Resources

by Barbara Danish-Brown

Materials and preparation

Ask all youth to bring in a lemon; or teacher provides them her/himself; or use a similar object that is more readily found. (For the purposes of this lesson, a lemon will be the subject.); paper towels

Lesson 1: Lemons

(may be completed in 1 or 2 classes, depending on time/student needs; times are approximations)

Ask students to look at the lemon with wonder and amazement, as if they’ve never seen a lemon before. Invite students to touch, smell, scrape, and look at the lemon. (10 minutes)

Brainstorm and share descriptions of the lemon: write on board some of the students’ observations. The purpose of this is to get the group’s imagination flowing. Encourage creative responses. (10 minutes)

Depending on student age, teacher may choose to introduce the concept of “comparisons,” highlighting those comparative remarks that students make during the brainstorm. Ask: Why do we compare one thing to another? What is a cliche? How can we use comparisons in writing? (10-20 minutes)

Ask students to open the lemon with their fingers or teeth. (Each way yields a different view of the interior.) Spend another minute of silent observation, then break the students off into groups of 3-4 and ask them to share their observations. (3-4 minutes)

Direct students back to desks and ask them to write something that, in any way, reflects that they had seen a lemon. Discover the lemon. Remember all the senses used in the exploration of the lemon; direct as many of these senses into the writing process as possible.

Students share in groups, partners, or in front of the whole class.

Please read Barbara Danish-Brown’s article “Learning to See” for excerpts of student writing generated by this activity.