Getting Spidey and Killing the Question

by Mrs. E Tpt Store: Mrs. E's Literature Daydreams

Hi all, I’m Mrs E. I teach English and English Literature at a large secondary school in England.
Each week I see around 10 different classes aged from 11 – 18 years old.  I love my job, I mean, I
really love my job.  Most days the kids in my classroom stagger me with their humour, intelligence
and curiosity.  But…we all have days when we can’t drag our heads off the table and today I wanted
to share with you some of the ways I have tackled student apathy head on.

 

Getting Spidey

This whole class activity is deceptively easy to set up and it not only gets students up and out of their seats, but also enhances and deepens their knowledge and understanding.
In a nutshell
This is a whole class mind-map.
I use themes or concepts from literature, but you could use key words, facts or knowledge from any unit.  The idea is that students use string and post-it notes to link ideas across the classroom.
Deets (Details):

1. Decide what concepts, ideas, knowledge you want students to link / compare / explore.
2. Print on individual sheets and place around the room.
3. Place students in pairs and give them piece of string, blue-tac, post-it notes.
4. Students use the string to physically connect the sheets and then write the connection on the post-it note.
5. Ask students to make as many links as they can between the sheets placed around them.
6. They should put as much information as possible on post-it notes as possible and then hang these from the string. 

 















Variation:
Need a more permanent class mind-map?  The spider-web works just as well on the wall – see below.  All the details are the same except I use paper on the wall and double-sided sticky tape.

 Kill the question
Another ‘involving’ activity that challenges students to think deeply.  This one tackles an essay question, problem or exam task.

In a nutshell:
The activity is based on CSI and the idea is that students gather evidence to “kill” or in some cases “resurrect” the question (problem, task).  You nominate the "question" (for question each time read essay, problem, task etc). Then in pairs students are asked to gather evidence from a variety of locations to prove or disapprove the question.

Deets (Details):

1. Decide on the topic for exploration – this is your dead body – you can see that one of the essay questions we tackled was “Freedom is a redundant idea.”
2. If you are bold enough – draw round a student on the floor and write the question in the middle.  You can see I have done this with chalk on the carpet (it comes off, mostly) or on paper. 
3. Now you have your dead body. Your students need to investigate.  They gather evidence and write this on cards that you place around the dead body (question).
   How you manage that is up to you.
   You could:
   1. Ask groups of students to look at the question from different points of view.
      So for the “Freedom is redundant” question. I had different groups of students find evidence for or against it from: History, Art / Literature, Music & Film, Current Affairs, Religion, Science etc.
      When I am using this activity as part of a Novel Study – I might ask pairs of students to present evidence for or against an idea from the point of view of a character, or from a particular chapter or scene.
   2. Ask groups or pairs to argue for or against the idea from their own knowledge and opinion.
   3. 
      4. You have gathered your evidence. Now it’s time to evaluate it together and decide whether the question stays dead or receives a miraculous resurrection.
      
      I often use Kill The Question as an essay planning task.  The evaluation stage is then where we begin to explore the strength and weaknesses of different arguments.  We decide whether we can link certain pieces of evidence together. Or whether some evidence stands in direct contrast with others.
      
      
      We then write our plan or summary of the idea and its strengths and weaknesses together.
      
   
   I hope you enjoyed reading about these ideas.
   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Es-Literature-Daydreams
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