Here’s a task I gave students back in 2010:
Design the character’s room. Each item in the room must reveal an attribute about the character. Consider their change over time. Design this room on paper, create a diorama, or build the room in Google Sketchup.
The Problem
This task has interesting ideas, but it’s underdeveloped. I didn’t give students any scaffolding or modeling.
A big red flag: all directions, no questions. Questions prompt thinking, directions just tell you to do something.
But why was this task so underdeveloped? The main reason is that this was one of nine (!?) choices I made for an extension menu (I do not recommend creating extension menus friends.)
I think the actual question buried in all those directions was “What is this character’s main trait?”
But that’s a low-level question. Every student will give me basically the same answer.
The Updated Version
Nowadays, I always aim for the Analyze level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. To do that, I’ll bring in a second character who has a similar goal. Students will think about the similarities and differences between these two similar characters.
Part 1 – Rewrite the initial prompt to be clearer.
- What is this character’s main goal?
- What items in the character’s bedroom would hint at this goal?
Part 2 – Now, I bring in a second character so we can move to Analyze.
- What character from another story has a similar desire?
- What items would they have in their room?
- What items in their room would not fit with Character A’s personality?
Part 3 – Students think from Character A’s point of view.
- Character A visits Character B’s room. Which items would they immediately connect with in Character B’s room? Write out some of their thoughts.
- Which item(s) would surprise Character A? Write out their reaction.
Part 4 – Finally, Character A writes a diary entry, reflecting on their encounter with Character B. How has this changed (or not changed) their dream?
Now, we can get to that original final product if we want. Students can film skits or create dioramas. But, because we’ve climbed Bloom’s, the product will reflect students’ thinking, not just their artistic skills.
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