Great to be participating in this project for SD67. Thanks to the crew for letting me join in.
For my "test" project - I decided to try to incorporate a Literature Circle activity to allow students in my Eng 10 class the opportunity to experience a number of learning outcomes.
I wanted to give them:
- choice in picking a novel to read;
- choice in the roles they could undertake as part of the Lit Circle;
- choice in setting deadlines and a plan to finish their books;
- ability to discuss their ideas freely - a "flipped" classroom - whereby the teacher is simply a facilitator, and the students "run" the class.
- choice in picking their final summative projects.
Students were exposed to a number of novel choices, class voted on the top 8 novels to pick from. From those 8 novels, students were allowed to pick which novel they would like to read. The only criteria is that there had to be at least 2 students reading the same novel (to make a group).
The class ended up covering 7 different novels, with groups ranging from 2-6 members. Each week, the novel groups met and discussed their novel. Each student had a specific role that they had to complete and be prepared to discuss during the meeting time. Difficulty here was between the groups of 2 and 6 - the groups of 2 would be finished discussing 10mins into it (as they only had 2 roles to cover) - the larger groups could take up to 25mins to discuss their different jobs. Need to figure out a way to make sure there is something to do for that 25mins. Develop test questions for the novel? Do a group analysis...character analysis, setting description, work on a diorama, etc.
The difference in this Lit Circle activity is that I also wanted to give students the choice as to how to demonstrate their final understanding of the novel. They have had choice all the way through the process - why stop at the end.
I came up with a final assignment that had 4 components to it. For 3 of the 4 components, students could chose between several different options to how they would best like to present their novel. The only constant was the 4th component which was to write an essay (or multi-paragraph) covering the characters, conflict and theme of their novel. The students were provided with a blackline master to plan out their essay and they were allowed to bring that "plan" into the writing session. They were also given time prior to the writing block to discuss their ideas with their group (how to write an introduction, what to include, some ideas to discuss the topics of each paragraph, etc).
Here is an excerpt from the culminating activity assignment sheet:
"You will need to select 3 activities - one from category A, B, and C. You will also be required to do the Group D activity. You can choose to do more than one from categories A-C, which will add to your final project score if you complete all 3 of your required activities.
Group A (6 marks) | Group B (6 marks) | Group C (6 marks) | Group D (12 marks) |
Museum Artefacts (min 10).
Collages representing different characters from your book (min 2 characters).
A new cover for book - actual size.
Poster to advertise a movie version of the book.
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Interview session with at least one character (min 5mins interview, videotaped).
Impersonation of a key character.
Tableau activity. |
Report on the author's life - research project - min 1 page.
Narrative poem connecting theme (min 3 themes).
Character journey.
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Literature Circle Final Write (3-5 formal paragrahs)
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Students could also design their own activity and substitute it for one of the component activities (i.e., one student made a character mobile).
I was really surprised at how many students took on the impersonation choice - they were given bonus marks if they dressed up as a character for the entire day. They had to chose 5 key aspects that they wanted to show about their character and do a brief write-up as to why they thought those 5 things were important.
The idea behind the impersonation was to allow for creativity on the part of the student - but also to raise awareness and interest in the particular book around the school. Surely students dressing up as characters would cause students, teachers, etc to ask what was going on...and so it would allow the students to discuss their novels.
I was amazed and impressed with the level of excitement and interest that the students took in creating their characters. Some students spent hours getting their costumes ready (going out and getting supplies, researching with their parents how to make a zombie face, etc). It was very clear that they put a great deal of thought into how they could best demonstrate key characteristics of their characters...rather than simply doing a worksheet on character traits.
Here are some of the photos from the day.
This is a group of students who read the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. They picked things like the obvious survival elements of the story (bow and arrow, packs, face paint, etc), but also made sure to include things like the flames on their outfits to represent the importance of fire to the survival of the characters in the story.
Another student who read A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah - took the time to make a cutout of Ishmael's face, had a cutout of an machine gun and found a relic in a tape recorder (which was a key element of the story in how Ishmael learned english).
A guard from the book Ender's Game. Sunglasses, plump body, stern attitude, etc.
Two students who read The Boy Who Couldn't Die. "K" spent hours researching with her mom at home via the internet on how to make a realistic zombie face - she made up her outfit with kleenex, makeup, etc. There was no way that she didn't cause a few people to turn their heads and ask "What is up with that?".
I really liked this one as well. Even though it is simple, there was an effort to highlight the element of Sameness from Lois Lowry's The Giver. Down to the shoes and shoelaces. "T" would have fit right in with The Community!
Here are a few samples from the other components of the project as well.
Character Journey
and Book Covers
