Sorry for the late, late post, folks. I got carried away preparing for my trip (I leave in 2 hours!), and I forgot to pay attention to my blogging responsibilities. My apologies. Thanks to all of you who emailed me to remind me to get the lead out.
So, please, post your Gods' Man writing assignment proposal here, for all of us to admire. Please be sure you've attended to each of the 5 questions I posed to you on the assignment sheet for this week (a-e). I look forward to reading your ideas and to watching you develop them over the course of the weeks to come.
My assignment will involve both writing and performing. I decided to go with my topic of “Improv” performing, although I made some minor adjustments. Instead of putting students on the spot and create dialogue as they go, I am asking that they work, preferably, with a partner, and bounce ideas off one another to create a few pieces of dialogue for a section in God’s Man. For students, this will give them an opportunity to not only work with their peers, but to “read” into God’s Man and interpret what the characters are saying.
ReplyDeleteWhat I expect is not five-star acting. Instead, I rather see what students came up with. Do they understand the underlining theme? Are they just making up whatever and calling it a day? The final product will be a transcript of their dialogue, and a paragraph or two (or more!) reflection as to why they chose the dialogue that they did.
ELL students may have a harder time with this assignment than their peers in terms of articulating their dialogue when performing. However, I feel that by writing what they want to say, and speaking what they wrote, it would give them an opportunity to practice English in a way that they are not normally given a chance to. This is also why I want them to work with other students so they can assist one another. Of course, I would not pressure one student to help the ELL students and would scaffold the assignment for them: establish what they think is happening in the text, ask them to show why they believe this, and then put their words into the words of the characters.
This process goes for anyone doing the assignment. This process is to allow students to rationalize their thinking, and, if they have not done so already, establish what they believe the text is telling them. One thing that would worry me about a text-less book, is that students would not even bother to look through it and look up the “theme” on Spark Notes or somewhere on Google. By analyzing different parts of the text, they get to look into the story and figure out what is happening in that point in time and not some candy-coated theme that they Googled.
Therefore, this assignment calls for students to compose a dialogue and share it with the class. One neat thing about reading work out loud, is that it helps students practice articulating and also, literally, hear any mistakes or bizarre structures. Or, it reinforces their thinking, allowing them to hear what they wrote down and work upon it. They may not realize it right away, or they may, but it is allowing them to think about the story as a whole then narrowing it down to their scene and critically think about what is happening right then and there.
I am worried about the idea of “Improv” in the assignment. My biggest fear is that students will feel rushed. However, I do not want them to spend a great deal of time on creating dialogue (ie: homework) because the point of this assignment would serve as a transition into critical analysis, would thins have been an assignment in a high school setting. It’s supposed to be quick but still allow room for students to think analytically and not so straight forward.
Danielle,
DeleteI really like your idea for improv. I remember a teacher telling me once that improv is like basketball. You practice drills & know your way around the court but once you are playing the game, you never know what will happen! By having the students prep ideas & themes together ahead of time, they will have the skills to improv without fear. And it's really fun to do!
Gods’ Man Writing Assignment—Topic Proposal
ReplyDeleteThe writing assignment I will be designing to go along with Gods’ Man will be a six-word memoire style assignment. I will ask students to compose a total of three six-word pieces of writing. Two will be from the perspective of different characters in Gods’ Man, and one will be from the perspective of a character that we do not see in the novel—for example, a student may choose the protagonist’s mother, or a sibling, or his son all grown up years later. In general, students’ writing will be judged on the basis of creativity as well as an understanding of the tone of each of the characters in the story. Their three compositions together should reflect an overall theme from the story. This will require a level of critical thinking beyond understanding the plot of the story (which is difficult enough in a text-less novel). Students will have to consider the many different perspectives we see in the story through the different characters, and they will have to compose based on their findings. This will help students begin to understand that through different “lenses” the facts of a story can present themselves very differently.
