Disney-themed writing assignment - Help needed!

[lissawynn]

Tomorrow I am going to begin teaching a comparison/contrast essay to two of my classes. I always stress to my students that they should write about what they know and about what they like. I'm going to use Magic Kingdom and Epcot as my topics, and I'm hoping you all can help me out with the details.
If you have a minute, can you post some similarities and differences the parks have? I have a list of my own but would like as much info as I can gather so my students can see that having more info is better than not having enough.
Thanks!

 

[Cindy B]

I teach writing (7th and 8th grade) and I wouldn't use those topics. My students are urban students and they don't get off their block much let alone one town, not even to mention Florida whic is many states away. If I did those examples, it would come off as elitist to my students. In my high poverty school, my students and their families have a hard time paying for groceries, let alone a vacation.

Remember to know your audience is something that they know.. your examples would be ok for you, but your student MAY not be able to visualize this and you might get tons of stares. Have your students all gone to Disney? Remember students may just see these individuals as all parts of Disney World (remember some people think Universal is part of Disney!)

I use dogs. Dogs can be short haired, long haired, big or small. For my example they can both be black dogs or white dogs. I use Venn diagrams to show both and make sure they are at least three in each "area". Mostlly everyone knows dogs and can picture a dog, in one way shape or form.

For my students, Disney World is something they see on TV, but can't picture all of it. I'd stay away from any Disney . You don't want to make any student feel bad that they haven't gone and they may just "make up" things just to make it look like they haven't gone to Disney.

I'd personally do somethng NOT Disney. Dogs are great and easy. I've also seen food used.

 

[eduk8r26]

There are lots of things they can write about that they have experienced. I'm remembering back some years to an assignment our 6th graders did and still do. It's part of the standard for 6th grade. They could compare the games of football and soccer or basketball and baseball or any 2 games that use a ball. One example that was given in the book was to compare a record and a CD. That might be a bit farfetched as most kids don't know what a record is. Another one they did in 3rd grade was to read a story in their reader about Mulan, which was a Chinese folk tale. Then they watched the Disney Mulan and wrote about that. There are many versions of the Cinderella story that can be read and written about. I agree with the previous post that unless you have actually experienced Epcot and Magic Kingdom, it would be difficult to write about it.

 

[meliss8599]

I think it's a cute idea and my students love when I talk about Disney and show them pictures. Just because I will never one day be able to afford a trip to, let's say, Africa doesn't mean I don't ever want to learn about it or hear about someone else's trip there! I'd love it!

Some differences off the top of my head:

Different icons - castle vs. geodesic ball

Built in different years

Some similarities:

Different countries represented in both - World Showcase & It's A Small World

Characters appear in both

 

[Wall-E1]

I'd personally do somethng NOT Disney. Dogs are great and easy.

We could compromise and use Disney dogs. OP could compare Pluto and Goofy. One is a pet that is owned by a mouse, and the other drives a car and speaks. One walks on four legs, the other on two legs.

 

[LuvOrlando]

This sounds like fun!

Off the top of my head EPCOT is reality based with a focus on culture and human advancement while the Magic Kingdom is grounded by fictional characters. Both are larger than life and not really representative of the real world though, but that's why we love them

EPCOT is a big figure 8 while MK is organized like a wagon wheel. Both are beautifully landscaped which is designed to hide the fact it is a set.

Magic Kingdom is more rides based that EPCOT, which leans more heavily on experiences. Both have fireworks shows at night.

Good luck

 

[SandrA9810]

Kari did a report on Epcot for her college class. Except she did hers based on E.P.C.O.T. EPCOT and Epcot. Walt's idea for it, what it was when it opened, and what it is now. She provided a ton of pictures, and a park map for all the students. We made a special trip the weekend before to do all that, which was a bit easier when you're only a 4hr drive away and passholder.

But it's another take on it, if you want to do Disney.

Magic Kingdom is based on fantasy, Epcot based on the real world and future progress.
Easy layout of the park, with slight differences moving you from one area to the next.
Ex: The shapes of the walkways/planters in Future World East are all angled, while Future World West uses curves.
Ex: Transition from Liberty Square into Fantasyland uses the covered walkway from Columbia Harbor House
You also have costumes tailored to each area.
Magic Kingdom has more rides than Epcot

 

[Hannathy]

I don't think they are different enough to an ordinary person.
There aren't enough blatant differences to contrast and compare unless you really know the parks. I wouldn't be happy with that assignment for my child.
How is a child who has never been there going to write about it? Isn't this just a writing exercise where the writing is the important thing not the subject? so if a child hasn't been there they would have to do research on the 2 parks just to do the assignment focusing more on looking up things than just the writing style.

 

[kaytieeldr]

No, the students aren't going to, or be going to be expected to, write about Walt Disney World. The teacher wants to use two aspects of Walt Disney World as her example of "compare and contrast".

Then the students will each use a subject they know to complete the assignment - dogs, as suggested above; or vehicles; or foods; or fast food restaurants; or Kindle/Nook (and then the OP can get that student's permission to post that essay here every time somebody asks "which is better" )...

 

[Cindy B]

I knew it was the teachers example.. and it still is too vague for most. To most people, Disney World is the Magic Kingdom, Disney World is Epcot.. some people have told me they have gone to Disney World to ride Spiderman and Hulk (those are Islands of Adventure) there isn't enough differences for the students the grasp the nuances UNLESS THEY HAVE BEEN THERE.

Unless they have all been there, it is a poor example. If it became a homework assignment, it would require addtional research which in my students case --they don't have the computers or resources to do so. Those examples would be examples in futility.

Use OBVIOUS examples, dogs, food, urban vs. suburban, TV shows, music.

 

[minniebeth]

We could compromise and use Disney dogs. OP could compare Pluto and Goofy. One is a pet that is owned by a mouse, and the other drives a car and speaks. One walks on four legs, the other on two legs.

OP, how old are your students?
I get that OP was using Epcot/MK as examples for her kids. It is fun if kids are familiar or older.

I used to teach 6th grade, and the compare and contrast essays were always the hardest for them to grasp and write. Unless they are HS students, I agree with the simpler the better. You want them to have a successful piece of writing where the process is more important than the content.