Ekphrasis - close reading, interpreting and responding to works of art

In an excellent article from the National Council of Teachers of English: Speak Out! How Ekphrasis Inspires Writing on the Edge authors Sirpa Grierson and Sarah Orme introduced me to the idea of "ekphrasis". 

With “ekphrasis” we combine the two Greek words “ek” meaning “out of” and phrasis meaning “speak”. When we practice the technique of ekphrasis we respond in a very structured way to a work of art with both analysis and creativity. 

Grierson and Orme focus their students on responding to works of art through poetry. Building on this, I think short narratives and dialogue would also be interesting forms for students to explore as they demonstrate their observation and interpretation skills. A great opportunity to use media to teach word choice, extending understanding and critical literacy.

Google's Art Project with it's super high resolution images is a tremendous source for this sort of work.

This doc outlines the task and provides students with an organizer for their ekphrasis work: "Ekphrasis Poetry and Narrative from Works of Art"

+ bonus item ekphrasis poetry task from the Smithsonian Education group

Canada: The Greater Britain

This is an authentic lecture from 1897 by Rev. C.E. Perry. Perry shares his views on all of the many things that make a young 30 year old Canada great. I wonder if students could see some of the irony in the text and whether they could infer how Perry might feel about our nation today? This activity feels timely in the middle of an election campaign.
Canada: The Greater Britain - full text with analysis prompts

Fitting In and Finding Your Way...

Young Canadian singer songwriter Aleesia Cara is a poet. Her first song "Here" is a wonderful sarcastic apology to the popular crowd for not fitting in at a party:

 

"I'm sorry if I seem uninterested

Or I'm not listenin', or I'm indifferent

Truly I ain't got no business here

But since my friends are here, I just came to kick it

But really I would rather be at home all by myself"

I think it's a great prompt for discussion groups to consider (full lyrics) and / or a prompt for a quick write as we get to know our students early in the school year. 

Prompts:

1. How much do you connect with Aleesia Cara's feelings in her song "Here"?

or

2. If you were a friend of Alessia Cara's how might you respond to her after hearing her song "Here"?

Wild Things by Alessia Cara

Cara's second released song "Wild Things" (full lyrics) builds on the theme with thoughts about high school cliques. It's a terrific call to arms, full of great word play and connections to Maurice Sedac's classic children's story.

Prompts:

1. Identify a character from a text we’ve read in class and explain how he/she would respond to Alessia Cara’s song. Justify your analysis with specific references to the character’s actions and/or thoughts.
2. A “lamentation” is a song about regret and loss while a “celebration” is a song about success and triumph. Explain which label you’d apply to Alessia Cara’s “Wild Things”.
3. How is Alessia Cara’s “Wild Things” related to the classic children’s story “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sedak?

"I lose my balance on these eggshells you tell me to tread

I'd rather be a wild one instead

Don't wanna hang around the in crowd, the cool kids

I'm cool to me, cause they're not cooler than we are"

Effective Laptop Use in Classes

I think all of the following statements are probably true:

• laptops can lead to off task behaviour in class / particularly during lectures;
• laptops are great tools for taking notes during lectures;
• laptops can lead to students transcribing lectures rather than summarizing / distilling the most important information;
• laptops enable critical thinking, fact checking, making connections and exploring ideas during lectures;
• the effective use of laptops in classrooms must be taught through modelling, discussion, and reflection.

These articles from the Globe and Mail and The Atlantic about technology use in university lectures might be useful starting points for a discussion in high school classes about the effective use of laptops for note taking:  "Professors at odds over technology’s role in the lecture hall" / "To Remember a Lecture Better, Take Notes by Hand"

Questions I'd want students to consider after reading the articles:

1. How is effective note taking different from transcribing a lecture?
2. How might laptops help or hinder effective note taking?
3. What does effective laptop use look like in a class?
4. Do high school teachers and university professors have different responsibilities in the regulation of laptop use in their classes?
5. How will you know if you're an effective note taker?

