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Objectives:
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(a) To have each student think, write, and talk about his or her concept of a god or goddess.
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(b) To have each student construct a mask which personifies the qualities and characters
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Methods:
Day 1:
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1. Each student has been given three days to find a picture or toy figurine(i.e. Star Wars or Dungeon and Dragons variety)_representing their concept of a deity.
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2. Each student brings in his or her picture or figurine on an assigned date.
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3. The teacher stresses that this is a creative writing activity, The god or goddess should be of a personal variety and not necessarily the one the student might worship in church.
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4. Each student is responsible for naming his or her god or goddess.
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5. Each student writes down a physical and personality description complete with the deity’s powers.
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6. Each student completes the writing and revises it for homework.
Day 2:
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1. Each student reads his or her description to the class.
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2. The class discussion centers around the following questions:
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a. What common qualities do these deities possess?
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b. Which qualities differ the most from the group in general?
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c. Which gods or goddesses differ the most from those of present day organized religion?
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d. Which gods or goddesses are Greek in nature?
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e. What is the purpose of a god or goddess in a society?
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f. What elements in contemporary organized religion have counterparts in mythical rituals?
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3. Divine face mask project is introduced,
Day 3:
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1. Each student constructs a face mask of his or her deity from construction paper, crayons or magic markers, and string.
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2. Each student makes a pendant style name tag for the mask with construction paper and string.
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3. The masks and name tags are hung around the room on display.
‘Shared Inquiry‘ Discussion Technique
The second classroom technique was developed by The Great Books Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1947. Shared inquiry is described in the handbook as being best suited for groups of six to eight students. Each teacher must think of ways to adapt the technique to his or her situation. The lesson plan which follows this description describes how I will use it in discussing the myths read by Honors English 2.
Shared inquiry is based on the discussion of interpretive questions in dealing with the author’s meaning in specific readings. Factual and evaluative questions are also used, but they play a secondary role. The idea is to get students to look at specific words or phrases to interpret their meaning.
There are four ground rules which must be clearly stated before the assigned readings or any discussion takes place. The first is that discussions will deal with selections that everyone has read. Since discussions are based on specific questions, this rule is vital. Students must have time enough to read the selection and take notes. There is not enough time to read some of the Greek myth selections I have chosen and have a discussion in one class period. For these, I will assign the reading and note taking for homework on the night before the scheduled discussion.
The second rule is that the teacher must not introduce critics’ reviews or outside information for interpretation of the selections. Students should not learn to depend on these sources, but to think about a question or problem on their own. Because of the variety of critical opinions, they might not be of any more help to the discussion than the students’ own opinions.
The third rule is that no one may take part in the discussion who has not read the selection ahead of time. This is to prevent students from letting others do their work for them. One way for the discussion leader to check this is to require students to submit a list of notes or questions based on the selection before the discussion begins.
The last rule is that the leader may only ask questions. This is related to my objective of getting students to channel their energy into something educationally constructive. If the teacher answers his or her own questions with comments or statements, all the pressure to think is taken off of the student. The students also get the idea that there is only one right answer the teacher’s.
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A particular method of reading is used in shared inquiry. This is called ‘slow reading‘ because there are two readings of the selection to be discussed. The aim of the first reading is to become acquainted with the plot and to record initial responses. To facilitate this goal, students should be instructed to read with paper and pen at hand. The teacher reads by the same method to continue the feeling of a shared experience. Unknown or seemingly important words or phrases, thoughts, connections or patterns, questions, or feelings are all forms of the responses that should be written down. The second reading is done to get over the novelty of the selection and to cement plot events into the reader’s mind. Another purpose is to record responses that went unnoticed during the first reading and a third is to rethink initial responses.
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The next step for the teacher and students in preparing for the discussion is to review their responses and to change as many of them as possible into interpretive questions. This type of question is asked to elicit opinions about the author’s meaning in reference to a particular word, pattern, character, etc., giving support for the opinion with evidence from the text. Interpretive questions depend on readers making inferences by thinking on their own. There is never one answer for an interpretive question because of the possibilities involved in individual interpretation. The teacher must be in doubt, then, for the question to be interpretive. The teacher then ranks these questions in order of importance. The teacher may have a favorite or more significant one which he or she wants to begin the discussion with. Some of the questions, which are ranked .lowest will probably be left out of the discussion because of time limitation.
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Before the discussion starts, the teacher makes several copies of a seating chart, one for each question. This is so that a teacher can keep track of who has or has not contributed to the discussion and what was said by each participant. A goal of this unit and of shared inquiry is that every student participate.
The teacher begins the discussion by asking the question which he or she cares about the most. After the first student selected has answered, other students may signal their wish to respond by raising their hands. If a teacher decides to pursue a particular response with a student, he or she may ask follow up questions of that student and, in doing so, control the flow of the discussion. This control is necessary for the teacher to have enough time to write down responses.
This is where factual or evaluative questions become helpful. If a student has not responded to an interpretive question, the teacher may ask a student a factual question to which there is only one answer. There is a better chance of involvement once the student has had positive reinforcement with the factual question. If the student cannot find a factual answer in the text, the teacher may ask an evaluative question. It might require the student to agree or disagree with what someone else has said or to state his or her opinion on the basis of personal experience. If the student still does not respond, check his or her pulse.
As the discussion winds down, the teacher begins the final phase of shared inquiry, the resolution. The repetition of responses, discussion of minor points or tangential topics, is a sign. of the need for resolution. In this process, the teacher first repeats the original interpretive question which began the discussion. Different students are called on to repeat what they or other participants have said. The teacher makes a list of these responses and then states any answers listed on the seating chart which the class has omitted. As the final step, the teacher reads the list back to the class in summary of the discussion.
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Because of the amount of preparation involved in shared inquiry, I do not plan to use it with all of the readings of Greek myths listed above. Using shared inquiry twice a week throughout the marking period should give me ample experience to develop the skills necessary to run an effective discussion. Spreading the days out in the week, as in a Monday and Thursday schedule, will also give students enough time to complete the ‘slow reading‘ technique and prepare their responses. This spacing also allows time for follow-up activities that are inspired by the readings and discussions to follow immediately after shared inquiry.
