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Grades level iconsGrades 6–8
Session time icon2 Sessions: 2 Hours each
Genre information iconFantasy/SciFi, Narrative, Poetry, STEM
Resource type iconLessons

Infinite Recess

Emily Clader and Daniel Reck, 826michigan
Students will create infinite poems using fractals, imagine life on a doughnut, and speculate about a universe where time goes crazy. Along the way, they'll explore cool, new math facts and concepts.
Download Includes
Lesson Instructions Content Background for Instructors 2 Lesson Handouts 2 Optional STEM@Home Follow-Up Activities 1 Student Writing Sample
What Your Students Will Learn

In this lesson, students will learn how imposing structure on writing can inspire them even while constraining them. By developing an awareness of mathematical structure in life, they will be able to imagine the world in a different and exciting new way.

Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3 Common Core Standards Icon
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.A Common Core Standards Icon
Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.B Common Core Standards Icon
Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.C Common Core Standards Icon
Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.D Common Core Standards Icon
Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.E Common Core Standards Icon
Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.4 Common Core Standards Icon
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.5 Common Core Standards Icon
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.7 Common Core Standards Icon
Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.8 Common Core Standards Icon
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.9 Common Core Standards Icon
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.9.A Common Core Standards Icon
Apply grade 6 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres [e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories] in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics”).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.9.B Common Core Standards Icon
Apply grade 6 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not”).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.10 Common Core Standards Icon
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3 Common Core Standards Icon
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3.A Common Core Standards Icon
Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3.B Common Core Standards Icon
Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3.C Common Core Standards Icon
Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3.D Common Core Standards Icon
Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3.E Common Core Standards Icon
Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.4 Common Core Standards Icon
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.5 Common Core Standards Icon
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.7 Common Core Standards Icon
Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.8 Common Core Standards Icon
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.9 Common Core Standards Icon
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.9.A Common Core Standards Icon
Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history”).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.9.B Common Core Standards Icon
Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g. “Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims”).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.10 Common Core Standards Icon
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3 Common Core Standards Icon
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3.A Common Core Standards Icon
Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3.B Common Core Standards Icon
Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, and reflection, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3.C Common Core Standards Icon
Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence, signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another, and show the relationships among experiences and events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3.D Common Core Standards Icon
Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3.E Common Core Standards Icon
Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4 Common Core Standards Icon
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.5 Common Core Standards Icon
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.7 Common Core Standards Icon
Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.8 Common Core Standards Icon
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.9 Common Core Standards Icon
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.9.A Common Core Standards Icon
Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new”).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.9.B Common Core Standards Icon
Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced”).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.10 Common Core Standards Icon
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Session 1
Timer
2 hours
Fractal Poetry
In this session, students learn that shapes don't have to be silent, and poetry doesn't have to be linear, as they write shapes in verse, and verse in shapes.
Session 2
Timer
2 hours
Leaving Space and Time
In this session, students will use ideas from mathematics to imagine and write about worlds in which space and time behave strangely. The first half of the session will be devoted to space, leaving the second half to think about time.
Introduction :

We’re letting you in on a bit of a secret here: math and writing are pretty much the same thing. This might come as a surprise, but think about it. Like writing, math helps us understand the world by allowing us to describe the rules it follows and explore what would change if we broke those rules. In this lesson, students learn how imposing structure on writing can inspire them even while constraining them. By developing an awareness of mathematical structure in life, they will be able to imagine the world in a different and exciting new way. Together, you’ll create infinite poems using fractals, imagine life on a doughnut, and speculate about a universe where time goes crazy. Along the way, everyone will learn some cool math facts and some helpful writing strategies.

Session 1: Fractal Poetry

In this session, students learn that shapes don't have to be silent, and poetry doesn't have to be linear, as they write shapes in verse, and verse in shapes.

You Will Need
  • Copies of the “Fractal Poetry: A Step-by-Step Guide” handout
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From This Publication

STEM to Story: Enthralling and Effective Lesson Plans for Grades 5-8 inspires learning through fun, engaging, and meaningful lesson plans that fuse hands-on discovery in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) with creative writing. The workshop activities within the book are the innovative result of a partnership between 826 National's proven creative writing model and Time Warner Cable's Connect a Million Minds, an initiative dedicated to connecting young people to the wonders of STEM through hands-on learning. Authentically aligned with both the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards, this book provides teachers, after-school and out-of-school providers, and parents with field-tested lessons, workshops, and projects designed by professionals in each field. Including reflective observations by arts and science celebrities like Jon Scieszka, Mayim Bialik, and Steve Hockensmith, lessons feature bonus activities, fun facts, and teaching points for instructors at every level. These quirky, exploratory lessons will effectively awaken student imaginations and passions for both STEM and creative writing, encourage identity with scientific endeavors, and make both science and writing fun.

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