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How to write a Poetry Commentary
In order to write a proper IB Paper 1 style essay, the following guidelines must be followed. For the IB commentary, you are expected to explain a given poem or prose. While it is not to be confused with a detailed explanation as you might expect in college which would be anywhere from 5-15 pages in length, the commentary is less formulaic and structured than the World Literature papers, but at the same time, it adheres to formal standard English.
There are several disagreements as to what constitutes a commentary. Some hold that by nature, it is not formal--it can be a running "commentary"(hence the term, "commentary") of what the examinee sees in a given poem. Though this approach runs the risk of seeming like a literary version of a grocery list, as long as the examinee sees some overarching, organizing method--an idea, concept, or literary device that the poet uses to hold the poem together cohesively--the commentary need not be as tightly formulaic as the five paragraph thesis paper (which is generally despised in most circles because it discourages divergent thinking).
Others say that this organic approach makes it impossible to surmise any actual literary analysis. A beginning "thesis" of the poem's focus, followed by organizing the analysis into patterns, strands, or organizational groups, makes it easy to follow a persuasive, holistic presentation.
All agree, however, on the paramount importance of framing one's literary analysis within the terms and devices of poetry; one must both identify literary elements, analyze its purpose and effect, and speak intelligently as to tone, diction, structure, mood, and form.
Below are some literary devices to get you started.
- Accent: refers to the stressed portion of a word. An accent is used to place emphasis on a word.
- Note: accent and stress can be used interchangeably.
- Allegory: A description that has a second, usually moral meaning.
- Alliteration: is the repetition of initial (at the beginning) CONSONANT sounds (if it's a vowel repetition, you would call it assonance. Assonance includes any repetition of a vowel sound in any part of the word. It usually occurs in the middle of words).
- Allusion: refers to an event from an external content. It is understandable only to those with prior knowledge of the reference in question (as the writer assumes the reader has).
- Apostrophe: Something that addresses an object or person or idea who is not present as though he/she/it could reply.
- Antithesis: The juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas to create a feeling of balance (e.g Too black for heaven, and yet too white for hell)
- Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds may also add to euphony.
- Aubade: Poetry referring to either the dawn, a love song or about parting lovers.
- Ballad: A form of poetry in a specific meter meant to be sung. There is always a repeating refrain and it is always narrative in form. See below for more information.
- Blank verse: Iambic Pentameter that doesn't rhyme. (Much of Shakespeare's plays for example were written in blank verse.)
- Caesura: A cut or break in a line, could be a comma or a semicolon.
- Cacophony: Harsh sounding and generally unpleasant.
- Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds NOT in the beginning of a word (which would be alliteration). Enforces relation.
- Continuous Form: Lines follow each other without any type of structural organization except by blocks of meaning.
- Didactic Poetry: Poetry with a directly morally teaching purpose.
- Ethos: the validity of the source or narrator/ speaker.
- Euphony: Pleasant sounding.
- Extended Figure: An apostrophe, simile, metaphor, etc. which is developed throughout a poem.
- Imagery: Language which appeals to each of the five senses.
- Visual imagery: Sight. The most frequent type.
- Aural or auditory imagery: Sound.
- Olfactory imagery: Smell.
- Gustatory imagery: Taste.
- Tactile imagery: Touch, tangibility.
- Organic imagery: Human sensations, hunger for example.
- Irony: Dramatic or otherwise, conveying an aspect that is intrinsically unexpected or self-contradictory.
- Metaphor: A comparison between two unlike things without using the words "like" or "as".
- Onomatopoeia: Words which are written to mimic a sound. (SHAZAM! SPLAT! PLOP!)
- Paradox: A statement which appears to contradict itself but makes sense (usually in an abstract sense).
- Personification: Animals and inanimate objects are given human characteristics.
- Phonetic Intensive: A word whose sound emphasizes its meaning.
- Prose: Language which is not in meter.
- Refrain: A repeated line, phrase, sentence, etc. which appears throughout a poem.
- Rhetorical Poetry: Poetry written in superfluous language with the intention of being overdramatic.
- Scansion: The process of measuring verse.
- Simile: The comparison of two subjects using "like" or "as" or something similar
- Sonnet: See link.
- Tone: The writer's attitude toward the subject.
Advanced Vocabulary for the Daring
- Anaphora: Repetition of the same word or words from the beginning of sentences, lines, or phrases.
- Ars Poetica: A poem about poetry
- Conceit: The comparison of two dissimilar things. "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day"
- Dramatic monologue: Narrator speaks to himself. The speaker is not the author.
- Epiphany: A realization or comprehension of the essence of something.
- Feminine Rhyme: Two syllable (Disyllabic) rhyme consisting of stressed syllable followed by unstressed
- Incantation: Use of words to create an archaic effect. (Opening scene of Macbeth and the Weird Sisters)
- Incremental repetition: Repetition of succeeding stanzas with small substitutions of changes.
- Masculine rhyme: Monosyllabic rhymes.
- Metonymy: Substitutes the name of one thing with something closely associated with it.
- Synecdoche: Substitutes a part of one thing to represent the whole, or vice versa.
- Pathetic fallacy: A reflection of the action/events through nature/weather. (A thunderstorm during the creation of Frankenstein's monster sequence)
- Persona: The character created by the narrator.
- Synaesthesia: A blending of sensations.
- Trope: A way of extending the meanings of words beyond the literal.
Types of Poems
- Alexandrine: Twelve-syllable poetic line of French origin.
- Couplet: A poem or section consisting of two successive lines, usually rhyming and having the same meter and often forming a complete thought.