After students have written many different six-word compositions from many different perspectives as drafts, they will choose their three final pieces. After completion, they will write a journal-style reflection describing their experience with using very few words to communicate very big ideas about the text. I have chosen this type of assignment specifically so students will have an experience with having very little space to communicate a lot of information. This assignment will also help to get them acquainted with the characters in the novel on more of an emotional level. This will hopefully deepen their appreciation for the text and its ability to generate interesting and complex characters with no words at all.
This assignment is mindful of ELL’s and Students who receive Special Education in its focus on non-verbal texts. English Language Learners will be able to work with a text that does not use English, but they will have to work with English to compose their writing. It will be a challenge, but working with a non-verbal text may alleviate the inequity that is unavoidable in a written assignment. In addition, grammar and mechanics are not things I will be valuing for this assignment. The assignment will be scaffolded in such a way that students begin with many ideas and narrow them down until they are left with three six-word texts. They will begin by brainstorming and listing ideas for which characters they will write as (including which character they will “bring into” the text who were not there originally. They will initially compose many six-word pieces, and they will ultimately choose the three they like best in line with the assignment.
I think that the most difficult thing about designing this writing assignment will be figuring out how to build scaffolding into the assignment. Because the final product of the writing will be fairly short, it will be difficult for me to think of ways (beyond listing ideas) that I can set students up for success in this assignment. I will have to really break down the assignment into the smallest pieces in order to do so.
Allie,
DeleteJust like Nathan’s assignment, you are able to allow the students to create someone from scratch-I really think students will get jazzed for that! By having them choose two already established characters makes sure they understand the text so you are covering you basis. What I love best about your assignment is how much brainstorming is involved. Having them write tons of six-word memoires will enable them to hone their selectiveness. Practicing will show them why the actual work of brainstorming matters-for the best results!
The writing assignment for Gods’ Man that I am proposing is one where students choose three characters in the novel and create a profile for them. This will have students tapping into their imaginative side. Students will study the characters in the novel and use facial expressions, actions and appearance to decide who this character is, where they are from, and the motivation behind their actions. This is an excellent way for students to explore the novel and contribute their own beliefs into it. Instead of just repeating what happened in the story, they are producing their own parts of the story.
ReplyDeleteThe final product does not necessarily have to be an essay on each character, but rather students can film the profiles as interviews, type it up in sections, or use some other presentation technique. The way that I would plan to assess them would be broken down into 3 things, creativity, content, and quantity. For creativity, I expect students to really get into creating these characters’ stories. This is all coming from them so I would like to see students really get into it, naming fictional places or nonfictional places that the characters come from, etc. For content, the students need to provide for each character, a name, a place of origin, profession, home life, and motivation for how they act in the novel. This way they can connect the character to the story. And the last for quantity, I want students to really get into the characters and not just include one sentence for each thing.
This assignment would be mindful to ELLs because it is not the most formal of assignments and they could even closely relate some of the characters to themselves saying that they do not speak the same language as everyone else, and if they wanted to, they could film themselves being interviewed as the characters, making it so they do not even need to hand the final copy in written down. I would probably name the town the events take place in to in a way scaffold a starting point for the students, along with providing an example of me creating a background story for a very random character in the story. Showing students what I expect of them will definitely inspire them to explore the characters.
The critical thinking that these students will be doing is analyzing characters through their actions in order to decide what motivates them. It causes the student to put a past to actions that are happening. Composing out of what they see and create puts them in the position of author, something they have probably never done before. Also I would tell students that they can even create a profile for furniture or a building, causing them to imagine what an inanimate object may experience. And how such things can be important to a story.
When it comes to designing this writing assignment, I feel like the hardest part may be getting students to leave their comfort zone and really explore the possibility of creating these characters stories. My students may be so caught up on the assignments that they are used to, that something like this may scare them because it is unfamiliar. So I am going to have to create a model that is inspiring and jump starts the students.
