some time to think about what story you want to work on this term.
Shared Culture of a Group: Neighborhood, Occupation, Family, Hobby, Ethnicity, etc.
Traditions and Customs.
How can the stories be told respectfully?
It is only about fairy tales, vampires, or weird stuff.
The story has to be something worthy of national news or already written in a book.
The story has to be one that is frequently retold.