Connect

In an attempt to relate learning experiences to real life, students can use what they already know to engage in and expand new leaning experiences.  Connecting past learning by applying or relating those experiences to new or future content will enhance the students cognitive processing and make all learning meaningful.  While researching ways to engage students in American Literature I came across an idea to relate social problems of today to those which influenced the writing of American Authors. With the assistance of PBS Individual American Masters website and classroom discussions regarding social problems in the United States, I hoped to determine if students understood the affect of social problems and how they influenced an author's writing experience; and to what extent.  The student responses were then published in the "Leave a Reply" section on the individual American writers database and also recorded into the classroom blog on the topic titled "connect".  Students then crafted a classroom glossary featuring demographic data from their assigned American author.  As a way to show how important social problems are in relationship to literature and specific American authors,  students provided real world examples and their impact in their reply.  Students applied what they had already learned and connected past and present learning activities.