Different Approaches to the Same Task

 This lesson was focused on poetry in an AP Literature classroom.  

I gave small groups of students an envelope with 19 slips of paper in it.  The slips were individual lines of the poem The Death of a Toad by Richard Wilbur--plus the title.

Then, based on what we had learned about poetry in terms of syntax, rhyme scheme, structure, point of view, & more, students were to fit the "puzzle" of the poem together.  (NOTE: I did NOT cut the papers such that the students could actually fit the lines together puzzle-style...and I told them this.)

This year, my students were so thoughtful about their approach to solving the puzzle, that I just had to share it with you.

Here are some direct quotes from their conversations:

• After reading over the poem "let's organize it before & after his death." (Focusing on PLOT & STRUCTURE)

• "Let's look at all of the periods so then we can figure out how full sentences fit together" (Focusing on SYNTAX & STRUCTURE)

• "How does the rhyme scheme work? Is it AA BB or is it AB AB...?" (Focusing on RHYME SCHEME & STRUCTURE)

There were more, but these were the few I jotted down as they worked.  I was so impressed with them--pulling together all the things they knew and had learned about poetry in order to figure out how this poem "worked."

Student Buy-In

When getting students to "buy in" to a lesson, it helps to involve them and their interests as much as possible.  To do this, I try to encourage students to bring in their own ideas and passions to the work we are doing.  For example, when working to discover how authors establish mood, I invite students to bring in their own books.  In this way, they share their own "moody literature" and have sense of what the book is about in the first place.  In addition, they typically choose to share something they like, so then they are more invested. 

In the photos below, you will see students sharing their "moody literature" with classmates and working to 1) identify the mood present and 2) discuss how the author establishes that mood.  This is also a good way to expose them to literature recommended by their classmates, and thus, they are more likely to be interested in reading it.
 

Lit Circles with Student Choice, Autonomy, & Control

As we approach the end the school year, and engage in our final unit of study, students are in groups, reading a novel they selected (from a provided list).  This spring, the student options are: The Secret Life of Bees, The Things They Carried, and The Road.  Students rated the books after listening to a book talk on each, indicating their level of interest.  Based on their responses, I placed them in groups (as best I could) with their top choices.

Students prepare analyses of what they've read based on a teacher-created schedule; however, students determine how much they read for each scheduled day.  I try to give them as much autonomy as possible, but for this final unit, I selected the topics they would discuss (characterization, setting, syntax, structure, etc) so that they could be best prepared for the final exam.

Here they are discussing their novels on their first collaborative discussion day:

   

All Part of the Shakesperiance

In addition to students' Presentational Speaking and Listening Summative Assessments, students also engage with a close reading of Shakespeare as a part of their summative experience in this unit.  To prep, (in addition to reading & close reading Hamlet) students practice "translating" several sonnets and speeches from other Shakespeare plays.  In the photos below, you will see students engaging in their Meet and Greet (or Move, Pair, Share) to discuss their progress with a sonnet.  In prepping with these several formative experiences, I have students approach the readings in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to:

1.  On their own
2.  With a partner
3.  On their own and then moving to meet with a partner
4.  In a trio
5.  Students approach different sonnets on their own and then go discuss them with students who had different sonnets
6.  Groups of students tend to the same sonnet on their own--and then go meet with people who had the same sonnet to discuss their progress


All of the practicing and close reading paid off!  Nearly all students met or exceeded expectations on the Summative Assessment!
 
 

Hamlet's First Eleven Lines

As we begin reading and analyzing Hamlet, we are starting small.  Eleven lines only.  Students read the first eleven lines and focused on the question:

EQ: What does the opening of a text reveal about it?

Then, so everyone could get the feel for the language--and have a little fun, students paired up to perform the first eleven lines in the style of one of the following genres:

Horror

Western

Soap Opera

Musical

Spy

Rom Com

Fantasy

Silent

Animated/Puppetry

News Broadcast

Interpretive Dance

Poetry Slam

Rap

Here are some photos of their performances.  Can you guess which style they are presenting?


                                    

Prep for Summative Assessment--Blended Style

To prep for a summative assessment in our Literary Analysis Unit (with Transcendental texts), students completed a formative assessment today: a mock summative.  Students were given the actual test that will be used on Monday (we will simply use a different text to answer the questions).  In class Thursday, students read a short story and then completed this document:

 Name________________________________Period__________Date__________

1. Choose one character for analysis.  Character:_________________

Identify the dominant characteristic of this person:_________________________

Provide evidences from the given pages:

2.  Select a quote from the passage that provides good story-telling details, and explain its significance.

Quote:_____________________________________________________________________

3.  a. Explain how two characters in this passage might be foils for each other.  

What attributes of each character are meant to be highlighted?

Character 1 traits:

Character 2 traits:

b.  Why is this contrast important?

4.  Choose a sentence with a syntactic construction that you think is significant.

Sentence:______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Explain why the SYNTAX is important in this particular sentence.  What effect does it have?

Next, students reviewed their answers with a partner:

  

Students who felt comfortable and confident about the test were excused from Friday's class.  Students who had more questions or struggled with the formative practice were invited to attend class on Friday.  This way, students who need more attention and help received a bit more one-on-one attention from the teacher.  Students met with the teacher to go over their answers in detail--or to complete an extra practice passage.

Transcendental Connection

Yesterday, Schmitt's Scholars analyzed how different Transcendentalists (Emerson, Thoreau, McCandless) viewed life--and how those ideas were exemplified in their writing.  Students connected the writers' ideas to address these Learning Targets:

1. Understand Transcendentalists’ main ideas.
2. Analyze how structure has an impact.

We are doing well with the Transcendentalists' main ideas, but taking these ideas to the next level--analyzing Style and Structure--has been a challenging task.  Keep pushing, Schmitt's Scholars!

Check out your students--hard at work:

     

           

    

Random Act of Kindness Day 5.6.15

Freshman College Prep Agenda

Wednesday: May 6, 2015

EQ: How does Shakespeare manipulate language for a particular purpose?

RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS DAY

CHECK YOUR SCHOOL EMAIL.  FREQUENTLY.

Tech Expectations: Closed and put away

1.     R&J Act II Film; q’s

2.     R&R # 56

3.     Act III--opening

HW: none

ASK YOUR FRESHMAN:

1. What act of kindness did you commit today?

Junior Honors Agenda

Wednesday: May 6, 2015

EQ:  How do writers manipulate language for a particular purpose?

How can I SHOW, not tell?

RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS DAY

CHECK YOUR SCHOOL EMAIL.  FREQUENTLY.

Tech Expectations: Closed and put away

1.     Reflect on writing

a.     Turn in

2.     Teacher appreciation

3.     Hot Air Balloon Goals

4.     Novel excerpts

a.     Analysis, discussion

HW: Reading for May 11^th

^{ASK YOUR HONORS JUNIOR:}

1. What act of kindness did you commit today?

Junior College Prep Agenda

Wednesday: May 6, 2015

  

EQ:  How do writers manipulate language for a particular effect?

How do parts of writing affect the whole?

RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS DAY

CHECK YOUR SCHOOL EMAIL.  FREQUENTLY.

Tech Expectations: Open and on for now

1.     Teacher appreciation

2.     Read time

3.     Annotation practice

a.     Discussion

4.     Film scene analysis

HW: Read Chapter 4 for THURSDAY

ASK YOUR JUNIOR:

1. What act of kindness did you commit today?