What is the Composition JamBox?
The Composition JamBox accompanies each Jam. The JamBox provides different ways for students to create one of the Core Compositions for each book. Teachers and students can dial up the technology to work on today’s required 21st-century standards, or compose a classic composition—the JamBox guides teachers and students through all variations.
How Does It Work?
1. Students pick one of four Core Compositions.
- Autobiographical
- Compare and Contrast
- Expository/Research
- Persuasive
2. Students follow an outline process.
- Deconstruct the Prompt
- Brainstorm What You Already Know
- Organize the Information
- Frame a Central Premise (Thesis Statement) for Your Composition
- Do Research to Better Support Your Thesis
- Outline Your Composition
- Choose a Format for Student Expression
Turn Up the Tech
3. Choosing a Format for Student Expression
Instead of asking kids to write an essay, you might want to consider asking kids to create a composition in one of the project-based learning formats found on the Composition JamBox tech dial. You your students can pick this format.
For each format, there is a no-tech, low-tech, or high-tech option.
We provide the steps, guidelines, graphic organizers, and rubrics for each kind of composition. At the left is an example of the printable student materials for a high-tech Visual Imagery Composition.
Remember, this is just one type of composition that students might create in the Composition JamBox—there are endless possibilities for creation, limited only by the imagination and creativity of you and your students!