- Elegy: A poem of loss and consolation.
- Panegyric: Praise for an individual, a group of people, or a body.
- Sonnet: A poem of fourteen lines, usually following a strict rhyme scheme/structure.
- Stichic: A poem which is a continuous sequence of lines without any division into stanzas.
- Villanelle: 19 lines divided into 6 stanzas 5 of 3 and 1 of 4.
- Apostrophe: A poem directed to a person or thing not present/alive.
Step 1: Reading the Poem
- Read the poem silently once. Take a mental note or actually write down if you can't remember any impressions, emotions, or confusions the poem may originally stir.
- Read the poem once more; try to understand its meaning or the course of events it may describe.
- Read the poem aloud if possible. If you're in an exam room you can read the poem under your breath. Take note of the tone and speed of the poem.
- Read the poem again and take notes about the literal and figurative context of the poem. This should include its meaning on the literal level and any figurative meanings it may include.
- Read the poem again, this time looking for literary devices. These should be, but not limited to:
- Onomatopoeia and Phonetic Intensive words
- Metaphors, Similes, and Personifications.
- Juxtaposition and Contrast
- Once you're sure you've found these literary devices, proceed to look further for:
- What does the title suggest- is it related to our understanding of the poem?
- Note: Compare your first impression of the title to its actual meaning.
- Does the poem have an apostrophe?
- Are sections cacophonic or euphonic? If so, do the previous literature features make them so?
- Is there any irony?
- Does the poem have an extensive figure?
- Is there a refrain?
- Next, once you've gone through the poem's meaning and its literary devices- it's time to look for form!
- Note: Knowing a poem's scansion is not necessarily required. You don't need to state this poem is written in dactylic hectometre, but it’s pretty obvious if a poem is written in iambic pentameter and counting meter isn't too difficult.
- Is the poem in a continuous form, a stanzaic form, or a fixed form? (Such as a Ballad or a Sonnet)
- Take note of the poem's structure- how many stanzas, how many lines, etc.
- Make extra note of the author's tone and how this influences the poem.
Step 2: Looking for Detail
- Now that you've found the poem's literal and figurative meanings, its form, and its literary devices - it's time to get to work!
- Make connections - in what ways do the poem's literary devices add to the poem's meaning?
- What effect does the writer's tone have on the reader's perception of the poem?
- What effect does meter and form have on meaning?
An excellent way of keeping your entire commentary in focus is, asking yourself these simple yet significant questions:
1) What's being said (content, maybe theme, character, ideas, relationships, ideas, love, peace etc.)
2) How is it being said (stylistic devices, rhyme, structure, diction, etc.)
3) So What? (I.e. for what ends, purposes, extrapolation chances, personal connection and response, etc.)
Remember it's not a grocery list of memorized terms- barfed out in a time period of 2 hours. It is supposed to be an intricate and insightful response to what you as a reader, understand from the text, the author's intended message. The planning phase is perhaps the most important, even more important than the writing phase (which comes naturally succeeding it, if planning goes well the written should be equally responsive).
Step 3: Structuring your Commentary
- There is no definitive structure to a poetry commentary; this isn't like writing a history essay. However, structure is an important aspect in writing a poem commentary and you can prepare yourself in advance by having some notion of the order in which you will write. Here is an example of a possible essay structure:
- Note: Everyone is different, if you want to write your poetry commentary in a different form, by all means do so- this is merely a suggestion aimed at guiding your writing.
- State the poem's title, author, and a small introduction to the poem's overall literal meaning.
- State the poem's form, and any important literary devices which appear throughout it.
- Write about an important aspect of the poem which you will further discuss in your wildcard paragraph and eventually conclude in your last paragraph.
- Paragraph One: Structure and Narration
- Paragraph Two: Meaning
- State the poem's literal meaning.
- State the poem's figurative meaning.
- Paragraph Three: Devices
- Write about the poem's literary devices.
- Write about important themes present in the poem.
- Paragraph Four: Combine
- Write how literary devices and meaning interconnect.
- This paragraph should begin to bring things together.
- Paragraph Five: The Wild Card
- Introduce an important theme or aspect of the poem in great detail. This could be a refrain, an extended figure or an apostrophe.
- The conclusion should combine the Wild Card with the above paragraphs. In this case, one could talk about how literary devices or the poem's structure aid in supporting an extended figure.
Here is another suggestion for a structure which requires about 10-15 minutes of planning, but is still just as efficient-
- State the poem's title, author, and a small introduction to the poem's overall literal meaning.
- If any, state the relevance of the background of the author (i.e. their philosophies, causes, a message..)
- Construct a 'map' to your answer. Concisely, write one sentence on each idea that will be put forth in the essay
- Paragraph One: Idea One
- Use PETER
- Point: State the point you are trying to prove, e.g. The conflict in the extract symbolizes change
- Evidence: Give evidence for the conflict by quoting
- Technique: State the literary features
- Elaboration: Develop your point further and give a deeper explanation on your point. Also state the reason for the point that the author was trying to make, or the reason for which the literary feature was used
- Response: Describe the emotions or ideas evoked into the reader, if any
- Paragraph Two: Idea Two
- e.g. Point: The first person narrative is used to gain empathy from the reader.
- (Follow the same pattern as used for the first idea)
(An ideal commentary has 3-5 ideas. Remember to focus more on developing the ideas than to have more of them. 3 well developed ideas will fetch more marks than 6 baseless points.)
- (Off record: One must realize that a conclusion is usually just the introduction which is paraphrased with a more conclusive tone and possibly a fact or two more!)
