Connecting the Visual to the Verbal in the Classroom

Strategies (The Return)

Flexible Grouping

Differentiation, in the form of flexible grouping, is employed in almost all of my lessons for this unit. "Differentiated instruction, also called differentiation, is a process through which teachers enhance learning by matching student characteristics to instruction and assessment. Differentiated instruction allows all students to access the same classroom curriculum by providing different entry points, learning tasks, and outcomes that are tailored to students' needs." ⁴³ As a teacher in a heterogeneously grouped classroom, it is almost impossible to meet the needs of the multiple ability levels within a single classroom setting without differentiating content, process, or product. Students need individualized activities and content specific to their learning styles and level. As a teacher of heterogeneous classes in an eighty to ninety minute block period, I have found that breaking my class into "chunks" of teaching time, and transitioning between direct, whole class instruction and flexible grouping, has produced the most positive results. I introduce concepts, in this case the concept of ekphhrasis, archetypes and the hero's journey, in a whole class setting. Following direct instruction, flexibility grouping allows me to individualize assignments and content, remediating, reinforcing, and challenging as appropriate. As "teachers can differentiate content, process, and/or product for students," ⁴⁴ it is important to note that the groups used to cover curriculum in this unit are based around differentiated content and product. However, the process remains uniform for all students. Also within the context of this unit, there will be several methods of grouping. The first method places students in groups of peers of similar ability levels. Students in these groups will receive texts and activities that connect to the overall skills and concepts being explored––archetypes, imagery, poetry analysis–– but that are appropriate for their level of reading comprehension and focused on the skills these students need to strengthen. Later in the unit flexible grouping will be designed around student interest and groups will be multi–leveled with representatives from the highest skill levels to the lowest equally present in all groups. In one case students will be given the opportunity to self–select a group based on the activity the group will perform. Using three different methods of organizing groups ensures that students not only receive differentiated instruction on the basis of readiness and skill level, but interact with a wide variety of their peers in a cooperative setting, benefiting from exposure to a variety of points of view as well as the avoidance of stigmatizing themselves or others as perpetually relegated to a "high," "low," or "average" group setting. "Randomly" grouping students in this manner produces the best results for differentiation and cooperative learning. The wonderful part about this grouping as it relates to this unit in particular, is that it allows students a much broader exposure to art and ekphrasis as student groups share the content knowledge learned in these small settings with the rest of their peers.

Literature Circles, Expert Group Presentations, and Guided Notes

Information will be shared among students through the use of literature circles, or "expert groups." Once divided into groups, students within each group are given different texts to respond to and interpret. Each student in the group is assigned a role and will perform a specific task. The roles I traditionally assign are Discussion Leader, Textmaster, Creative Director and Connector. I do not place students in groups larger than four students and I have found that groups of three, whenever possible, create environments of better interaction and discussion between peers. In these literature circles, students interact with a piece of art, ekphrastic poetry or prose, or both resources simultaneously in order to gain an understanding of an archetype or stage of the hero's journey. After completing interpretive activities, the students in each literary circle become "experts" on their text or texts and create a five to ten minute mini lesson on their completed analysis, presenting this information to the whole class. Students whose groups are not presenting information will be taking guided notes on the information each group shares. These notes are the same for each student and are designed to explore the idea of universality in the study of archetypes. They contain a section of information and questions for students to answer as each group presents.

Jigsaw

The jigsaw strategy is designed to present students with a multitude of texts, or one very large text, without making it necessary for students to read an entire work, or every resource material provided by a teacher, while still being exposed to relevant information and material in an engaging and instructional manner. During a jigsaw, students are presented with different texts, or different passages of texts, and read these works individually or in a small group in order to form an "expert" opinion on the text and report findings. As students take on the role of an "expert" they analyze their section of text in detail and then share their new knowledge within a small group or whole class setting. Students are responsible for an assigned text in such a degree that they can summarize and present this information to classmates in a manner that facilitates the understanding of the basic themes and concepts inherent within the text. ⁴⁵

TP–CASTT

TP–CASTT is a method of poetry analysis that encourages students to read a poem multiple times and analyze in specific detail a variety of its features. TP–CASTT is an acronym that stands for Title, Paraphrase, Connotation, Attitude, Shift, Theme, and Title again. Students use this tool and apply the following questions in order to engage in an analytical process of reading poetry. The questions that correspond to each letter of this acronym are as follows: Title– Without having read the poem, look at the title and make a prediction about the poem's meaning; Paraphrase– translate each stanza of the poem in your own words; Connotation– Look beyond the literal meaning. Identify the figurative language used by the author and explain its significance; Attitude– What is the speaker's attitude? What is the author's attitude? Are they the same or different; Shift– Are there shifts in tone, setting, voice etc. and what are their meanings; Theme– Think of the literal and metaphorical layers of the poem and determine its overall main idea; Title– Reexamine the title. What do you think it means within the context of the poem. ⁴⁶