Welcome to this Lesson:

With Your Own Two Hands

Writing a "Change the World" Poem after analyzing artists' points-of-view

This lesson was created by Northern Nevada Writing Project Consultant Rob Stone. If you're interested in using music in the classroom, you can join Rob's Music Inspires Writing! Ning.

This writing prompt inspired by

Ben Harper's "With My Own Two Hands"
(as well as other media)

Click here to do a Google search for the lyrics.

Three-Sentence Overview of this Lesson:

Using Ben Harper’s “With My Own Two Hands” (as well as John Mayer’s “Waiting On The World To Change”), students ponder their roles in changing the world. After analyzing how a variety of important people changed the world, students evaluate the tools they possess to change the world and how realistic it is for them to actually do it. The final product is an original poem, taken through the writing process, in which students express their feelings about this topic.   Teachers: Click here to see the entire lesson plan, which include two embedded, on-line videos that are both free-to-use and an inspiration to this lesson.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is idea development; writers’ final poems will be driven by a message or thesis and they will use a balance unique showing and telling details to support the theme of their poem. The support trait for this lesson is voice; students will convey emotion and passion with their words as well as capture a mood or tone.

Recipient of the NNWP's
Excellent Writing Lesson Award:

Because of the quality of its resources and ideas, this WritingFix lesson was selected by the Northern Nevada Writing Project as November 2009's Writing Lesson of the Month. It was e-mailed to thousands of teachers who are members of the NNWP's Writing Lesson of the Month Teacher Network.

To find out how to become a member of this free network, click here to visit the NNWP's webpage. You can have a link to a high-quality writing lesson sent to you every month.