Awkward Silences

I wonder if we spend enough time building relationships in our classes? I find that in many of the classes I visit the students don't know one another's names. This activity: "Awkward Silences", introduces students to the art of initiating a conversation using an article by Andrew Tarvin "Fifty Questions to Get to Know Someone - Quatro's Tips." It might be useful during the first couple of weeks of class.

Narrative Profile of Amaris Tyynismaa

Amaris Tyynismaa has battled tourette's syndrome most of her life. Writer Duncan Murrell's profile of Amaris is a terrific example of the use of narrative to illustrate the qualities of a character.

"Amaris Tyynismaa: The Human Body is a Miracle. The Human Body is a Curse" by Duncan Murrell

Students might use the article as an example to follow when writing a brief profile of themselves.
1. Challenge the students to identify examples from the text when Murrell uses brief stories to illustrate key points about Amaris' personality or struggles.
2. Ask the students to consider how the use of the anecdotes make the story more interesting or convincing.
3. Challenge the students to share in small groups stories that illustrate something about themselves.
4. With just a partner follow up on the small group discussion with an interview focused on these ideas:

• Identify something important / interesting people should know about your partner;
• Discover an anecdote to illustrate the important / interesting thing;
• Conclude your profile connecting the idea and the anecdote

Classroom friendly version of the article: A Runner

Learning & Studying Tips

Exams are around the corner.  This article ("The Lessons You Never Got Taught In School") offers students some suggestions on how to take control of their studying success.

Best Tip: Students preparing for exams should use the "Elaborative Interrogation" method

From the article:

Elaborative Interrogation

A method involving creating explanations for why stated facts are true. The method involves concentrating on why questions rather than what questions and creating questions for yourself as you are working through a task. To do this yourself, after reading a few paragraphs of text ask yourself to explain “why does x = y?” and use your answers to form your notes. This is a good method because it is simple, so anyone can apply it easily. It does however require enough prior knowledge to enable you to generate good questions for yourself, so this method may be best for learners with experience in a subject. The technique is particularly efficient with regard to time, one study found that elaborative learning took 32 mins as opposed to 28 mins simply reading.

An example of elaborative interrogation for the above paragraph could be:

Elaborative learning is useful for proficient learners because it allows them to apply their prior knowledge effectively to process new information. It is rated as effective because it is time efficient and relatively easy to perform.

Book Clubs with Purpose

Literature Circles with defined roles can be a useful structure to support students' understanding of the sorts of thinking that effective readers do while reading... but they can also become very formulaic and at their worst devolve into a "taking up of homework" experience as students sequentially share their work with little investment or discussion.

A Book Club approach with an open challenge to  students to demonstrate their understanding  of their text and analysis skills removes the rigid structure of the roles from the Literature Circle and can lead to more adult and interesting discussions by students, but without some focus the Book Club may stall as students may require prompting to move the discussion forward. I like this format and enjoy sitting in with students taking part in Book Clubs (or Novel Seminars) and providing the occasional nudge. I find these are rich assessment opportunities, and that the students enjoy the freedom and take up the challenge.

Lately, I've found I can give the discussions a boost -- particularly with students who are already familiar with the format, by adding a pre-meeting task to the process. By giving the group a short article or image to consider immediately prior to the Book Club / Novel Seminar meeting I can spark additional analysis and challenge the group to extend their understanding of their text further. I find this is particularly useful when a group is meeting for the second or third time as they work through their text.

This article by Hannah Gersen from The Millions website ("Thinking By A Novelist About Writing")is an example of the sort of text I like to use prime the discussion pump in an effort to deepen the Book Club discussion. I've added a few prompts at the end to frame the conversation...but I would expect the group to engage in a conversation not read prepared answers at one another.

Other articles with Book Club discussion prompts:  Novel Discussion Group Articles

Inference - Using Prior Knowldge

Coming up on exam time... students often have to tackle a sight passage. Learning to infer and use their prior knowledge effectively while reading is critical to success with an unfamiliar text. This Google Ad is a fun inference puzzle to give those inference muscles a bit of a workout.

