The Belts: An ELA Creative Assignment

I began teaching Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer ten years ago, in January 2015. Another lifetime, right? At the time I was using the ERWC (Expository Reading Writing Curriculum) module on Into the Wild developed by the California State University system. At one point I read a question posed to students regarding the leather belt Christopher McCandless carved his visual story into with the help of Ron Franz. I thought to myself, What if students were to tell their own stories visually with belts they had “carved into”? They couldn’t achieve this with an actual leather belt; even for those students who had any knowledge of leatherworking, completing such a task would take far too long to fit into a pacing guide. I soon hit upon the idea of using receipt paper—the kind used in cash registers and fuel pumps. I directed my seniors (I have only seniors complete this project) to tear off a piece of receipt paper long enough to wrap just around their waists—no cutting corners! They then are given several days in which to plan and draw out their own story on their “belts.” The results of the Class of 2025 can be seen above and below…

I encourage students to use McCandless’s belt as a model. Use few, if any, words, I tell them. Tell your story in images, symbols, acronyms, etc. Stick figures are fine! (I for one have no artistic talent.) What I’m looking for: creativity, thought, effort. The belt should have a “flow” to it. No glaring gaps between images. Ideally, the images, symbols, etc. will run into one another, meld. If you aren’t using color, I tell students, you need to have a good reason. Finally, students must include a written explanation of their belt when they submit their work. The writing counts quite a bit. Some students do exceedingly well with these instructions; most all students thoroughly enjoy the assignment. If you’re a high school teacher with Into the Wild on your plate, you might want to consider this concept.

It’s important to staple the belts to the classroom wall. Students (yes, even seniors) enjoy looking at all the belts, which should remain anonymous (student names must be written on the back—not on the front). I do my best to build a wall with the belts, putting up belts indiscriminately without organizing by class period or last name.

It’s also important to give students the option NOT to have their belt displayed. Any student who doesn’t want their belt up on the classroom wall needs to draw a star on the back of their belt next to their name. The star tells me to keep the belt in my cabinet. At the end of the school year, seniors are encouraged to take their belts with them as they move on to the next journey.