I came across this website called
91 Ways to Respond to Literature
And there are many creative ideas out there to help make teaching literature fun and the different ways to assess this learning. I am picking out two different ideas that particularly appeal to me. I am also putting into consideration the level of enthusiasm and ability of the students involved.
Interest: High
Language skills: High
1.WRITE A PARODY OF THE BOOK. This kind of humorous imitation appeals to many students. Parody the entire book or one scene.
Instruction: This activity can be split up into sections where different groups of students work on different sections of the book. Before embarking on this project, students will have to have prior knowledge of the context of what is happening and perhaps, focus on the characterization of one or two main characters in that scene. As a group, the students can discuss this beforehand. Later, the group will have to come up with a skit to play out this scene. Assessment can be done through the accuracy of depiction of the main characters and the understanding of the genre of parody.
Pros: Students will be more interested in knowing the storyline given that they now have an opportunity to reinterpret it according to a modern context. This helps the student to relate to the story plot and to the characters better.
Cons: This cannot be used for all texts. This would be best used in comedic literature, but for texts addressing social issues like racism or bullying this could backfire. In such a case, an alternative, but similar idea could be used - 2.ONCE UPON A TIME. Write a fairy tale about some event or character in the book.
Interest: Average
Language skills: Low to Average
3. PREPARE A TELEVISION COMMERCIAL ABOUT A BOOK. Imagine a book is the basis for a miniseries on television. Prepare and give the television commercials that would make people want to watch it.
Level: High
Interest: High
Language skills: High
Motivation: Average
Instruction: Before embarking on critical analysis of the text, this could be a precursor to introducing some of the themes to the class. Working in groups, students help each other increase their understanding of the story plot, and this piece of homework will put them on the right track to identifying the themes in the text. Alternatively, this could include newspaper ad layouts, radio and television commercials, and any special events.
Pros: This helps to condense texts for students who have not had the chance to fully finish reading the book before the term starts.By allowing role-play, it helps with characterization. Infusing drama within the lesson also helps with understanding some nuances of the text.
Cons: Student could be purely working from a summary of the story found online. To circumvent this, students can be asked to specifically zoom in on one particular scene which, from their group analysis have found to be significant to the whole story.
For more creative ideas: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/freshenglish/bookreportideas.html
GHi Debra, thanks for sharing your ideas. I would disagree with the second activity being limited to high achieving students though. I do think it's great for all learners, what may need to be moderated are expectations though you will be surprised what students can do if highly motivated by the task. And the task chosen seems pretty engaging.
ReplyDeleteHi Debra, I really like the third idea about preparing a television commercial about a book. I've never thought about or head of this idea before yet it's simple and straightforward and really engaging as well.
ReplyDeleteStudents have to have sound knowledge and understanding of the book before they can come up with the script and arrange their scenes, so it motivates them to actually hit the books.The short commercials is especially great for drawing out specific scenes or themes that holds significance. It makes it easy to digest and easy to remember.
Aside from having fun and drawing out key points in the book, it also trains students to work in groups together and negotiate their differences in views. The activity can actually teach them some pretty valuable lessons outside of the textbook.
Hi Debra, thanks for sharing this resource. Your second idea really appeals to me. I've personally been assessed in a similar manner, except we dealt with authors rather than characters because this happened at the undergrad level: In uni, we had to think about what a dialogue between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield would be like if they met in heaven. I really enjoyed that!
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