Nathan,
DeleteWhat I love most about your assignment is how open you are to all of the options the students can present their characters in. This way each student will find what is most comfortable for them. This is an assignment that students can really delve into-I wouldn’t worry too much about the comfort zone because everyone will be doing it so it’s essentially a judge free zone. Creating the world the character is in is always a blast because the student is allowed to really let their imagination run wild-being able to harness their creativity is the greatest gift. I remember creating a country when I was a H.S. senior and I remember putting all my ideals into all of the facets of it. In allowing your students to do the same, you will get very cathartic and personal results.
While initially I was leaning towards the writing assignment where I would ask students to retell God’s Man by moving around its images and, thus, creating a new story by means of paper, crayons or a multimedia source, however, after weighing in certain factors (as critical thinking), I have eventually come to my second choice – having students create a RAFT assignment.
ReplyDeleteAs R.A.F.T. stands for Role, Audience, Format and Tone, I have inevitably come to a conclusion that it perfectly suits for the writing assignment we have been given, too (a-e).In designing their RAFTs, students will have options to choose their roles (the main protagonist, the mistress, the devil, the nature etc), their authentic audience (classmates, newspaper readers, almanac/magazine readers, future generation etc), their formats (letter, newspaper article/interview, photo album, archive records, collage, video presentation etc) and, of course, the abundance of tones (pessimistic, nostalgic, angry, condescending etc). Theoretically, and according to B. Bloom, the above-mentioned task answers to so many levels of knowledge application (from basic knowledge and understanding of the text-less material to analyzing, evaluating and, finally, creating a new piece of work from it).
As their final product the students will have a letter, an article, a collage (depending on the format they choose) addressed to the audience they choose which will be graded according to the scoring rubric handed out and explained in advance.
To be mindful of ELL’s and Special Needs students, it would be appropriate to supply them with a sample of a student’s R.A.F.T. work to empower and direct the formers’ thinking. At the same time, all students will be provided with a list of step-by-step instructions, glossary and handouts for ELL’s and special needs students.
I believe the given writing task will make students think critically on many levels - when they involuntarily will be “putting themselves in the shoes” of other characters, following the format and minding their audience and tone.
One of the possible challenges for the given assignment for the students could be – being able to follow all four (role, audience, format and tone) criteria of the assignment to be satisfactorily assessed; and possibly- a big selection of options.
Nadya,
DeleteWhat an excellent idea. This process will be a perfect foundation for allowing the students to really understand what the characters are going through. Putting them in a characters shoes is a great empathy builder. What’s interesting too about R.A.F.T. is that if you just change one of them, sale the audience, your entire idea changes. Who is the character? What do they desire? Who are they trying to convince? Endless possibilities!
For my God’s Man assignment, I propose for my students to have to create a soundtrack of six to ten different songs of their choosing that narrate the story. Having students use lyrics and music to create the story of the book will allow them to express their idea of its story through a creative means that is engaging to them. Music, I feel, is something that almost everyone can grasp and all can connect to. There will virtually be no limit to what song choices they can choose, except that their song piece must not be heavy with vulgar language.
ReplyDeleteMy assignment will have students start by looking through the book a few times. Students will read through it the first time to just grasp the content as a whole and be exposed to it. During this stage the student should take light notes on anything that is striking to them. For the second read through, I will ask students to pay close attention to the emotion being admitted through the various images. They will be asked to make note of each chapter specifically and jot down what they think is happening and how they know through facial expressions and character demeanor. This is an important step because this emotion will be the driving point of their track selection.
After that I will have my students review basic songs in class, of a variety of different genres and have them discuss what kind of emotion each different song can emit and why. This will get students in analyzing what elements of music are working to create an idea, image, or feeling.
From here I will ask students, with all of these ideas bumping around in their heads, to make a list of songs they are familiar with that evoke emotions like happiness, sorrow, desperation, inspiration, etc.
And finally, once the student has done these steps, they will be able to connect their list of songs to their close readings and thoughts on God’s Man and create a soundtrack. Each chapter should consist of one to three different songs, ten being the total limit, six being the minimum. This process of selection and cut off will force students to pick and choose what they feel is the best songs to tell the story. Once completed, students will have to write a two to three page paper explaining why they chose the songs they did and how they work together to tell the story of the graphic novel. I will provide a 4,3,2,1 rubric with detailed criteria of what I expect of my students.
