Mar 24

Mar 24 Slice of Life: Day 24 - To Have and To Hold #SOL22 #TWTBlog

What is it about seeing, holding, and feeling an important object in your hand that transcends time and space? I visit many classrooms and notice objects being used to inspire the use of physical descriptions and details in writing. For me, however, holding an object that is important to me, typically conjures emotion first and foremost. An emotional journey that is difficult to put into words. Intense and vague; present and distant; focused and universal all at the same time. Holding an object takes me back to a time when … the conversation; my thoughts and the actions. The emotional connection to the object brings it all rushing back to me as clear as day. I wonder if it is the same for young writers. They have not lived through as many years, but do they have objects that are meaningful to them. What would happen if students brought in objects from their lives? Would they shift from telling us about it to telling us a time when….? Would the object be a distraction or a bridge to the heart of their story? Lately, I have placed objects from my children’s early years on my desk. An object that for some reason speaks to me at that moment in time. I find myself gazing at it, holding it, and allowing it to take me to a time when. It opens many doors and invites me to explore new territories as a writer. This leaves me thinking about classrooms and how we could make this an option for students. While notebooks, photographs, and lists provide a bountiful array of ideas, I find an object is different somehow. Not just one object at the beginning of the year as a topic generation activity. The use of an object as an exploration of memory, strong feelings, and stories that matter. An object as a doorway to ideas yet to be discovered and feelings yet to be experienced. An object as part of a writer's toolbox. It is simple enough and ordinary enough that students might even make it a part of their writing lives. I know it works for me.