Learning Network: 12 Ideas for Writing Through the Pandemic With The New York Times

Writing journals, poems, comics and more — for students to try at home.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story April 17, 2020

Dear Reader,

The coronavirus has transformed life as we know it. Schools are closed, we’re confined to our homes and the future feels very uncertain. Why write at a time like this?

For one, we are living through history. Future historians may look back on the journals, essays and art that ordinary people are creating now to tell the story of life during the coronavirus pandemic.

But writing can also be deeply therapeutic. It can be a way to express our fears, hopes and joys. It can help us make sense of the world and our place in it.

Plus, even though school buildings are shuttered, that doesn’t mean learning has stopped. Writing can help us reflect on what’s happening in our lives and form new ideas.

We want to help inspire students’ writing while they learn from home, so this week we offer 12 writing projects, all based on pieces from The New York Times, including personal narrative essays, editorials, comic strips and podcasts. Some also offer opportunities to get students’ work published in The Times, on The Learning Network or elsewhere. In fact, our podcast contest is going on right now until May 19.

One other opportunity we want to make sure you know about: We’re hosting a live webinar on April 22 about how to use our daily lesson plans, which cover topics from Thoreau and ocean research to global politics and past pandemics.

Thank you for being a member of our community.

Sincerely,

Michael Gonchar and Natalie Proulx, editors

CURRENT EVENTS AND MULTIMEDIA What’s Going On in This Graph? | April 22, 2020 How has Covid-19 changed our spending habits? By The Learning Network current events Lesson of the Day: ‘Lessons in Constructive Solitude From Thoreau’ In this lesson, students will learn about Henry David Thoreau and why his two-year-plus experiment in self-isolation at Walden Pond is relevant today. By Jeremy Engle current events Lesson of the Day: ‘Katharine, the Great White Shark Who Ghosted Her Trackers, Resurfaces’ In this lesson, students will learn about shark behavior and research — and consider why social media accounts for sea creatures may contribute to scientific research. By Katherine Schulten weekly news quiz for students Weekly News Quiz for Students: Joe Biden, U.S. Infection Rates, Saturday Night Live How well did you follow the news this past week? How many of these 10 questions can you get right? Compiled by Jeremy Engle and John Otis current events Lesson of the Day: ‘Five Takeaways on What Trump Knew as the Virus Spread’ In this lesson, students will analyze the causes and effects of the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. By Natalie Proulx current events Lesson of the Day: ‘Here’s How Those Hot Jigsaw Puzzles Are Made’ In this lesson, students learn about the steps involved in creating jigsaw puzzles — and why, by design, it is a time-consuming process. By Shannon Doyne What’s Going On in This Picture? | April 13, 2020 Look closely at this image, stripped of its caption, and join the moderated conversation about what you and other students see. By The Learning Network

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WRITING, LITERACY SKILLS AND STUDENT VOICE current events 12 Ideas for Writing Through the Pandemic With The New York Times A dozen writing projects — including journals, poems, comics and more — for students to try at home. By Natalie Proulx current events conversation What Students Are Saying About Acts of Kindness, Internet Habits and Where They’d Like to Be Stranded Teenage comments in response to our recent writing prompts, and an invitation to join the ongoing conversation. By The Learning Network picture prompts Book Updates How might you update or reimagine a favorite childhood book? By The Learning Network student opinion What Weaknesses and Strengths About Our World Are Being Exposed by This Pandemic? How would you answer this question in terms of how your own family and community have been affected? How would you answer it more broadly, in thinking about your city, your nation or the world? By Katherine Schulten student opinion Should We All Be Able to Vote by Mail? Faced with the coronavirus pandemic, many are pushing for alternatives to in-person voting. Is that the right thing to do? Or will it compromise the integrity of elections? By Jeremy Engle student opinion When Has Starting Over Worked for You? Do you tend to abandon an idea that hasn’t worked, or do you go back, improve it and try again? By Katherine Schulten student opinion What Acts of Kindness Have You Heard About or Participated In During Coronavirus? During this crisis people and groups have delivered free groceries, canceled rent for tenants and called to check in on seniors. How might helping others also benefit oneself? By Shannon Doyne picture prompts Dinosaurs What story does this image inspire for you? By The Learning Network

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ELSEWHERE IN THE TIMES ‘I Can’t Believe I Am Going to Say This, but I Would Rather Be at School’ We asked students, from kindergarten to 12th grade, what it’s like to learn from home. Here’s what they had to say, in their own words — and drawings. By Henry Dodd economic view Online Learning Should Return to a Supporting Role Winner-take-all economics and cost-cutting may make many in-person lectures obsolete, but the best education continues to be intensive, expensive and done in person. By David Deming

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