Teaching Strategy

Patrick Esposito

Purpose:
The purpose for this strategy is to offer students a chance to read for relevant
information and interpret definitions and concepts in a more organic format than
simply looking at definitions or examples. The second part of the assignment offers
students a chance to be creative, work on their writing skills, while also applying
the same concepts they worked with in the reading section.
Summary:
Teachers write their own stories for the students to read, analyze, and extract
the data from. Then teachers instruct students to write their own version of a
similar story that display knowledge and understanding of the concepts used in the
reading portion.
Practical Advice:
Advise your students to keep their stories PG-13, as to not get explicit
material turned into you for a grade. Push them to be creative and not to feel
pressure to be insanely accurate or too tied to any real current or past event. It just
needs to make sense and contain the concepts that are described in the instructions.
This format could be used in many different ways in many different courses. For
example, it could be used to understand political views on policy in a government
class, or different symptoms or personality concepts in a psychology class.
Materials Needed:
All you need is Google Classroom to complete it digitally or a word
processor and printer to complete it manually. Teacher must prepare example
stories before class. Teaching the targeted concepts through some form of direct
instruction beforehand is also important for good results.

Read the stories below. Name 2 PUSH factors and 2 PULL Factors from each story, then tell
me what type of factor they are (economic, social, political, or environmental).
Story 1:
My name is Corey Jackson. The year is 2005 and my family and I have just survived
Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The storm has destroyed many of the local businesses, roads,
bridges, as well as many peoples homes, including our own. My dad worked as a software
engineer before the storm hit, but the company he worked for decided to move away from New
Orleans following the hurricane as their office was destroyed. We plan to move west to Silicon
Valley in California where there are many jobs for people like my dad. I hear the weather is
really nice there too! Santa Clara has a young and active population as well as a brand new
stadium where the 49ers play! (Ill always be a Saints fan no matter what though) They may
have more earthquakes in California, but it should be the last time we have to deal with a
hurricane. I just wish my cousins and grandparents could all come with us.
2 Push factors from the story and their type:

2 Pull factors from the story and their type:

Story 2:
My name is Julia Morales. The year is 2008. My brother was killed in the street
yesterday, caught in some crossfire on his way home from school. We live on the outskirts of
Ciudad Juarez in Mexico where the fighting between the drug cartels and the Mexican authorities
is particularly bad. I wish the government was able to control these criminals more effectively,
but the amount of money the drug trade brings in makes it easy for the cartels to bribe local
officials and supply themselves with guns and ammunition. My mom says that this is the final
straw and that we have to get out of here and away from the violence once and for all. We no
longer have the money or time to go through the immigration process to enter the U.S. legally, so
my uncle who lives in Texas plans to help us get there any way we can. My mom says that our
new home, Austin, is a growing and beautiful city with lots to do and any many new jobs for us

to make a living! It will also be much safer than where we are from! I hope our new neighbors
will understand our struggle and welcome us as proud Americans.
2 Push factors from the story and their type:

2 Pull factors from the story and their type:

Story 3:
My name is Darius Ahadi. The year is 2015. I live in Mississippi with my mother and
my sisters. My mom took a job at the university here in the late 1990s to pursue her research on
renewable energy resources. Her research is going well and she seems to be happy with her
work, but the pay is not as good a she would have hoped. In addition to our money troubles, my
family and I are practicing Muslims and are of Persian heritage which has made life difficult here
. My sisters choose to wear their traditional head garb (called a hijab) while out in public as they
feel this is the moral and modest thing to do according to our faith. Many locals have been
making very rude comments and even threatening my sisters for their choice in clothing. While
the U.S. protects religious freedom, it is difficult to stop day to day harassment from these
unfortunate neighbors. My mom always talked about taking a job in Canada where the pay
would be higher for her work and the people would be more tolerant of our religion. So after
much consideration, we have decided to move to Canada where my mom can continue her work
for better pay, my sisters can practice their faith with hopefully less persecution, and I can finally
get away from this heat!
2 Push factors from the story and their type:

2 Pull factors from the story and their type:

Now it is time to write your own short story. Create a character and a situation where they want
to move like the ones above. This can be based of another story (movie, book, tv show), your
own life, or something completely made up. The only requirements are that your story make
sense and contain:
at least 3 PUSH factors
at least 3 PULL factors
within these six total factors represent at least 3 DIFFERENT TYPES of factors (economic,
social, environmental, or political)