Reader and writer relationship – making a drama of things - How to teach non-fiction

How to teach: English - Chris Curtis 2019

Reader and writer relationship – making a drama of things
How to teach non-fiction

Some would say that teaching non-fiction can be … a little … dry. Obviously, I disagree with this, but I admit it can be a bit cold, and that’s why adding a bit of drama can help. I like getting students to work in pairs for this. One student is the reader, the other is pretending to be the writer (of the text being studied in the lesson). The reader has to explain how they think or feel when reading the text.

I am a bit shocked because …

I didn’t expect …

I was worried at first that …

I didn’t like …

At this point, I get students to share their reactions to the text. It does feel like a self-help group and can get a little emotional, but they get the idea really quickly. Either that, or they morph into melodrama in the most unpleasant manner.

Then I get the students to work in pairs again, but this time the writer has to explain what they did and why they wanted the reader to feel a specific emotion.

I wanted you to feel … so I used …

I thought you would think … so therefore …

I wanted to surprise you, so I …

The fusion of these two elements helps students to work on the difficult connection between what the reader thinks and feels and the writer’s intent, which is a hard thing to develop. And it adds a bit of drama to the lesson.