Challenge students to build a list of everything they know or think they know about the couple in the video and the clues in the video that they used to better understand the story being told. Students could work in pairs to complete a table like this:

Next, I'd want them to Identify specific moments in the video that required them to have some prior knowledge in order to better understand the story being told through the searches. I'd ask them to explain how their prior knowledge helped them.

Here's a student worksheet that also includes connections to the classic short story "A Conversation" by Ned Guymon: Inference Worksheet.

10 Ideas To Get Your Class Outdoors

1. Think Walk - pose a “big idea” question for students to consider while you lead them on a 10 minute walk. 10 minutes of movement and a change of context will lead to a richer discussion and better retention. After the walk ask the students to work in triads to develop a common answer to the initial question to share with the class.
2. Observation Challenge - lead students on a 10 minute walk outside. Notice 5-10 details while you walk. Challenge the students to pay attention to their surrounding while they walk. When you return to class pose questions based on the details observed during the walk (e.g. “How many people were sitting on the grass by the track?” / “What colour was the car parked beside the door we exited?” / “What kinds of flowers were growing in the garden we walked past?”) -- Useful activity for poetry study or narrative writing.
3. Inside Circle / Outside Circle - move the class outside and form two concentric standing circles. The members of the inner circle face the members of the outer circle. Provide a big idea prompt to the inner circle students (e.g. - “justify your choice for the most interesting text we’ve read in class this year” / “explain which character from a text you’ve read this year would be the most interesting to meet” / “explain why a sequel should be developed for one of the texts that we’ve read this year”). Rotate the outer circle two places and repeat with the member of the outer circle speaking. Repeat a few times. Great review or consolidation activity. Alternative context helps with retention. Standing promotes focus.
4. Character Walk - ask the students to choose one of the characters from a text they’re reading. Lead students on a short walk. Challenge the students to walk in trios and to adopt the traits of their chosen character and to have a conversation in character while they walk. Give the trios a minute to brainstorm a topic for their conversation before you leave. When you return ask the students to report on how they used word choice, body language and specific ideas to bring their characters to life.
5. Context Circle - move the class outdoors for a circle on the grass. Set the context for the lesson or activate students' prior knowledge with a prompt (e.g. - what’s something you already know about…”). The alternate context and circle can improve focus and give all students a voice.
6. Writing Instructions / Procedures - select a few specific destinations on the school grounds. In small groups challenge the students to develop very specific language to direct a person to their assigned destination -- with the one complication that they can only direct movement not describe the destination (e.g. - “Walk to the west end of the hallway and turn left…” NOT “If you’re standing under the goal posts you’re in the right place”). Have the groups trade instructions and see if they can successfully follow the other group's instructions.
7. Artifact Circle - ask students to bring artifacts from home (nothing valuable) that connect to a text that has been studied in class this year. Sitting on the grass in small circles of 6-8 ask the students to pass around the artifacts and make connections to the texts read in class. The student who provided the artifact goes last to explain the connection he/she intended the artifact to represent. Challenge the students to extend their understanding by making deeper connections to their texts and speculating how characters in their texts might participate in this experience.
8. Photo Hunt - lead students on a walk. During the walk, challenge the students to find or stage a photo that connects to a text that you’ve read / viewed in class. When you return to class jigsaw the class and have students share / explain their images.
9. Exam Prediction Brainstorm - lead the students on a walk. While walking ask the students to brainstorm a question that “should” appear on the final exam about one of the texts being studied in class. Prior to the walk co-create the criteria that you would use to describe an appropriate exam question. After the walk jigsaw a sharing of the questions.
10. Be Miserable - on a lousy weather day take students outside (briefly?). When you return to class ask the students to individually write a reflection or hold a whole class circle discussion about how the weather affects them. Make connections to the use of setting in a text or brainstorm ideas of how to overcome negative feelings about the weather and discuss how these strategies could have been used by a character in a text studied in class.

