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!
First let me say how much I love Sign of the Beaver. This is the first year since I've been teaching fifth grade that I haven't had my class read it. Secondly, I love this idea. We have talked about perspective a lot this year and this is a great idea. I think I'll be doing this activity sometime soon. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteKatrina
Teacher of Scholars
Awesome- definitely trying it again in my class!
ReplyDeletex Serena x
Magic Mistakes & Mayhem
I just love this! Will be trying this out in my room as soon as our state tests are done this week:)
ReplyDelete4th Grade Frolics
YES!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this! Thank you for sharing this fabulous idea! I am SO excited about it! :) (hehe can you tell!)
ReplyDeleteYoung Teacher Love 5th Grade Blog
I loved teaching using the novel, Sign of the Beaver! (I now teach 4 and 5th special ed, with lower reading levels). I like the eyeball drawings. I could see my students using this during our fairy tale unit- one taking the Big Bad Wolf's perspective, and another student drawing either a little pig or Red Riding Hood's perspective, especiallly with the book Red Riding Hood was Rotten! You could use it in any history lesson, or maybe in a life science lesson- for the food chain or habitats! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMary
Teaching Special Kids
This looks and sounds incredible. I will definitely be trying this one out with my kiddos! Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteCreating Lifelong Learners
I was visiting my son's school this past week and saw your idea on a hallway display! The teacher even said they read it on a blog. It is a great idea. I love it! I am going to have to remember this for next year!
ReplyDeleteJennifer
Teaching to Inspire in 5th
Yay.. Thanks for letting me know!
DeleteI love this idea! I'm your newest follower :-)
ReplyDeleteReal Teachers Learn
I loved this idea and I am using outside of a novel study. Student will interview primary sources about 9/11 and then create an illustration of the eye from the perspective of the person who they interviewed and what they saw on 9/11
ReplyDelete