Imagine a world in which we could saddle our students with a million practice multiple-choice exams between this very minute and the last day of the academic year.
To what extent would they become better test-takers?
My contention is this ... most kids would plateau regardless of our efforts and not see significant improvement in their scores.
This is exactly why I gamify instruction.
In today's video, you will see how we can either use Connect 4 or Jeopardy to tackle five poems:
- The Clasp by Sharon Olds
- Jorge the Church Janitor Finally Quits by Martin Espada
- Not Bad, Dad, Not Bad by Jan Heller Levi
- The Rose That Grew From Concrete by Tupac
- My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke
The game questions - a blend of student and teacher directed - are excellent in terms of getting students to perform some very tight reads.
Good readers are good M.C. test-takers.
And good readers, in turn, become good writers.
Feel free to download the poems and game slides in the video's description.
Happy teaching and happy writing!
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