Photos of Playgrounds - Inference / Research / Critical Thinking Activities

These and more stunning photos of school playgrounds from around the world can be found here: Jamesmollison.com. Additional background on the project by photographer James Mollison and his book, Playgrounds can found found in this post by Slate.com  photo blogger Jordan G. Teicher: Slate Photo Blog interview.

Affiliated Primary School of South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

Aida Boys School, Bethlehem, West Bank

The images are a great opportunity for students to apply their inference, research or critical thinking skills.  A few ideas:

1. Inference: examine the details of one of the images closely. What could you infer from specific elements in the photograph about the school and home lives of the students pictured?  Here's an assignment page for this activity: A Day in the Life.
2. Research: choose one of the images to focus on and research the daily life of the life of a student in the community presented in the photo. Here's an assignment page for this activity.
3. Critical Thinking: imagine a character from one of the texts we've studied in class emigrated to one of the communities pictured in the collection of school playgrounds. Making specific references to details in the photograph and details in the text determine how challenging or comforting the character might find his/her new community? Here's an assignment page for this activity.

Critical Literacy - Rethinking What We Know

Globe and Mail writer, Doug Saunder’s article “The real reasons why migrants risk everything for a new life elsewhere” is a great challenging read for senior students. It addresses stereotypes, requires critical thinking about the voices not heard in most news reporting and encourages further curiosity and research.

I find students respond really well to ideas that challenge conventional wisdom. This article encourages its readers to rethink what they “know” about migrants from African nations trying to reach Europe.  This Google Docs version of the article includes some response / analysis prompts: close reading task.

Paper Towns - By John Green

I've read three of John Green's books now. Rather than worry that I have the literary tastes of an adolescent girl, I've decided that they're a connection to my daughter who's growing up so fast. They're also an insight into the hopes and dreams and fears of my adolescent students. In Paper Towns Green tells a terrific story that feels very real as his characters peel away layers of identity that they have applied to themselves and to their friends.

Things I really liked about Paper Towns and why it belongs in English courses:

• There's a mystery. The plot works. The adventures feel genuine.
• There are great literary connections. Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" plays a central role in the novel. Holden Caufield doesn't appear, but an essay comparing him to central character Margo Ross Spiegelman is an obvious task. Canadians might draw contrasts to Hagar Shipley or even Susanna Moodie.
• John Green does so much work for teachers with his thoughtful FAQs. In discussing Paper Towns he provides rich content for book circles. He addresses the idea of the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl",  his relationship as an author with his readers and the importance of ambiguity in novels, and other authorial tidbits like this one:

Q. What titles did you consider before coming up with “Paper Towns”?
A. More Light Than Heat. I was really in love with that one for a long time. (Shakespeare)
Love Loves to Love Love. I thought that one was a hot slice of clever. (Joyce)
The Life and Hard Times of Margo Roth Spiegelman.
Chasing Margo. This ended up being the German title.
Margo Roth Spiegelman: An Incomplete Life 
etc.
They were all more pretentious than Paper Towns. I come up with like 1,000 titles, and then Sarah and Julie laugh at me for my pretentiousness and we try to settle on the least pretentious title. I don’t know how I ever got The Fault in Our Stars past their pretention detectors. 

• And lastly, there's a film coming out. That opens up all sorts of media analysis possibilities ranging from discussions of casting, to the changes in the plot, to responses to reviews, to analysis of the marketing.

The New World of Citizen Journalism

I had the opportunity to visit Mohawk College's Journalism program recently. It's very impressive.  I learned that the job of "reporter" has changed dramatically in the last 5-10 years. A reporter for a newspaper is no-longer primarily a writer. A reporter is expected to be a one person multimedia producing, cross-platform writing,  social networker. It's very exciting and the students at Mohawk were learning every aspect of the business. Which leads me, funnily enough, to the debate over vaccines. 

On  February 5th, The Toronto Star's front page cried out, "A Wonder Drug's Dark Side". What followed was a long story that as The Star's publisher was subsequently forced to admit, "led many readers to conclude The Star believed its investigation had uncovered a direct connection between a large variety of ailments and the vaccine". That quote is from the disclaimer that now appears on The Star's website where the article used to be found. The Star has "unpublished" the original story.

