Sandra K. Friday
One of the questions that always appears on the Language Arts CAPT is:
Do you
think this story is effective literature? Explain your answer
. With my students, over the years, I have tried to clarify the abstract term:
effective literature
, and we have come up with a means of evaluating a piece of literature, or for that matter, a film, to try to answer that question, so that when my students are confronted with it on the CAPT, they will not feel bewildered; they will have the tools to write about it.
In each of the films we view and in the novella
Walkabout
that the students will read, students will be asked to discuss this CAPT question: "
Is this an effective film or novella?
" based upon the following criteria that seem to work well for this purpose:
1.
Is there a major
conflict
that is working itself out throughout?
2.
Does a
character change
or grow in understanding about him or her self or about the world, in some way?
3
. Is there a universal theme or
lesson
that the film director or author conveys?
This question of
effectiveness
is presented to the students at the outset, prior to reading or viewing, so that they can make observations and gather evidence as they read the literature or view a film. For this purpose, students use graphic organizers as a means of recording their observations and evidence. Developing an opinion about the
effectiveness
of the literature or film by using graphic organizers to answer questions 1 - 3 sets the stage for the students to discuss it and/or to write a five-paragraph essay, based on my model in
Lesson Plan # 2
in this unit. Each question 1 – 3, answered on a graphic organizer, becomes a support paragraph in the essay. The students quickly realize that they have already recorded their observations and gathered their evidence for their essay.
They also discover, in discussions, that while their observations may vary from other students, it is the evidence they have gathered that backs them up, and that will determine whether they will stick with their own observations or alter what they think.
For most of the students in my program at the Annex, learning a formula for writing a standard five-paragraph essay, and practicing the skill of using that formula, is very empowering, and a confidence-builder. Students also learn the steps of the writing process and the satisfaction of revising their own writing, until they are proud of their work. This marking period, I have team-taught with a science teacher, and we have assigned two major projects, both including a five-paragraph essay based on observations and evidence recorded on graphic organizers.