Beyond the Story: A Dickens of a Party
Review Publish Date: 2021-05-04 09:54:31
Reviewer: INFOhio Reviewer
Rubric Version: Reviews Review Rubric Version 0.92
Endorsements
Flexible Learning Endorsement |
Summary: Students attend a 19th Century Victorian party to celebrate Scrooge's new outlook on life. They research characters from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and assume those personas for the party. Students are invited to attend a 19th Century party as a character from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. To play this role, students must understand the values and customs Dickens' characters represented in Victorian society. This lesson is divided into three stages: Group Investigative Roles, Individual Characterizations, and Individual Presentations. Students collaboratively research the life and times of Charles Dickens as it relates to a character, and write and present a first-person character analysis.
Usability
Meets
Expectations
Flexibility and Adaptability
Meets
Expectations
Inclusive Teaching
Meets
Expectations
Research-Based Strategies
Does not Meet
Expectations
Usability : 3/6 Top
a. Materials follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
b. Material(s) are not overly resource intense that would require consistent high-speed internet access, such as large video files and multiple high-resolution photos.
c. The visual design of materials is clean and coherent, lending itself to ease of learning.
Reviewer Notes: Instructional material is arranged in 10 (50 minute) sessions with enrichment and reflection opportunities. Flexibility and Adaptability: 3/6 Top
d. Materials are flexible to allow students to access and complete work online or offline as needed.
e. Materials can support and/or facilitate learning in hybrid and/or online delivery methods.
f. Teacher supports, documentation, and/or guides for effective use are present.
Reviewer Notes: This lesson blends the interactive strategies of Bernie Dodge's WebQuest Taskonomy with the reading and writing character workshops outlined in Donald Graves' book, Bring Life into Learning. This lesson can be used to teach characterization, elements of drama, and presentation skills. It engages students in cooperative learning, note taking, and roleplaying activities. Students research print and nonprint sources, and search selected Internet sites in an effort to understand the motives, actions, and symbolism of Dickens' characters. The researched information is synthesized into a first-person character analysis.
Further Reading
Graves, Donald. 1999. Bring Life into Learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Dodge, Bernie. 2002. "WebQuest Taskonomy: A Taxonomy of Tasks." The WebQuest Page. Web. http://webquest.sdsu.edu/taskonomy.html. Accessed October 28, 2003.
O'Day, Shannon. 2001. "Creative Drama through Scaffolded Plays in the Language Arts Classroom." Primary Voices 9.4 (April): 20-25.
Inclusive Teaching: 3/6 Top
g. Content is presented with an objective view on topic and is free of bias.
h. Content creates student experiences that enable all children to reach empowering and rigorous learning outcomes regardless of their race or income.
i. Content cultivates an awareness and acceptance of a variety of ages, cultures, races, religions, and gender roles and identities.
Research-Based Strategies: 6/14 Top
j. Content builds on prior learning
k. Content leads to further learning by gradually removing supports and requiring advanced skills and concepts.
l. Content provides for authentic learning, application of literacy skills, student-directed inquiry, analysis, evaluation and/or reflection.
m. Content engages students through discussion questions and other supports that build toward independence.
n. Uses technology and media to deepen learning and engage students.
o. Content includes options for differentiation to meet needs of all learners.
p. Instructional approaches used are reflective of best practices and research on what works in education.
Reviewer Notes: NCTE/IRA NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
1.
Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
3.
Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
5.
Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
7.
Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
8.
Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
12.
Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information). |
Usability
Flexibility and Adaptability
Inclusive Teaching
Research-Based Strategies
|
Reviews Reviewer Login
Reviews login credentials are only available to approved Reviews reviewers. For more information about Reviews reviews, please visit the Reviews Curriculum Library.
Endorsements
The Accelerating Learning endorsement indicates that the material meets or exceeds expectations for both the Standards Alignment and Research-Based Strategies indicators.