The flaws in the original story were laid out in an LA Times report on the controversy: "How A Major Newspaper Bungled A Vaccine Story and Then Smeared Its Critics".

In Our Classes

From an English class point of view this is rich material. 

1. What a great opportunity to discuss research and bias. This blog post by Dr. Jen Gunter -Autopsy of Toronto Star HPV article and the real dark side of Gardasil they missed -is a terrific example of a persuasive research based essay. It's a masterful example of effective organization and word choice. I especially like her title and its invitation to readers to discover the "real dark side".
2. The controversy is a terrific opportunity for students to examine the specific curriculum expectations of "critical literacy" and "production perspectives". Gunter's blog post highlights the need for readers to consider motivation and conflicts of interest when reading. This idea for a "Two Sides to the Story?" - research assignment uses the issue of "false balance" to teach the curriculum expectations of critical literacy and production perspectives.
3. Finally, back to the students at Mohawk College. This story is a fascinating example of the shift in power caused by the Internet. 10 years ago the front page story written by The Star's professional journalists might have been challenged by a few letters to the editor, perhaps The Star would have chosen to publish this rebuttal - "Science shows HPV vaccine has no dark side" -by Canadian scientists. But the debate would have happened entirely within the newspaper and would have been controlled by the newspaper.  As the publisher's very defensive retraction proves, The Star does not back down easily. Today, the Internet provides a platform that democratizes voices. This story is a great opportunity to challenge students to consider these curriculum based issues:
1. Confirmation bias;
2. How to corroborate sources;
3. Why we site sources in our research;
4. Language usage - is Dr. Gunter's critique of the language used in The Star's retraction fair?
5. "False Balance" in news reporting (as comically represented by John Oliver as it relates to Climate Change - warning PG-13 for language - start at 1:08 to avoid profanity).

Stream of Consciousness on Racism in Canada

Watching an old movie with my daughter led me down a stream of consciousness about race and culture and prejudice that reminded me of some texts that could be useful in the teaching of character analysis or persuasive writing.
I was watching the old John Grisham film A Time To Kill with my daughter. In the film, newly minted Klu Klux Klan followers plant a burning cross on the lawn of a lawyer defending a black man. My daughter asked a very sensible question, that I'd never processed before, she wondered how a burning cross became a symbol for white power.

This led to a Google search which led to a Wikipedia article and the uncomfortable discovery that the most recent example of a racist cross burning mentioned in Wikipedia happened in Nova Scotia in 2010.

That story reminded me of a terrific Radio Lab podcast about a young woman who rejected her family's imposed identity (her mother's birth certificate listed her as "negro") and adopted a new identity for herself as a white woman in a high school full of racial tension.
And finally, that story reminded me of a pair of articles from last month about racism in Winnipeg.
None of these texts are particularly uplifting, but all challenge us to confront our stereotypes and prejudices.

As part of an examination of the depiction of character traits or an analysis of the inner conflicts faced by characters in short stories or novels I wonder if these stories / articles might provide some interesting fodder for discussion.

Ally's Choice - Radio Lab podcast about racial divides in a family. The Radio Lab podcast challenges the scientific validity of the concept of race.

These two articles consider the reality of prejudice and injustice in Canada towards First Nations people: Winnipeg the Most Racist City in Canada and a rebuttal, Is Our City the Most Racist In Canada?

These could also be useful as part of a study of persuasive writing. Students could consider the reporters' attempts to create a convincing arguments to support ideas.

Goal Setting - "15 High Performance Habits"

We're past the "New Year's Resolution" time of the year, but isn't a new semester an equally appropriate time to offer students a chance to "reboot" their approach to school?  This article and activity is intended to foster those conversations:

Lesson Plan Idea & Article

"A New Semester - How Will You Make It Your Best One Ever?" -  http://goo.gl/HVqCtP the activity asks the students to read and reflect on the article:  "15 High Performance Habits That Will Make You Successful" - from Lifehack.org.