I feel as those this assignment is very accessible to ELL students because they can use any type of music they want. For students who may have drastic hearing impairment or are completely deaf, I will have them use poetry, written song lyrics, or images to create the story of God’s Man. These lyrics, poems, and quotes will still have to convey the emotions they have written down while reading the story. However, rather than playing music for them, I will ask them to arrange lists of words and images that typically convey certain emotions. For example, what emotion does the color red evoke? The students with assignment will still have to write a two to three page paper rationalizing their choices.
This assignment has scaffolding because of the many steps that are required of the student before they start actually composing and writing out their thought process. This assignment addresses the levels of Application and Analysis of Blooms Taxonomy because they are working to understand the plot and emotion of the characters through creating a soundtrack that mirror those elements.
Heather,
DeleteI can already hear the soundtrack to my Gods’ Man coming together. I can up with a music assignment too but not as detailed or cool as yours-I love it! I really like how you specifically mention how deaf students would be able to explain through colour, really beautiful! I think that having them explain why they chose the songs they do is great. It makes them accountable for their choices and also gives you insight into why they compile what they do. Anytime you bring an emotional level in, you are going to get some profound results. I know the students would really enjoy this assignment.
For my Gods’ Man writing assignment, I am going to create an assignment where students (in groups) create either a filmed scene or trailer out of the story. The genre and conventions used are up to the students, so it can be a scene from a glitzy musical, or a trailer for a black-and-white silent film. I noticed that writing was not the only skill that was emphasized in the standards, and I thought that by taking the text and allowing students to also “perform” and “create” something, it would be more effective and more inclusive. Taking some advice, I am going to assign a written component, and I think that will be a short “movie pitch,” as well as maybe a script of the scene.
ReplyDeleteThe final product will be a film based on Gods’ Man, and will also include a “movie pitch” and “scene script.” Due to the varied nature of the components, I will be using a rubric. Though I’m not sure whether to break each component up separately, or grade everything together (break down each component into a portion of the grade, or grade the entire thing overall). I think I would like to hear from my classmates, and to think more on it.
ELL students would probably find this easier than a “standard research paper,” because it focuses less on language, and more on visual media. The written component(s) will be less research paper, and more like an essay from an exam, where a number of questions that have been supplied can be answered. Special education students and ELL learners alike can use the freedom of the text to “show” what they think of the book. And by using groups, I can hopefully divide the pressure of “creation” among group members.
Students will have to think critically as they look back on the story and try to determine how best to interpret the text. Because the choice of film genre and convention is left open, they can determine whether they feel Gods’ Man is a horror story filled with moments of suspense and dim lighting, or maybe a romantic comedy, with bright imagery, a femme fatale, and a lovable, plain-looking-in-comparison ingénue. This determination will be a part of the movie pitch, forcing students to think about the components of the story, and to come up with a “tone” for their movie. They will also have to compose both the written and visual components, creating their version of the text.
I think the toughest challenge will be the ability to give clear and concise instructions for the use of technology, as well as effective modeling. I will need to word everything so that students can understand them, and will need to balance the options in such a way that it is not too open, and not too closed.
Matt,
DeleteI think you should grade your students as you go. It will make them accountable for the work and keep them on track so that they don’t wait until the last minute to throw everything together. This is definitely a process project so they should take their time an flesh it out. I think writing a script is a great idea and really turns around the essay format. Celtix will help them to not lose their minds with the new format a bit so that’s a good program to have them use! You mention lots of interpretations, the students will definitely deliver! Also, Jared’s assignment is similar to yours, you could probably bounce ideas off of one another.
