Abigail Sedlacek

Comparing Apples and Oranges

Finding creative ways to engage tactile learners is always a challenge for me in my writing classes. I was pretty excited about this activity so I thought I'd share it with the group! In order to demonstrate a strategy for how to write and organize a compare/contrast essay, I brought in apples, oranges, and sticky notes. I gave each student an apple and an orange, and had them put five sticky notes under each fruit. Then I had them choose five points on which to compare the fruits. I explained that they could do pretty much anything they wanted with the fruits -- smell them, taste them, touch them, drop them on the ground to see what sound they made, etc.; the point was for them to gather detailed information by closely examining the subjects. They filled out the sticky notes, then arranged the notes into an effective compare/contrast structure. The practice essays that resulted from this activity were fun, interesting, and well-organized; I think my students appreciated working with concrete objects instead of ideas for a change.