Chance Module 2

Paired or small group discussions are good alternatives to full class discussions, especially when a goal is clearly defined and the discussion culminates in a final product. The class can be divided into groups and each group can be tasked to discuss a particular scene and then construct a skit to be performed for the class that interprets or builds on the theme. For example, a group could consider Jeremy’s argument with his father and then talk about arguments they had with a friend or family member and then devise a skit that embodies the feelings and consequences of such confrontations. In this way, the students use episodes in the novel to examine and share real experiences and emotions in their own lives. And create a link of relevancy between what they read and who they are.

Skits, role-plays, dramatizations and simulations are all powerful ways of getting students to interact with one another and participate actively. Simple dramatizations of scenes is helpful in allowing students to express themselves through another persona, which affords greater freedom of action in much the same way that wearing a costume does, and allows them to discover new aspects of their personalities. Once students participate in the acting experience, there can be fruitful discussions of acting performances they have seen. Such discussions about acting methods and techniques and what characterizes good acting helps develop students’ critical thinking skills and can be especially powerful since they are the ones selecting the movies they discuss.

Students can go a step beyond simply acting out scenes in the book for which dialog already exists by creating their own screenplays of non-dialog scenes in the book or scenes of their own invention. For example, they create their own scene involving Jeremy and Louis in the locker room after a particularly bad PE class. Through this kind of exercise students develop creative writing skills and extend their knowledge of character development. Or students can make up scenes which they think might occur after the point they stopped reading, and in so doing develop schemata for the story, a very important skill in reading development. There is really no limit to the activities that can be created if the novel is used not as an end in itself but as a springboard for activities that allow students to participate actively, use their own knowledge and experience, utilize their unique creative abilities, and to take control over what is done in class instead of being merely passive recipients of information thrust upon them.

Activities needn’t be limited to the story and character elements presented in the Scenes and Themes section but should be employed for the language-related elements presented in the Word Awareness section as well, which lend themselves especially well to a variety of games and contests. One characteristic of literature, after all, is the special use of language, which might be labeled word play, to produce desired effects. Simple puns, lyrical passages relying on the sounds and connotations of words, imagery dependent upon analogy and comparison, and dialog that defines characters by their distinctive speech patterns, are examples of how literature exploits language in ways that augment the pleasure of reading. Promoting students’ awareness and enjoyment of the complexities of language use should be a primary goal of language arts teachers and the same basic strategy of engaging students in relevant activities can help do so. The language of the the novel can serve as as a jumping off point for students to analyze the language they use and hear daily, for understanding what they appreciate in the lyrics of rap or pop music, for creating their own metaphors and similes, and ultimately for developing more effective ways of expressing themselves through both the spoken and written word.