A. What are you proposing for an assignment and what are the pedagogical reasons behind your assignment idea?
ReplyDeleteThe assignment I have chosen is the one I call "Rewind". Students will be asked to write a summary of Gods' Man after reading it in reverse. In addition to the summary, students will also write a reflective piece exploring how the story changes thematically when read in reverse. I chose this assignment because I think it would be a helpful evaluation of a students' understanding of themes as they relate to the plot of a story. The two separate pieces of writing -- the summary and reflection -- will help students stay away from a plot summary in their discussion of themes (I hope!)
B. What will the final product/s of this assignment be and what kinds of criteria (in general) will you use to assess them?
As mentioned above, the products will be 1. a narrative summary of Gods' Man in reverse, and 2. a reflective piece on themes. I will assess students on the mechanics of their writing (grammar, fluidity, etc.) as well as the depth of their exploration of themes. Students will not be assessed on their interpretation of the text, only on their defense of that interpretation.
C. How will this assignment be mindful of ELLs and special education students in your classroom? How will you scaffold the assignment so that the learner, the text, and the content are in harmony?
Because this assignment is so dependent upon the experiences and opinions of the reader, I believe it would be a welcome assignment for all types of learners. The challenge for ELLs and special education students would likely be writing two separate pieces, but hopefully my scaffolding would alleviate some of that difficulty.
I would first model the reading process for the students, working with a different text. Ideally, I would do this process using a short children's book that also contained no words. I would read the text to the class, talk about themes, and repeat the process while reading the text in reverse. Hopefully, this would give the students the background necessary to begin brainstorming on their own. I would scaffold using mini-lessons on both narrative writing (for the summary) and themes (for the reflection piece).
D. How will this assignment require students to think critically and to compose?
Students will be required to think critically about their interpretations of the text while writing their reflection piece. They will be asked to compose in two different modes: narrative and reflective. They will be required to engage with the text at an exploratory level which they would not have explored without this assignment.
E. What do you expect will be the challenge of effectively designing this writing assignment according to the criteria we have discussed in class?
I believe the hardest part of constructing this assignment will be ensuring that I leave enough room for creativity while still creating a fair rubric. I am nervous that my assignment will be too open, so students will not be held fully accountable for the depth of their interpretations. However, I do not want to make the assignment so rigid that students are unable to be creative. Finding a balance between these two extremes will likely be my challenge!
Jessica, I really appreciate that your assignment has a reflective component. I think the idea of the backward narration is fascinating and I think you would find that just like our storybirds, you would have totally different interpretations. I think too that the students will love flipping the story upside down. But adding the reflective component really gets down into the nitty gritty of how they connect to what they are creating. It will become very personal for them. Very inventive!
Deletea. The assignment I am proposing is to have students write a script (for a play or a film) for God’s Man. This assignment will familiarize students with the genre of scripts as an alternative to narratives and allow them to explore and interpret characters, character development, plot, setting and interpretation.
ReplyDeleteb. Ideally, the final product would be a performance (a play or a homemade film) of the student’s interpretation of God’s Man. If this proves to be too difficult of a task, (due to lack of resources or time or comfort of participation) a physical script would suffice. The project would require full class participation and would largely be assessed on students’ ability to collaborate together. The entire class can work on the same project or, if possible, the class may be divided into two or three groups working on different interpretations to allow for more variety and comparison. Students’ understanding of elements of the script (character dialogue, action, setting, cues, etc.) will be assessed as well as their efforts to interpret character relations, traits and development. Creativity and originality will also be greatly encouraged however not graded with as much scrutiny as to not alienate the more practical, perhaps less imaginative students.
c. Because this project requires collaborative group work, it would encourage ELL students to interact with native English speaking students. ELL students must be encouraged to work through the project using English. Depending on the class dynamic, ELL students should be divided among the groups, giving all the native English speakers exposure working with ELLs. If there are only two ELLs in the class, perhaps it would be best to put them in the same group with one or two of the more outgoing native English speakers or perhaps a fluent bi-lingual student. ELLs working together with a student who can interpret will feel more comfortable beyond the language barrier to explore elements of a script and interpretation of the story.
Because God’s Man contains no words, all students, ELLs or native English speakers have the same initial exposure. ELLs will find themselves on the same intellectual plane as other students after the first reading and will likely find themselves more comfortable approaching the assignment.
