Our magazine was designed to foster conversation—but The Bad Version is only the beginning of a project that extends beyond the printed page. The next step will take us into the classroom, where so many of us spend the most time learning to read, think, and discuss.
Beginning with pilot programs in New Jersey, we will be offering select Bad Version articles with accompanying lesson plans to schools across the nation. Not only will this introduce high school classrooms to cultural criticism—a type of writing that many of us do not engage with until college—but it will also remind students that writing can be a crucial tool to deepen our understanding of any aspect of the world. Pondering the present day, written from a youthful perspective, and structured with responses, the articles offer perfect in-class debate prompts. They address issues young Americans care about in an accessible yet incisive way, offer a range of viewpoints, and encourage students to form their own.
Our lesson plans will outline a critical discussion of the substantive ideas raised in the selected pieces and present a nuts-and-bolts approach to the writing processes on display. We will provide suggestions on how to craft arguments and how to focus ideas as well as on new and topical avenues for exploration. To complement the learning that goes on inside the classroom and take the process beyond it, we will also offer online resources for additional discussion and collaboration so that students across the country can take part in the conversation that The Bad Version is all about.
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