- The conclusion must contain a brief summation of all the points you have made and why were they the most important. It could also include some personal interpretation that you are not confident about adding in the body of your essay.
Step 4: Example Commentary
I wandered lonely as a cloud
- That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
- A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
- And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
- Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
- Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
- In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
- In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
- Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
- Try to do it by yourself first- even if roughly.
- First impression: The poem is extremely euphonic and uses quite a bit of pleasant imagery. When spoken, it rolls off the tongue naturally. This reinforces the poem's joyful tone which proceeds through out the poem except for momentarily in the fourth stanza where the first two lines are cacophonic. The poem deals with an extended figure which may be considered an apostrophe.
- Structure: The poem is in a stanzaic form of four stanzas of six lines each. The rhyming scheme alternates at first, ABAB, but ends in a rhyming couplet CC which adds to the euphony of the poem and the ease at which it's spoken. The lines are in iambic tetrameter.
- Note: Meter can be found by counting the syllables in each line and simply dividing them by two. If this is the same for each line, then the poem is written in a specific meter.
- Speaker: The speaker is obviously the poet himself. By sharing his own first experiences with such a crowd of daffodils the reader gains the same first impressions.
- Literal Meaning: The poet recalls his first experience of seeing such a wondrous crowd of daffodils beside a bay. The blowing wind moves them in an awesome formation, a spectacle of nature of which the poet remembers in order to lift his spirits.
- Figurative Meaning: Everyone has had their good experiences in life. Perhaps it's the sensation of getting a new dog or seeing a beautiful bird take flight. It's important for us to remember those experiences, in times when we are down.
- Imagery: Lots of visual imagery
- "Golden daffodils" (4)
- "Sparkling waves" (14)
- "stars that shine / and twinkle on the milky way" (7-8)
- Kinesthetic imagery
- "Fluttering and dancing in the breeze" (6)
- "Tossing their heads in sprightly dance" (12)
- "The waves beside them danced" (13)
- Metaphors and Similes
- "I wandered lonely as a cloud" (1)
- "Continuous as the stars" (7)
- Personification of the Daffodils
- I saw a crowd / a host, of golden daffodils (3-4)
- Tossing their heads in sprightly dance (12)
- In such a jocund company (16)
- A host of golden daffodils (3)
- Beside the lake, beneath the trees (6)
- For oft when on my couch (19)
- heart with pleasures fills (23)
- Beside... beneath... breeze (5-6)
- stars...stretch...shine (7-8)
- glee...gay...gazed...gazed (13-15)
- Dance (6), (12), (13), (24)
- Gazed (15)
- Wildcard: Importance of the Speaker
- The speaker shows a great tranquility and appreciation of nature. The juxtaposition of the first two lines of the last paragraph with the rest of the poem and the use of the word "couch" suggest unhappiness with the material surroundings.
- Great! Now that we've written down the basic aspects of the poem- it's time for us to connect their meanings and effects!
"The Daffodils" by William Wordsworth describes the poet's sight of a spectacular field of daffodils situated by a bay. He uses worldly imagery to magnify such a small feat of nature in an attempt to demonstrate how both nature and memories are important in dealing with many of the woes of a modern society. The personified daffodils are the center of the poem which is written in a stanzaic form with a consistent rhyming scheme. Through the use of literary devices and intensive visual and kinesthetic imagery, the reader is able to adopt the same feeling of awe at this simplistic spectacle as once felt by the poet.
The poem is written in stanzaic form of four stanzas each consisting of six lines with each line written in iambic tetrameter. For the first four lines of each stanza, the rhyming scheme alternates as ABAB, but ends with a rhyming couplet. This stanzaic form serves to reinforce the poem's euphony, with the ending the consistent rhyming scheme serving to ensure that the poem progresses smoothly. Indeed, the structure of the poem may even serve to reflect the extended figure of the poem, for like the daffodils, we too are entranced by the product of its general simplicity. The poem is told through the eyes of the poet himself.
The poem describes in detail, a simplistic wonder of nature, a "crowd, / a host, of golden daffodils" (3-4) situated "along the margin of a bay" (10). The daffodils "dance" (6) and though not mentioned directly, this dance is most likely caused by the wind. The poet is amazed at two things, the sheer number of daffodils, comparing their numbers to the number of stars in the "the milky way" (7) and the intricate dance that they produce. He then states that the waves of the lake also danced, most likely ripples once again caused by the wind, but the effect the wind had on the flowers "Out-did the sparkling waves in glee"(13). The sight was so beautiful that the poet "gazed and gazed" (17), clueless of the "wealth" (18) gained from the experience. From then on, when the Poet is in a "vacant mood" (20), he recalls this experience in his mind and his "heart [fills] with pleasures" (23) as he too "dances with the daffodils" (24).
(Note: this commentary isn't the best example... the use of the quotes at the end is exactly what IB doesn't want. Additionally it's far too short - a commentary should be about one thousand words)


What it is:Plan It Green, the Big Switch is an online game/simulation from National Geographic that allows students to create their own energy-efficient city of the future. In the game, students build new energy technologies and advance energy research; gain points based on their eco-friendliness, energy production, and citizen happiness; compete with others for the highest city rating; tackle challenges and quests; and explore and build a diverse energy portfolio. Through Plan It Green, students begin to better understand various energy options and can experiment with different energy sources and see their impact through this game/simulation.