The assignment should begin with lessons on different elements of a script. The class, as a whole should come up with a list of characters and divide the story up into appropriate scenes and acts. From there, students can begin the brainstorming process and explore different approaches to comprise a list of possible ideas students come up with and narrow it down based on their enthusiasm. Students are divided into groups where they decide on a mutual interpretation and then write the script as an entire collaboration or with individual scenes delegated to specific students.
d. Various interpretations such as changing the setting, time and form of characters (after all, they could be ants, puppies, gorillas etc.) will be encouraged. Students can be shown examples of different conflicting interpretations of Shakespeare or other well known works encouraging students to think outside the box. Because the story is presented only in pictures, possibilities for interpretation are many. The manner of composition, being mostly shorter dialogue, may ease the anxiety of students who panic when faced with writing a narrative with a page requirement, allowing them to take pleasure in the creative process.
e. The major challenge would be grouping the students in a manner where each student will be excited about their particular interpretation. Being a movie buff, I personally would enjoy this assignment and assume that other children would as well, however it is important to be mindful that not all students share my enthusiasm. Finding the right personalities to work together would be an imperative aspect to this project.
Jared,
DeleteYou & Matt have similar ideas & I think they are both great, you two could certainly bounce ideas off of one another! We are all so exposed to films & most really love them so being able to create them will be so much fun for them! I especially like that you are ripping open the floor for possibilities...Gods' Man in an ant world, so crazy & cool! Talk about possibilities!
My God's Man Assignment:
ReplyDeleteA1 - Feelings (Nothing More Than Feelings): Choose four pictures from the novel that are different from one another. How do you think the main character feels in each of these pictures? Write out a list of feelings and emotions for each photo. Then by taking magazine and newspaper words and pictures, make a collage for each picture to represent how the main character feels. Show us how you think he feels.
A2 – This assignment will be for students in high school so they are already in the formal operational stage of development. Here they start to see the consequences of actions. They start to make connections between these actions and the effects they have on others. In having the students focus on the feelings of the hero, based on the events of the novel, enables them to dig deeper into how he is affected, perhaps even bringing about empathy in the student. This assignment completes all four aspects of the depth of knowledge model: recall, summarizing, strategic thinking and analyzing. It also fills the CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3b - Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
B1 – The final products of this assignment will be taking four frames of “blank verse” and feeling it up with pictures and words that represent how they think our hero feels in that moment. The four colleges will show the hero’s range of emotions (or lack thereof) on his journey.
B2 – Each frame will be graded on a four point scale for a total of sixteen points, worth 10% of the student’s grade. Each point is awarded as they meet each requirement:
Analysis: Student has done an in depth study of the pictures they chose, drawing on connections they made throughout the text.
Narration: Student tells a story through the pictures that makes sense in relation to the text, even with their own flourishes.
Expression: Student clearly understands the characters emotions and journey, using at least ten pictures or words for each frame to represent the emotion(s).
Creativity: Student’s work is clean, organized and creative. It is clear a good amount of time was spent on putting it together.
C1 – I will make the instructions very clear and not too wordy. I will so examples in the classroom so they can see first-hand what I expect. I will let the students know that they can come to me with any questions regarding understanding the assignment. We will do an example in the classroom of choosing a picture and brainstorming the feelings and emotions in it.
C2 – The scaffolding will be as follows:
In class:
Individual brainstorming.
Group brainstorming.
Free-writing (honing in on final list).
Conference with teacher on ideas.
Out of class:
Free-writing (final list making).
Information gathering (searching through periodicals for pictures and words).
Creating final piece.
D1 - The student will have to first study the picture, writing down how they think the character is feeling. Then they will compare those feelings to the text as a whole to find connections. Through the words they choose to represent, they will have to find pictures that represent them, showing their own connections to the piece.
D2 – By first brainstorming alone, they will have some idea to share with a group. When they share their ideas with the group, they will gain a more vivid picture of their project as they start to see the correlations.
