multiple assessment tools while reading THE CRUCIBLE or any other literary work!

[Melissa L]

My big focus over the past year has been providing students with multiple ways to show they are learning in my classroom.  For example, when students read Of Mice and Men in class, they have the option to take a multiple choice quiz, a short answer quiz, or the cartoon "Did you read?" quiz. 

 

Currently, students are reading The Crucible in my class and have a choice of how they would like to SHOW their understanding of the play. 

1.  Chapter questions (BOOOOORIIIIING - but a handful of students still choose them.)

2.  Reciprocal teaching (summarize, question, predict, connect.)

3.  Note-taking (You earn points based on the number of notes you take as well as the quality of your notes, focusing on the development of plot, characters, and major themes.)

4.  The 5 W's (Who, what, when, where, why?) 

 

I really don't like the 5 Ws.  They are tough to grade and leave a lot of gaps for ME.  I'm not always quite sure that the student is completely GRASPING the concept fully.  I'm not opposed to doing the cartoon "Did you read?"  But these acts are VERY long and detailed - I would rather use those quizzes for times where students only had a small chunk of reading to do for homework.

 

Any suggestions for an activity I could use to replace the 5?  Thanks!!

[Cynthia Sinsap]

What about something concerning motivation of a character a sort of reaction-interaction chart for the act.  Students could even  elect to follow one character through more than one act.  Students list the interactions their character has with other characters during the act-- with the added piece of explaining the "why" for the character's actions, and for other events that take place in the act, students describe how their character reacted and why.

[Melissa L]

I like this - especially because there are so many ULTERIOR motives for characters throughout the play.  It never fails that I have that ONE student who thinks there really are a bunches of witches in Salem!  I could make a great visual with arrows and boxes....

[Cynthia Sinsap]

I've done it before but only with ordinary chart.  if you do create a more interesting visual, I'd love to see a copy of it!

[Ryan Goble]

Melissa,

Without babbling too much, I think you have a lot of addl. options. See the attached doc below for the multiple ways I let my college students reflect (a lot of that stuff is in the playlist) and you might also dig / use some of the media circle roles. They might also write screenplays / mini-plays about what they read. Hope these ideas help - use the MI checklist to inspire you!

Ry:)

[Sarah Mohrhauser]

I always think that any time we can help students make connections to today--their own lives--we help them process information more completely.  This is especially important with Literature.  Could you have students create a cast list using characters from today's visual media (TV, movies, plays...)?  They would have to explain why their choices would be appropriate.  Perhaps a Venn diagram for the character and the current 'cast' member.  Important again is citing evidence from the text.  I wish I had a great graphic organizer for this idea, but it just popped into my head.  Perhaps you can use bits and pieces to make it your own great new thing.

[Ryan Goble]

Bouncing off Sarah - They could also do "playlists" (formerly known as mix tapes) for a chapter - they would have to write a short rationale for their choices.

[Eva Gold]

A plot graph can be quite enlightening for students as they begin to experience the text visually. Students identify key scenes in the text and plot them on the x axis against their emotional intensity on the y. This gives them a sense of the structure and movement of the play as well as providing a handy plot summary.

If you want to extend this to a class activity, each student can take one scene of the play and plot this in more detail (you need to agree on levels of emotional intensity beforehand - eg what kind of situation is 1 and what kind is 5). The results are strung together as a frieze around the room. Students can then find images that evoke the mood or tone of particular scenes and stick these on the frieze. The visual effect of the changing mood can be quite startling and bring out aspects of the play that students find difficult to identify.

[Melissa L]

Thank you!!  These are all some excellent recommendations!  I am planning on making some changes to the unit for next year, but I probably won't have time to make these considerations until after finals (it doesn't help that I'm expecting my first child in June!!)

 

I will be sure to reply and upload anything I design - I love that I can probably take ALL of these suggestions and apply them to other works of literature we read in class.

 

And I love the emotions chart.  I think we will do it with the entire class. THE CRUCIBLE is such an emotionally draining piece that I usually read a scene and then show the same scenes from the movie because I think students MISS how emotional all of these characters are when they are just reading out of a play book (even with all of Miller's stage instructions). 

 

Thanks again! :)