The Great Gatsby And Green Light Rewrite

Perhaps the most drastic change between how these students approach my classroom writing and how they approach their collaborative fan fiction is in the planning stage. I have never previously observed either of these students engaging in any sort of planning before writing. However, in their Green Light Rewrite they spent almost fifteen full minutes of discussion before beginning the formal writing. Although both students had MacBook computers, Kay pulled out a spiral notebook and wrote down notes and questions they want to address in their fan fiction work. Kay states, “I’m going to keep it all on paper.” As they begin to type, they referred to these notes and questions. Taking this step to slow down, think, and prepare before writing naturally sets up the students for better quality writing, especially with setting up a solid continuity of ideas. I stress this every time we write an essay in the classroom and this is the first time I have seen it happen among my students. As these students worked together, I noticed sustained high levels of

That's good! Can we put it towards her Daisy? Kay: You mean like … (typing)? I think that works! As they structured their narrative, they constantly checked in with one another regarding both their own authorial choices and grammar. The only time they needed assistance from me occurred when they were unsure if Gatsby’s thoughts should be displayed in italics or quotation marks. When the group met again to create their alternate ending to the novel, Kay and Jae displayed no hesitancy, jumping right in with: Jae: My idea was we started it when he was like . . . Nick would leave, he would like change into his bathing suit or something and save Gatsby. Kay: My ideas was kinda like Gatsby's getting in the pool, Nick is leaving and he gets to his house and he's like, I should be with him right now so he goes back and sees George and George is gonna kill