E – I already feel like there is not enough writing in this assignment so I could be posing a challenge in grading these artistic interpretations of the text. But perhaps, that’s what makes this assignment so great-that the students can move around out of the confines of words. The assignment starts with the words but the picture will represent what the word means to them.
My assignment will be to write thought bubbles and dialogue bubbles into the panels in one chapter of God’s Man. This will make the students get inside the character’s heads. They will have to interpret what the characters on the pages are thinking and what the characters on the pages are saying. The goal will be to build upon the characters that already exist by giving they dialogue and thoughts, thereby gaining a greater understanding of the characters.
ReplyDeleteThe final project will be scanned pages from God’s Man with dialogue and thought bubbles filled in. The pages will be stapled along the left side, book-style. They will also write a one to two page reflection in which they say in what ways the assignment has changed and/or elaborated upon their perceptions of the characters in God’s Man. I will assess how deeply they look into the characters and how thoughtful their reflection is.
ELL and special education students may find the main portion of the assignment slightly easier than a standard essay, but the reflection will just as hard. The assignment will be scaffolded. First there will be an in-class assignment to fill out a page or two with thought bubbles and dialogue bubbles in class. Then we will reflect upon it in class. Then the main portion of the assignment will be given. Then the reflection essay part of the assignment will be given.
Writing the dialogue bubbles and thought bubbles for the characters will force the students to take a good look at the characters. This can be seen as an alternative to writing an essay about the characters. Instead of analyzing the piece through the traditional book report, the students will look deeper into the text by adding to it.
The toughest challenge would be to make sure that the dialogue and thoughts actually do reflect character and it’s not just simple surface dialogue which will not help the students get much more out of God’s Man. It could be a challenge to balance the assignment so that the products are both close enough to the core of Man’s God so they can reflect upon the characters, while allowing for creative freedom.
Mark,
DeleteSuch a superb idea! I think students will absolutely dig this project. They will throw themselves into it with abandon for sure, just like you do when you are storytelling. I think it’s a great idea to do some in class. I think you are correct about the challenge of getting them to actually reflect the characters thoughts and not their own but I think by doing examples in the class will lead them in the right direction.
For my Gods’ Man assignment, I decided on a scrapbook that tells the story through the eyes of one of the characters. The students would be able to add in physical objects and brief captions (a sentence or two) that they believe further explain their interpretation. This assignment is a way to get students to think about their own interpretation of the story and also express it creatively through not only pictures, but words and objects.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned, the final product will be a scrapbook that will allow the students to interpret the story in their own way and also allow them to elaborate on it by adding captions and other things that would enhance their interpretation. For example, they could include an item that represents the city, or they could even include an actual paintbrush, taped or glued to one of the pages. When I assess them, I won’t grade them on what their interpretation is, but more on how well they presented that interpretation. While a scrapbook with captioned pictures gives them a few words to play with, it still doesn’t allow as many as an essay would. It relies on not only the words, but the pictures and whatever objects/drawings/additional pictures they add to it. I would have to assess them on how clearly they presented the interpretation through those objects and their captions.
This assignment will be mindful to ELLs and special education students because it allows them to be creative and interpret the text but they aren’t intimidated by having to write a formal essay where they might feel overwhelmed by all of the words they have to combine and think of at once. The scrapbook assignment requires them to use a small amount of words, so that they are getting exposure to writing, but don’t feel overwhelmed. In order to scaffold the assignment, I would provide sample/model scrapbook pages to show what I’m looking for. In addition, I would possibly have the students write their captions ahead of time, or have students who felt unsure write them and have me check them over.
The assignment will require students to think critically because they not only have to add captions to their pictures, but also add objects and/or drawings to each scrapbook page in order to tell their interpretation of the story. Since it is from a certain character’s point of view, they will have to think like the character and think about every object and drawing they add and why it would be essential to the story.