How to integrate Plan It Green, the Big Switch into the classroom: This game from National Geographic is a great way to help your students understand different kinds of energy, and think through the ways that the energy we rely on in our daily lives impact the environment. Use Plan It Green, the Big Switch as a provocation for an inquiry unit about energy. The game could be a great catalyst for further research and understanding of energy options and how our decisions impact the rest of the ecosystem. Students can test out theories in this SIM-City like game and watch the way their decisions impact citizens and the larger ecosystem.
Plan It Green would also be a great way to end a unit, after students have learned about different types of energy. This game would be a great simulation reflection to see how different decisions about energy play out.
If you don’t have access to a 1:1 environment, this would make a great center on classroom computers during a study on energy or even for whole-class play on an interactive whiteboard throughout a unit on energy.
I like the way Plan It Green puts students in control of decisions and shows them the consequences (or unintended consequences) of those decisions.
Tips: The downfall of Plan It Green is that it requires a Flash Player, so while students can register for the site using an iPad, actual play requires a Flash enabled browser.
What it is:Aurasma is an app (also a website) that allows learners to quickly create augmented reality experiences for others. Augmented reality is the mix of technology and the real world. Probably the most popular or, at least the most commonly used, augmented reality is the use of Snapchat filters. Funny faces and masks are overlaid on top of the real world (i.e. whatever you are taking a picture of). Aurasma makes it simple to quickly create these types of experiences for others. Learners start by uploading, or taking, a “Trigger” photo. This photo is what the Aurasma app will look for to trigger the event that has been layered on top of the photo. Next, learners add overlay images. These are the images that will popup when the Trigger Photo is within the camera viewfinder. It might sound cumbersome, but it really isn’t! It is like having QR codes embedded right in any environment…without the QR code!
How to integrate Aurasma into the classroom: Because learners can create augmented reality experiences for any environment, the possibilities are seriously endless. Below are a few ways I can see our teachers and learners using Aurasma:
A few years ago, our students explored How the World Works through the PBS series, and book, How We Got to Now by Steven Johnson. As a result of their learning, the students decided to build a Domino Museum (you can read about that here). At the time, they put QR codes all around their museum. Some QR codes explained how the museum worked, and others expanded on the information that was presented on each domino. Aurasma could take an experience like this to the next level by allowing students to embed information and instructions all around the museum. As people walked through their Domino Museum with the Aurasma app opened up, additional information would have automatically populated based on where they placed Triggers.
Anastasis students are SUPER creative in presenting their learning at the end of an inquiry block. During the last block, one of our students explored the history of dance. In one of our learning spaces she created a time machine that students could get into. Then she themed other learning spaces for each time period. With Aurasma, she could have had the students actually see the dancers/costumes/etc. of each time period as if they were really in the room, using the room as a trigger.
In a foreign language class, students could use objects/items in the room as triggers for vocabulary overlays. As students look through their iPhone/iPad/Android’s camera in the Aurasma app, all of that vocabulary would pop up as others explored the room.
Our students go on a field trip on average once a week. They explore all kinds of incredible places for learning in context. Often, another class might end up at the same location later in the month or even in another year. As students visit somewhere new, they can overlay their learning on a place. When other classes, or another year’s students visit, they can see the learning that took place when others visited. (How cool would it be to get a network of schools doing this so that we could all learn together!)
We have a strong social justice component at Anastasis. Last year, our Jr. High kids spent time at Network Coffee House. During their time there, they spent a day in the life of a homeless person. They held cardboard signs on street corners and panhandled, they met other homeless, and got a tour of where these people sleep, get warm, etc. Afterward they had incredible reflections about their experience. It would have been a neat exercise to have them end the day by taking pictures of landmarks at the various stops around their tour as Triggers. When they got back to school, they could have created an augmented reality reflection tour for others.
In art class, students could take a photo of their creation and then overlay an explanation about how they created their art, their inspiration, etc. During a school art show, those in attendance would get to experience the heart behind each piece.
In social studies, students could snap a photo of a place on the map, and then overlay their learning on top. As others explored the map with the Aurasma app, all of that information would populate as they explored the map.
Learners could take a photo of the cover of a book (or book spine) that they just read. They can overlay the trigger image with their review of the book. As students are searching the library through the Aurasma app, they will see the reviews that other students have left behind.
Teachers can use Aurasma to embed instructions or norms around their classrooms. I’m imagining this being useful for special equipment use in a maker space or science lab. This would also be a great way to embed instructions when you have different learning happening in the classroom in a center like environment. Multiply your reach by layering the instructions or a demonstration of each center at its location in the classroom.
Teachers could also use Aurasma to amplify the usefulness of posters or bulletin boards around the classroom. Snap a photo of either as your trigger and then layer additional helpful information over top.
It could be fun to “hide” a writing prompt or brain teaser in your classroom each day. Just snap a photo of something in the classroom so that when students look through their camera with Aurasma, the overlay pops up with instructions.
This would also be a fun way to lead students through problem solving of a mystery where they are discovering clues and following directions. At the beginning of the year, you could create a tour of the school or scavenger hunt around the school to help students get acclimated to their new surroundings.
Sooo…the possibilities really are endless with this one!
Tips: Learners can create augmented reality experiences from the Aurasma website, but to actually view the augmented reality, an iPhone/iPad/Android device with the Aurasma app is needed.
What it is: Do you know about Stanford’s YouCubed? If you are a math teacher (and even if you aren’t) you need to know about this awesome resource! It is packed full of goodness for teachers and parents alike. Fantastic (and approachable) articles about brain science, mathematical thinking, and mindset. Outstanding ideas that you can use RIGHT NOW! Links to really wonderful math apps and games, videos and radio shows, tasks (also known as mathematical brain teasers), and visual mathematics resources. My favorite portion of YouCubed is the Week of iMath. There are 5 days of lessons, each one comes with a lesson plan, video, and list of materials needed.
