Letter to the Character & Snowballing:
Description:
After all the exercises used to dramatize the text students will write a letter to one of the characters in the text. The teacher can provide a prompt or could allow the students to write a letter that reflects anything that they feel their character might want to say to the chosen recipient of the letter. Once all the students have completed their letters then they crumple the paper in to a “snowball” and chuck it in to the middle of the room. Once all the snowballs are in a pile (or scattered across the room) the students will go and choose a letter that was written by someone other than themselves. Each student will read the letter and decide on a key phrase or part of the letter that really stood out to them. The phrases will be collected to create a final letter. In order to create this letter the students must listen to what has been said before and find a point where they feel that their line or section would fit best.
Application:
This allows students an expressive way to respond to the text through writing. The letters can be creative and expressive but they demonstrate the students synthesis of the exercises and the text. This can serve as a way for the teacher to provide some assessment of understanding and engagement. In the end when the group writes a collaborative letter out of the snowballs the students are responding to the writing of others as well as the text. The collaborative letter also requires the students to use active listening.
Variations:
- Students can respond not in character but as themselves
- Small groups can create a collaborative letter
Notes:
Will Whitten 