Meet the Teacher

Tool 3: brain drain lesson review

So what answer did you come up with, Mr. Butt?

Here is my brain drain. First of all, I inserted the adjectivesstrangeandwondrousin front of the subjectclassroom petlike this:

Your class will have astrangeandwondrousclassroom pet. Think about onestrangeandwondrouspet that would be a good pet for your classroom. Write to explain why you think thisstrangeandwondrouspet would be good for your classroom.

Very good. Did spatulating adjectives to the subject help you think of the prompt in a different way?

Indeed it did. Then I used the Wondrous Whatif to come up with the answer to the expository essay question. I thoughtwhat ifmy strange and wondrous classroom pet was - a fish? Not interesting enough. So, I thought what if a strange and wondrous classroom pet was a bearded lizard? Better, but still not interesting enough for me to want to write about. I needed to think bigger. Think think think Then I got it. What if my strange and wondrous pet was a dragon?

That sounds very interesting.I thought so. After I came up with dragon as my answer, I wrote that answer at the top of my planning sheet. Then I did a brain drain to write all the things I could think of about the subject of a dragon as a strange and wondrousclassroompet. So first, I thought about classrooms because a classroom pet is the type of pet the dragon will be. So I wrote:

But eating people wouldn't make them a good pet, would it, Mr. Butt?

Of course not, Bonefish, but I was writing down every thought I had about classrooms and dragons without stopping to think about whether I could use that particular thought in my essay.

The purpose of the brain drain is to give you lots of options when it comes to writing about the subject of your essay. You do not have to use all of the thoughts in your brain drain to create your best explanations; you just have to use the reasons that most interest you.

Good point.

So, what answer did you come up with when choosing a classroom pet, Bonefish?

After I added the adjectivesexcitingandunusualto the subject of the question, I used the Wondrous Whatif and thoughtwhat ifmy exciting and unusual classroom pet was a henway?

I have not heard of this creature. Whats a henway?

About three pounds.

That is approximately what your brain weighs, Bonefish -- if you add 3 pounds.

Sorry, Brain Drain, I always wanted to do that joke. My first answers were gerbil, hamster, and tarantula, but I thought they were all too common.

So what was your most uncommon answer?

I thought what if my exciting and unusual pet was the Abominable Postman?

The Abominable Postman? What does he do? Deliver all his mail to the wrong addresses?

No, he's that big hairy creature that lives in the Himalayan Mountains. And he's related to Bigfoot.

That is the Abominable Snowman!

Oh. Well, anyway I wrote at the top of my planning sheet: what if the Abominable Post - I mean uh Abominable Snowman was our classroom pet? Then under that, I wrote all the things I could think of about the Abominable Snowman.

But I didn't think about the classroom. That was a good idea you had, Mr. Butt, so while you were reading your answer, I did another brain drain about classrooms and school. I wrote my thoughts:

Wonderful, see how easy it is to get all your thoughts on paper when you do a brain drain. Now you have something that can help you to develop the reasons that explain your answer.

But how do I do that?Triplets of Why DetectedLets find out. Keep your planning sheet about the classroom pet handy. It is time to meet the Triplets of Why.

Yes, it is time to learn about our special powers for developing reasons for we are the Triplets of Why.

And so having successfully learned how to gather lots of information about the answer to an essay question, our heroes turn their attention to those most talented of super heroines, the Triplets of Why. Will Bonefish and Butt be able to take a collection of thoughts and turn them into clever reasons that explain their answers or will they fail to make a connection? Join us next lesson for The Trouble with Triplets or Some Made Reasons.