How to integrate YouCubed into your classroom: There are SO many resources that can transform your classroom! I love the articles and research as references to send parents throughout the year. These are also great for reading with your older students who may assume that math is not their gig. The articles and research included show that math is for all of us, but our mindset may need a bit of a shift! What I love about the articles is the way they quickly dispel so many myths about maths, I guarantee you’ve heard all of this from parents over the years and now you have research to share to help them understand the truth about mathematical thinking and brain science.
The links to math games and apps is really helpful. You’ll find some old favorites, but likely be introduced to something new to use with your class. One of my very favorites listed is an app called Dragon Box…it is truly so brilliant for teaching students algebraic concepts and math thinking without any numbers or mathematical symbols at all!
The iMath section gives you a wonderful inspirational math lesson for each day of the week. These lessons go far beyond your typical math drill/skill/learn-a-new-formula. Instead, they are all about helping your students develop a growth mindset when it comes to math, and arming them with the necessary tools to think like a mathematician. Depth of learning! The approach in each lesson is playful and inquiry driven, it encourages risk taking and mistake making as they work with numbers, patterns, and relationships between concepts. I cannot say enough about this section of YouCubed! Each lesson is broken down into grade ranges so that no matter what age you teach, you can find the fit for your class.
Tips: This is an ideal site to start the year with, and then use as a reference all year long! You should also be sure to check out Jo Boaler’s books and articles. If you’ve ever felt under prepared/qualified to teach math, Jo will help you shift your own mindset and equip you to teach math like a master!
What it is:My Simple Show Video Creator lets students easily create professional level “explainer” videos. The finished product looks just like a Common Craft video, so cool! The step-by-step tool helps students think about storyline and the flow of explaining a concept.
How to integrate My Simple Show into the classroom:My Simple Show is a fantastic option for digital storytelling. Students begin by choosing to write their own script, or by uploading a Power Point presentation. Next, they can choose from one of many templates to start from, or alternately, start from scratch. The templates are an awesome option because they give kids an outline and break down the story telling/explaining process. For each step in the process, it guides students with a prompt and with some examples. My Simple Show auto-magically picks up words in the script and suggests pictures. Students can use the pre-selected images, choose an image from the My Simple Show library of images, or upload their own image or picture. In the final step, students add audio. This can be computer generated or students can record their own audio. The finished product is pretty impressive! Below is a video I made quickly today.
My Simple Show’s obvious use is for explanatory digital storytelling, but it would also be a great way for students to reflect on a field trip, tell a story, retell new learning (pssst. this is an awesome way to check for understanding!), or create their own “textbooks.”
Students can use My Simple Show to explain a historical event, introduce a biological process, introduce a physical law, summarize literature, summarize a biography, discuss pros and cons, explain a law, etc. Use My Simple Show to create whole class stories where each student contributes a portion of the explanation or story. This type of video can be made over a few weeks using classroom devices as a writing center. This would be a fun way to create an A to Z type book of learning, reflections by students after a unit, a 100 day video, fact vs. opinion video, a class video of poems, a phonics video, or a class video about a field trip that students took. Students can take pictures of science experiments and create a digital video detailing the experiment with text, images, and student voice reflections included. The finished product can be shared with parents and families easily through YouTube, Vimeo, or downloaded as a MP4 file.
For a back to school night activity, take a picture of each student to add to a class video and record students sharing an explanation of a school day. This same idea could be used in preparation for parent-teacher conferences. Students can create a video about their learning during the quarter/trimester, record thoughts about why they are proud of the work they did, and add reflections. These can be shared as a starting point for conferences, at the end of the conference, parents have a keepsake. My Simple Show could also be used for character education. Give the students a scenario or problem, and have them work out a step-by-step explanation or solution.
Because of the voice recording capabilities, My Simple Show, would be a great way for students to practice a foreign language. They can illustrate a word or phrase accompanied by the audio. Classes could work together to create a “living” digital glossary.
Be sure to give your students access to My Simple Show in your Maker Space, it is a great option for students to choose!
Tips: My Simple Show has video guides that lead students through each step of the process…I definitely recommend watching these at least once as a class or for the first round of creation!
What it is: Swift Playground is an awesome new app from Apple that teaches kids how to code in Swift. This free app for iPads uses games to teach kids Apple’s coding language used to create apps. Students can drag and drop code, and easily edit the code to customize it. The code can be instantly run so students can test out their code and see if it works. Best of all, in those instances that the code they put together doesn’t work, Swift Playground has debugging tools and hints built-in to help students rectify any problems. Students can also code with Swift from scratch making the app endlessly adaptable to any skill level.
How to integrate Swift Playground into your classroom:Swift Playground requires no previous coding knowledge, making it the perfect tool for learning how to code. For those students who have experience with coding, Swift Playground is robust enough for even seasoned programmers to bring new ideas to life. Swift Playground begins with a series of challenges to help students master the basics, students use code to help characters navigate a 3D world. When the challenges have been mastered, students can build and manipulate their own code to dream up new creations. Use Swift Playground to get your students thinking logically and solving problems from new perspectives. The skills built as students learn to code are the same skills that will help students in other disciplines like math and science. I love the way Swift Playground starts out by giving students a fun environment of challenges to learn the basics of Swift, but also allows them the flexibility of drag and drop code, and allowing students to edit and write their own code. Swift Playground even features a special keyboard that includes the most common coding characters so that students don’t have to hunt through keyboards to find what they are looking for. As students advance in their skills, they can use code templates that allow customization with code. Beyond what most learning platforms allow, students will be able to adjust multi-touch interactions, the accelerometer, and the gyroscope. These features and abilities are such an awesome tie-in to conversations about complex math and physics! When students are finished with their creation, they can share it with others using Messages, Mail, or Airdrop. Students can even post videos of their creation for others to see! For those who are really soaring, Swift Playground code can be exported to Xcode (where the pros create apps).
