CI 5410 Week 3.1 - Assignment #1; "From the Wolf's Perspective"

Assignment #1; "From the Wolf's Perspective"

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GENERAL INTRODUCTION
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For my first assignment idea, I would like to share with you a wonderfully creative activity focusing on teaching / manipulating PERSPECTIVE. I was initially exposed to this idea during my licensure program's dedicated writing methods class, and it has stuck with me ever since.

Again, the primary focus of this activity is to teach students how to consider (as well as practice manipulating for themselves!) the idea of PERSPECTIVE across textual and / or visual texts. I do not see why this activity could not be applicable to students across ages, cultures, AND learning styles – more on the potentially universal nature of this activity later. Lastly, although of course highly dependent on YOUR unique learning context(s), I imagine this activity to take approximately 1 - 2 class periods.

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SPECIFIC PROCESSES
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Materials

In preparation for this activity, stock up on a number of popular / common children’s fables. Although you definitely have a TON of options to work with here, the following common tales immediately come to mind:

-The Tortoise and the Hare
-The Three Little Pigs
-Jack and the Bean Stock
-The Ugly Duckling
-Hansel and Gretel
-Little Red Riding Hood
-Goldilocks and the Three Bears
-Humpty Dumpty

Basically, any pop culture children’s fables that the majority of students in your class are likely to be familiar with are game!

If you wish, bring in Xeroxed, text-centric print-outs of these stories, or if you dare (and have the access), try to bring in REAL children’s books filled with the child-like images / text with which these stories are commonly communicated. Basically, I argue that the more you can encourage personal identification with these stories (after all, many children were read to out of these children’s books), the more effective this activity will be.

Procedures

DAY ONE

-Split students up into small groups, assigning ONE fable per group.

-While in their small groups, have students read fables out-loud to their fellow group members. Encourage students to express the language in child-speak (e.g., how mothers / fathers might adjust their voices to represent different characters when reading to children – a harsh voice for the bears and a high voice for Goldilocks). Also, encourage students to take in and experience any accompanying visuals that may be present.

-Once groups have read their fables, have each group present responses to the following question set:

a.) Whose perspective do you believe YOUR GROUP'S fable is written from (e.g., Goldilocks or the Three Bears?).

b.) What SPECIFIC features of the text do you believe reveal this perspective (in terms of possible language and / or accompanying visuals).

c.) What SPECIFIC “lesson” is being taught via said perspective (e.g., re: Hansel and Gretel - you shouldn’t trust strangers).

-And now the fun part! Either starting in class and / or assigned as homework, have students re-tell their story via the perspective of ANOTHER character. For example, re-telling the story of Little Red Riding Hood via the Wolf’s vs. Red’s perspective. NOTE: Depending on YOUR unique learning context, you could have students complete this task collaboratively as a group, or require each student to work independently. However, due to maintaining individual accountability, I recommended each student be required to complete their own independent re-telling.

DAY TWO

-Have students re-form the SAME groups that they worked in the day before.

-Have each student read their re-told stories out-loud to the remainder of the group. Again, encourage students to really get into it and utilize different voices to represent unique characters.

-Reflecting on their re-told stories, have students individually respond to the same question set as the day before:

Again:

a.) Whose perspective do you believe YOUR fable is written from (e.g., Goldilocks or the Three Bears?).

b.) What SPECIFIC features of the text do you believe reveal this perspective (in terms of possible language and / or accompanying visuals).

c.) What SPECIFIC “lesson” is being taught via said perspective (e.g., re: Hansel and Brittle: you shouldn’t trust strangers).

-Within their small groups, have students discuss how, SPECIFICALLY now, they accomplished their changes in perspective via SPECIFIC language and / or images they decided to utilize. Furthermore, have them discuss how these changes in perspective influences the meta-lesson that their re-told story suggests to readers. For example, if re-told from the Wolf’s vs. Red's perspective, I would argue that the common fable of Little Red Riding Hood would teach a significantly different sort of lesson to readers!

Accommodating for Diversity and / or Learning Styles

If you have students in your class that come from different, rich cultures, DO NOT waste such an opportunity; instead, proactively utilize students' diverse experiences as yet additional learning opportunities for your class. Although other students’ cultures might not share the SPECIFIC fable of Little Red Riding Hood, you’re in luck; childhood fables of some sort are more or less universal across ALL cultures! In such a case, just imagine what sort of teaching and learning would take place if students from other rich cultures shared THEIR unique, culture-specific fables with their group members! In short, I argue that this activity could be very easily modified to include the re-telling of not only American-centric fables, but fables from across the many rich cultures with which your students might have valuable “insider” knowledge.

Furthermore, this overall activity is very conducive to visual learners and writers as well. For example, if students do not wish and / or have the ability to to re-tell their stories via text alone, or if they simply have a natural talent for creating images, encourage them to consider and re-tell their stories visually. After all, I don’t think I have ever scene a purely text-centric children’s book! In addition to having students think about how perspective can be communicated via text, do not neglect exercising their ability to consider the building of perspective via visual elements, too.