By sheer coincidence, I discovered something pretty cool this academic year: gamifying our discussions of poetry translated into higher multiple-choice scores.
In effect, my guided questions taught students to make the BIG observations of a text; I got their noses right into the pith and substance of the poem's heartbeat ... and with a lot of skill-n-drill ... the magic happened.
An old adage states this: "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”
My credo going forward: teach a kid how to read like a professor, they kick some serious butt on the M.C. portion of any exam.
In this video, I have a slew of guided questions for three poems:
"Flashcards" by Rita Dove
"The Clasp" by Sharon Olds
"Jorge the Church Janitor Finally Quits" by Martin Espada
We gamified with a classic game of Mario Cart, but you can use pretty much anything at your disposal - Jenga, Connect Four, Jeopardy ...
All of the guided question slides are available in the video's description (free for the taking).
I'm in New York State and teach juniors, so we're preparing for the Regents Exam; but I also teach AP Lang. and AP Lit. --- I'm finding that activities like these are providing great bang for my buck (high engagement ... tons of learning).
Give it a whirl!
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