In the classroom, observation transcribes to students’ abilities to use description and summary effectively in their writing.
Observation in writing is about options. The concept of observational writing is to show students how to examine their intellectual choices, as it encourages students to consider all of the decisions they can take in an essay. Observation influences students to become more active in writing, reading, and thinking about the topics presented to them. The process of observation helps students on their path in developing critical thinking skills.
The culmination of this unit will be an observation-based essay, an inductive assignment that asks students to write from a particular experience of a context, grounded by a particular scene of inquiry (a place, a person, a thing, a word).
See Observation Lessons, Prompts, and Handouts for sample assignments and lesson plans that you are welcome to draw from or use in full.