Many classrooms don’t yet have time built into the day that is dedicated to coding. But perhaps once a week you use coding in math class as applied math, or use Swift Playground as part of a 20% time offering in your classroom. If those are unavailable, consider participating in Hour of Code. Play with Swift Playground yourself and you’ll start recognizing tie-ins with other learning that your students are doing. When your students are proficient with coding in Swift Playground, they can start creating and reflecting on learning with the code they know. Swift Playground is a fantastic resource to have available as part of your Maker Space! Maybe they create a new game to help them remember vocabulary, or math facts. Perhaps they build a world based on a historical event. Once those basics are mastered the application possibilities are endless!
Tips: Everyone can code! This isn’t a skill that only a few should possess. Even the youngest students can use Swift Playground, I’m talking kindergarten can use this app! If you are new to the concept of code, check out this crash course from Apple.
What it is:Woot Math uses adaptive technology to personalize the math learning experience in new ways for 3rd-6th grade students. With a focus on fractions and decimals, Woot Math allows students many inroads to understanding. Flexible implementation options mean that Woot Math can be used in any classroom configuration whether it be 1:1 devices, shared devices, whole-class, or as intervention. The Woot Math system works on the web, iPads, or Chromebooks seamlessly…it truly is a great option for any classroom! It is super user-friendly, and gives teachers the ability to customize for each student in the class as a starting point. Woot Math is adaptive, as students use it, it gets “smart” and creates learning pathways based on the specific needs of the student. Beginning with foundational rational math concepts, Woot Math makes these necessary foundational skills accessible for all students. It is like having a personal tutor sitting beside them as they work through new learning. If a student doesn’t understand a problem, the program adapts to approach the learning in a new way. The illustration of concepts is brilliant! Woot Math gives students a solid understanding of fractions, laying the necessary ground work for algebra, geometry, physics, chemistry, and statistics. Sign up TODAY, Woot Math is totally free for the 2015-2016 school year!
How to integrate Woot Math into your classroom: To begin with Woot Math, decide how you will use it in your classroom. Do all of your students have access to a technology device? Do you have a bank of devices that they can rotate through? Do you have a projector/interactive whiteboard? If you are using Woot Math with limited technology access, beginning with the Interactive Problem Bank is best. Here you can quickly access thousands of hands-on fraction and decimal problems for students to work through together. You can project the problems on a whiteboard or use an interactive whiteboard. Problems can be selected by topic or standard and then by model type. Students can either work together in community solving problems, or as a center in a math rotation. If you have better access to technology, and students can work independently on a device, the Adaptive Practice is the place to start. Here you can print out student login cards, assign an initial topic, and the program will adaptively generate and assess thousands of interactive problems. This is also the place where you can track student progress and understanding through concepts and skills. The visual examples and leading through problems is fantastic, it is truly an engaging process for students to learn with! This is the best way (in my humble opinion) to use Woot Math, because it allows students to work in exactly the way they need to increase understanding and build a solid foundation of understanding. Be sure to go through Woot Math independently of your students to truly appreciate the interactive learning modules and visual representation of concepts…they are brilliant!
Tips: Be sure to sign up soon, take advantage of this timing when Woot Math is 100% free! There are some great teacher resources to download to help you as you implement Woot Math.
What it is: You guys, the World Education Games is back again, taking place around the world October 13-15, 2015! More than 5 million students from over 200 countries and territories will participate in the games for 2015. This is an exciting online challenge for students around the world. The competition begins tomorrow and continues through October 15. The World Education Games includes World Literacy Day, World Math Day (which has been around since the first World Education Games), and World Science Day. Just by participating through the answering of questions, students will be earning UNICEF points which are converted into money that goes directly toward supporting UNICEF education programs where class and school resources are desperately needed.
In World Literacy Day, students will enter the Spellodrome to compete with students from around the world. A sentence will be read aloud and it is the student’s job to spell the missing word.
For World Maths Day, students will enter Mathletics, to compete with students around the world. This is a place for students to practice and work on math fluency speed and accuracy.
World Science Day will bring students to the IntoScience dashboard where students will test their knowledge with a panel containing 16 question boxes, split into four categories of science. Each question is worth one, two or thee points based on the difficulty. In this game, you must answer faster than your opponents.
How to Integrate World Education Games into your classroom: I love the World Education Games for the fun way that it helps students (k-12) practice facts in math, spelling, and science knowledge. This makes drill/skill infinitely more fun. Students can practice with their own classmates and with those around the world. When I was still in the classroom, World Math Day was a time of year that students looked forward to. They ASKED for homework (can I keep playing at home?). True story. The kids loved finding out which country they would be paired with. It was always very motivating to see someone half way around the world playing the same game at the same time. My students worked hard to see if they could be paired with someone on every continent before the Games were over. Keep track of the countries that your students get matched with on a Google Map or on the printable maps offered on the World Education Games Website.