One challenge that I originally thought of was that I can’t expect every student to be able to get a scrapbook. I had assignments in high school that required scrapbooks or photo albums and we were always required to buy them, but in some cases, students may not be able to buy their own. A solution to this, though, would be to have them find unneeded ones at home to use, or if students somehow have extra, they can bring them in to let another student use. As the teacher, I could also bring something in, or I could also help some students make their own, sort of like we did with our writing journals. Another challenge would be figuring out certain requirements for the scrapbooks without hindering the creativity of the students. I don’t want to have too few requirements so that they think they can just hand in a messy scrapbook with short, one word captions and hardly any other images or objects, but at the same time, I don’t want them to feel as if they can’t think outside the box. I want them to learn, but also have fun and be creative while doing it.
Ariana,
DeleteYour assignment is so tactile-I love it! It reminds me of a book I read as a kid called The Jolly Postman. The mailman would deliver letters to fairy tale characters and you could actually take out the letters and read them. It was such a memorable and special book because I was involved in the story. I think you would find the same experience with students. This is the most creative idea and one that would be a very fun treasure hunt both emotionally and physically!
It was tough, but actually very easy for me to decide which Gods' Man assignment I wanted to create a proposal for. They were all pretty interesting and thoughtful ideas, but I picked the eighth idea on my list which is:
ReplyDeleteA. I want the students to create a dialogue or narration to caption a set of panels of Gods' Man, with no more than 10 panels being used. They would then be asked to select a speaker or speakers (either characters from the woodcuts or someone more omniscient) to create a tone or viewpoint. The main idea is to vary the content depending on whether the student wants to tell a tale that is convergent or divergent with what the illustrations are attempting to portray. Whether or not the students choose to go with or against the grain, the assignment will demonstrate an understanding of the material. After all, no one can subvert or mock anything properly without an understanding of it.
B. The product of this assignment would be the book of panels with the student's commentary. I would also could have them hand in a written response, but I think a better way of assessing their understanding of this text would be to have each student present their commentary to their classmates; thereby defending and explaining their choices while also comparing them to the work of their peers.
C. In order to bridge the difference for any ELL or special ed students, I thought I might try introducing the lesson with a free-write about a panel that I choose at random for them to interpret. They would each be required to write at least one paragraph on what the woodcut's meaning is based on the form of the illustration, the poses of the figures, the objects, the negative spaces, the framing, what is happening to the characters. After the meaning is extracted we could then make a chart of statements about the meaning and then the students would come up with opposites, such as: "The artists' model is fully clothed" when she is clearly naked. I would also provide some modeling of what I expect the assignment to look like when it is in the final stage, perhaps just doing something non-nonsensical or silly as a caption like, "My, paintings must be worth a night's lodging and food!" By scaffolding appropriately and using group work, this should give more than just one opportunity for student comprehension.
D. In order to do a presentation, the students would have to already have grasped critical thought so that they can explain their process to the rest of the class. Thinking backward, the students would begin making critical decisions at the start of the assignment about a specific panel as a method of guidance, but then they would be released to attempt to transfer the skills used on that one panel to a series of panels. This requires not only that the students have the ability to dissect one panel, but also making a collective meaning for them all in a sequence that has a logical flow. More often a person reading for pleasure will only be seeking out a single meaning; the one that the author intended and the one that continues throughout the rest of the book. With this assignment, the student will be challenged to come up with alternate paths that necessitate both imagination and repeated reading of the source.
E. A possible challenge is that some students might feel that the amount of choice that they have is too much choice and they may have trouble deciding what panels to pick. Something to buffer that issue might be having a template of panels that the kids could use instead of having to select them on their own. I would not just hand them out to the entire class for the sake of variety since I would not want to see the same product, but I would provide the template if asked.
Oh Katie,
DeleteThere's that dry sarcasm I so love from you! I am really excited for your assignment. I almost see it as the scenes on popsicles that can be used as puppets during the narration. I think students will love creating silly dialogue & acting it out!! Enjoyed the “art can get you a night’s stay with food line”...if only it were really true, then there really would be no such thing as the starving artist!!