Another perspective...

My classes are reading Sign of the Beaver right now.  This is a favorite by my kiddos every year.  I usually have them keep a journals from the perspective of Matt the main character.  My students have loved it... writing journal entries, doodling, & comparing themselves to him.  Last Wednesday night I was perusing Pinterest one of my addictions and found a fabulous pin.

 

Whoever pinned it first and added the caption that it could be used as POV in a novel study needs a big pat on the back.

 

I went into school the next day and completely changed what I wanted to do.  We read the chapters for that day like we originally would have, but what we finished I numbered off my students by 2s.  I then told them that all of the 1s were going to be in Matt's shoes & all of the 2s would be in Attean's shoes.  I then put them on opposite sides of the room and they discussed their "experiences" & "feelings" that occurred through the chapters read (as their character, of course).  We shared and discussed what the students had come up with.

Then, I handed out a sheet of computer paper to each students & a Styrofoam bowl to each groups.  I didn't tell them what they would be used for, but I had them watch me trace & draw my eye on the Elmo.  You could see light bulbs going off over several students heads...  When I was done drawing, I asked them if they could infer from what I had drawn what I was going to have them do.  Hands went up & smiles lit up around the room.  They were set off to drawn something that had happened in the chapter from their characters perspective. 

 

We had a blast!!  I think they came out amazing.  It was interesting to see two students in the same group drawing about the same moment in a chapter, but from the different character's perspective.  This is definitely something I will do again with my kiddos!

 

Next week I am going to be really rocking their minds and have them do a symbolism assignment over the novel.  I'll be writing about that next week, so be looking forward to it!

 

If you have any other ideas with how the eye drawing could be used, please comment & let me know!