For at least one week, ditch the worksheets (or do it like we do at Anastasis and ditch them every day!) and practice math facts and spelling with fun games instead. This is a few days of fun, friendly competition for your students. The adjacent learning opportunities during the World Education Games is great (similar to what the Olympic games brings!). Geography, math, spelling, and science investigations are the obvious adjacent possible. This year, UNICEF is partnering in on the Games and the points that your students earn goes toward a very worthy cause, for every point your students earn, money is being donated to UNICEF for education. In addition to the drill/skill, your students can inquire into the Power of One (as our students at Anastasis Academy are doing), or can inquire into organizations that make a difference in the world (like UNICEF) and explore the social issues that these types of organizations are working to solve.
Tips: Using an Android or iPads in the classroom? World Games Day has Apps for that! Download the Mathletics app here for free!
What it is: I’m telling you, the edublog alliance I created in 2010 is like the gift that keeps on giving. Year after year I continue to be inspired, excited, and made to think by my edublog alliance PLN! These are my go to blogs before all others! Karen Ogen recently posted about a Virtual Escape room. It is so much fun, I had to share here as well on the off-chance you don’t already follow Karen’s blog (iTeach with Technology). Virtual Escape Room is reminiscent of the Clue Rooms or Escape Rooms that are popping up all over the US (I assume they are happening overseas, can anyone confirm that?). These real-life rooms are not only fun, they are a great way for students to think critically and problem solve together. The premies of the rooms is this: You find yourself locked in a room and, using the clues in the room, must find your way out. There are props, puzzles, and clues all over the room and a time limit. The Arizona Science Collaborative has created a virtual version of the escape room (cue cheers from me!). While a real-life escape room would be amazing, often this is not a realistic school field-trip because of funding, class size, and transportation. Enter the virtual version!
How to use Virtual Escape Room in your classroom: The Virtual Escape Room is a great way for your students to work in small groups to solve a mystery together using critical thinking and problem solving. Students must work together to find their way out of a dark virtual room using the clues in the room and solving some puzzles. Students learn how to work together in teams, communicate effectively, go through the scientific method, and solve problems creatively. Put students together in groups of 3-4 students to solve these problems on classroom computers, using an interactive whiteboard as a center, or on individual devices. Before completing the room, discuss what makes a good team member. How can we best solve problems together quickly? Students can go through the room together. Find out which team can get through the virtual challenge the most quickly. Follow up with discussion about what clues they used, how the students worked together as a team, and what things slowed them down. How was the scientific method used?
Tips: If you aren’t familiar with Breakout/Escape rooms, check out http://www.breakoutedu.com to find out how other teachers are creating their own! The virtual room could be a great introduction to a larger room. Even better, introduce your students to this idea using the virtual room, and ask them to create their own escape room challenge (in-real-life) for each other!
What it is:123D Design is a free super powerful, but simple to use, 3D creation and editing tool. As if that wasn’t great enough, it also supports many new 3D printers! The 3D creation tool is available for PC, Mac, and iPad download ensuring that no matter what devices you have at your disposal, you can take advantage of this awesome tool. The 123D app is incredibly intuitive, within just a few minutes, you can be creating like a pro (really!). Not feeling like a pro? There is also a quick start guide and a library of video tutorials that will explain how the different tools within the app work. The app has lots of 3D designs to start with that can be altered, but it also gives students complete creative license to create all on their own. So cool!
How to integrate 123D Design into your classroom:123D Design is a fantastic tool that brings the principles of geometry to life while giving students an outlet for creative design and invention. The app is easy enough to use that even young primary students can use it successfully to create.
I introduced this app to some of our students who have been learning the basics about coordinate planes. They quickly were able to identify the coordinate planes and were able to understand x, y, and z! This is the type of creation tool that helps students understand the application possibilities of the math they are learning (math in context, what a novel idea!)
At Anastasis, we’ve been playing with the iPad version of 123D Design. In the app version, students begin by choosing a basic shape and then can edit it to be exactly what they want it to be. They can easily connect shapes to make really detailed creations. Example projects help them to play with the tools in the app until they understand and can start from scratch on their own. When students are finished, they save it to “My Projects” which is accessible in the 123D Design web and desktop app. If you are lucky enough to have access to a 3D printer, the kids can even print out their creations!
This is a great addition to any maker space/prototype lab/design thinking routine. Don’t have any of that fanciness at your school? No problem! Adding this app to your classroom gives students an outlet to do some design thinking and work through ideas and inventions right in your classroom. Instant prototype lab!
Our students often engage in design thinking as they engage inquiry. Right now one of our 4th grade students is inquiring into how much water is wasted in our daily activities. One area of waste is when we brush our teeth. This student is designing and creating a toothbrush with the water built-in so that the faucet doesn’t have to be turned on to wet the toothbrush. She’s been experimenting to find out how much waste there is in this activity in our prototype lab. Next, she’ll begin to bring her designs to life with 123D Design and we’re hopeful that she’ll be able to print out a prototype on our Printrbot (still experimenting with how to do that!).
Tips: Sign up to become a member of Autodesk 123D. This gives you access to 3D models, tutorials, 10 free premium models each month, ability to send the 3D model directly to your own 3D printer (or if you don’t have one, to a printing service), unlimited cloud storage of your student designs, and access to the Autodesk forums.
In November, I wrote a post about the book/PBS documentary series “How We Got to Now” by Steven Johnson. If you haven’t read this book or watched the series, it is a must! Truly, this is one of those books that has stayed with me. I’m not the only one. Students from 1st-8th grade at Anastasis have become fascinated with Steven Johnson’s journey through the six innovations that made the modern world. The way that Steven weaves the story is remarkable. It reminds us just how interconnected the world is and that innovation doesn’t happen in isolation, but as a result of connection. This book, perhaps more than any we’ve read as a school, has reminded us of the beauty of inquiry. What happens when hunches collide and people pursue those hunches.
