Making Reading Assignments Meaningful
You can make your reading units more successful by adding a few simple additions.
By Amy Wilding
When designing curriculum, the focus should not merely be on state standards and best practices. Student interests and plausible reliability must also be considered. It is one thing for the text to have literary and technical merit, but if students cannot connect with the story, the unit will not be successful. But there are ways that teachers can make literature curriculum more interesting, and easier to teach. Here are some ideas that might make your literature unit go more smoothly.
1. Learn as much as possible about your school, students, community, etc . . . The more you know, the easier it will be to choose texts.
2. Give the students an opportunity to give their opinion. At the end of every unit, I hand out a generic evaluation form. Students make comments, both positive and negative. I ask them to comment on everything from assignments to the type of instruction. The last section is always about how the lesson could be improved.
3. Use film adaptation to enhance learning. Film adaptations are a great source that can help your students relate to and comprehend the text. If there are two different versions of the same story, try incorporating both and have the students compare each. For example, there are two versions of "Romeo and Juliet"— one very traditional and the other very modern. Many of my students have enjoyed seeing Romeo wield a gun instead of a sword. The follow- up assignment is a critique of each outlining how the differences influence audience understanding and enjoyment.
4. You can lead an engaging introductory discussion. Prior to handing out the text, try using a “story chain” or “story impression.” Have students create the story based on key words. This activity immediately gets the students involved.
5. Try to find a common theme/idea that the students are familiar with. Most teenagers have had problems with friends, family or significant others. Use that prior history to make a connection between the student and the character. For example, illustrate how Juliet’s forbidden love with Romeo is similar to a girl liking her best friend’s boyfriend. Once students have that “aha” moment, the rest of the unit will be much more powerful.
6. When designing course projects, give students the opportunity to utilize their personal talents and abilities. My final projects are a combination of specific requirements and student generated ideas. As long as students follow the rubric, they can use any format they choose to show what they have learned. It is always fun to see students act out scenes, sing, or show their own movies. This is a great way to give students some control over their learning. Here are some other lessons that can involve and engage students.
Reading Lesson Plans:
This lesson is full of opportunities for student creativity. The lesson is very detailed, and could easily be adapted for your specific reading topic.
Costume and Make Up Shakespeare Style
This is a great lesson for higher level courses. The students perform a scene with puppets. There is a lot of potential for success.
Playing with Style in Romeo and Juliet
This lesson is very similar to my suggestion of incorporating different versions of the text. Students evaluate translations and then create their own. It might be fun to have students use modern language, rather than traditional Shakespearean dialect to rewrite part of the play.
This lesson focuses on something that all teenagers know - chatrooms. In this case, the classroom becomes a virtual chatroom. I think it would work best with a combination of student questions and teacher questions. Again, it's always helpful to give students some control over discussions.
