Part 8: Writing Exercise

Goals:

1. For the students to get involved in a lively discussion about survival on a ship with their peers.
2. For students to utilize knowledge learned in the last few days , and to apply that knowledge in a written essay and group presentation.
3. For the students to work cooperatively with one another.
4. For students to realize the connection between survival on a ship to real life historical incidents.
5. For students to further their general writing skills and creativity.

1. Pen and paper
2. Notes that have been taken up until this point
3. The Official Titanic Homepage located at http://iccu6.ipswich.gil.com.au/~dalgarry/
4. Each group must have its members and all material they wish to use when presenting. This may include, but is not limited to, overheads, maps, pictures, handouts, and anything else the students wish to use.

Procedure:

1. The teacher begins class with a role play scenario. A group of students will be selected by the
teacher to come up to the front and 'act out' the scenario. Each student will be given a role (i.e. passenger, captain, crew worker, etc.). The students will be prompted that they are all on the same cruise ship and it is going down. How does each react?
2. Let the students role play the scenario for between 5 - 10 minutes.
3. Now, the teacher begins a discussion with the entire class. He/she will ask one or both of the following questions:
- We are all on a ship that is going down. What are you going to do?
- What were some good choices made by the 'actors'? bad choices?
- What were some of the alternatives that could have been chosen?
- What was or was not realistic about the novel and/or movie?
4. Now, the teacher will read an excerpt from the Titanic web page so the students willsee a real life
incident involving a sinking ship.
5. The teacher then proceeds to explain the assignment. The students will write a 1st- person essay on
being a passenger on a sinking ship. Reasons for their actions should be given. These reasons and other supporting evidence should be demonstrated via examples from the past week's lessons, movie, novel, and research on the Titanic. The expectedlength is one to two pages.
6. Following this the students will compose their essays.
7. Once a rough draft of their essays is completed, the students will get into group of four or five students
each. They will be given thirty to forty-five minutes to create a roleplay similar to the introductory one at the beginning of the lesson. This time they will be expected to use solid examples from their essays to explain their actions.
8. Each group will present their role play for a period of approximately ten minutes.
9. Once each group has gone the students will be given another hour to proofread and revise their essays.

1. The discussion will be assessed based on the teacher's careful observation of the students' participation (Criteria for success = determined via observation rubric, attached following Day 1 introductory lesson).
2. The students will be demonstrating the knowledge that they have accumulated in the past week of class . (Criteria for success = "X"# of clear, precise examples of information learned in the past week in both the essays and presentations, and one of these examples must involve the Titanic. This assessment covers both goals two and four).
3. The students will be assessed based on general writing concepts, such as sentence phrasing, organization, spelling, grammar, etc. (Criteria for success = A thorough, well- organized, and clear essay. Determined using the attached writing rubric).
4. The students will demonstrate an ability to work towards the same goal with his/her fellow classmates (Criteria for success = determined via group rubric,  and observation rubric).

1. The students could rewrite their essays in groups, and explain what they think would happen.
2. The students could compare their essays with discovered archives from people on the Titanic and cite similarities and differences.

Go Back To "Survival on a Ship" Part 1: Understanding Survival on aShip

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Survival developed by: David Didier, Justin Brandt, Travis Glandt, and Steve Raethz for the St. Norbert College Ocean Voyagers Program