I love the way that Johnson explores innovation through these 6 lenses. Instead of offering up the typical “heroes” of invention, Johnson introduces students to concepts that span hundreds of years of invention and many of the unsung heroes. The six innovations include: glass, time, clean, light, sound, and cold. I’m telling you, the way that Johnson helps kids see connections in innovation and invention is brilliant! So much the way that inquiry works.
In my first post, I wrote about how our students had imagined these innovations as a series of dominoes. Each new discovery leads to the next. Much like dominoes creating a chain reaction. The students have spent the last months exploring each of the 6 innovations in-depth. In addition to the PBS series, they’ve spent time really digging into each innovation that led to the next.
@dweissmo really took on this project with her students. The process wasn’t without it’s frustrations (for teacher and students) but the end result was absolutely incredible! Honestly, I couldn’t have imagined a better outcome than what I saw today when Deb’s class unveiled their mini museum. Before I get to that, let me lead you through the process of how this project came together.
First, Deb’s class watched each of the How We Got to Now @PBS documentary series. The students took notes (in Evernote, through sketchnotes, etc.) about each innovation. The class would also debrief after each video and talk about what surprised them, encouraged them about the invention process, the key players, and the timeline. @dweissmo is a master at leading these conversations. Her enthusiasm is infectious and the students caught her passion. Steven Johnson also has a way of presenting the unfolding of each innovation in a way that hooks your interests and keeps you marveling and making connections long after the video is over. After watching the documentary series, Deb put each of the six innovations up on her wall and asked students to write their names on a sticky note and choose which innovation that they were most excited to learn more about.
Students chose which innovation they wanted to do a more in-depth study of and would, ultimately, create dominoes based on.
For the dominoes, we snagged a bunch of the flat-rate shipping boxes from USPS. The students painted them different colors according to the innovation they were studying (a different color for each innovation). Next they took all of their notes and research and started creating their “dominoes” with information about that innovation. They quickly realized that there was SO much to say about each innovation, that it didn’t fit on their domino. The kids decided to create websites where they could add a little more in-depth information about the innovation. To make it easier for the museum audience, they connected the websites and webpages they built to QR codes for each domino. You guys, these are 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students!!! I’m so proud of them I could burst. They built their websites using Wix (a wonderful and amazing WYSIWYG editor). The QR codes were built using Google’s URL shortener which also happens to include a QR code. On the back of each domino, the kids affixed their QR codes. Some of the kids also created videos that were included on their website. (If you are interested in seeing these websites, all are linked here.) All of this was done over the course of a few months as the kids continued on their inquiry journey of How We Express Ourselves, and How the World Works.
Then came the full moon. Any teacher will tell you that the full moon does something to children. Perfectly wonderful, reasonable children are suddenly unrecognizable and cannot make a decision or work together to save their lives. This is a real thing! This full moon coincided with class decisions about how to set up their museum. And much chaos ensued. Despite the full moon, the kids were able to come to a decision about how they would set up their museum for the rest of Team Anastasis and families to enjoy. For all of the trouble they had coming to a decision, they did a remarkable job in the end! They created a sort of maze/labyrinth to walk through with dominoes along the journey. They decided to organize the dominoes not by innovation, but instead as a timeline so that you could see the interconnectedness of innovation. They had a station set up with clips from the How We Got to Now PBS series, a station where kids/parents could download a QR code scanner and learn how to use it before going through the museum, the actual domino mini-museum, and a place to reflect on the museum afterward. It was incredible!!
What was truly inspiring was watching the other classes (and parents) journey through the museum. Kids of all ages were SO engaged and impressed with what Team Weissman had put on. They spent time sitting at each domino and learning more about the innovations. They asked questions. They told Team Weissman what a neat website they had built. They connected with each other and learned together. Seriously, I couldn’t have dreamed up a better scenario. As the 1st-3rd grade class was leaving, they stopped and asked some of Team Weissman, “could you show us how to do QR codes and websites for our Body Tracings?” This is what learning looks like!
After all their hard work, the kids sat down and reflected on what could have gone better. What they would like to do differently for their next museum. They congratulated each other for a job well done. They talked about how hard the project felt at times and how very proud of themselves they were when they persevered through the hard parts. They made plans for the next opportunity to share it.
And now for our next trick, Team Weissman is creating their own inventions…How We Get to Next! These are so brilliant, I can’t wait to share them!
If you are joining us for the 5sigma Education Conference (and I hope you are!!), you will get a first hand look at the How We Got to Now mini domino museum and hear from the students who created it.


In most traditional societies, religion is an important form of social 'togetherness'. It augments a feeling of 'community' and promotes a set of shared values and beliefs in some form of god. Religion also plays a central role in cultural life; people often synthesize religious symbols and rituals into the material and artistic culture of the society: literature, storytelling, painting, music, and dance.  It is the focus of the 'society' that is of interest to religious sociologists, in particular theories concerning the way religious behaviour differs between and within societies. Beckford notes that theories' revolving around 'how social interaction benefits or holds back societies', has made sociology a renowned area of study.
Positive social knowledge could offer the means for peaceful reconstruction of social order by the elite of enlightened scientists and intellectuals"¦Social change need not depend upon revolutionary violence and the manipulation of the mob'
Comte was able to make use of the new science for the progression of society and the re-establishment of order as well as being able to apply the positive method to social theory  . Comte and his fellow Frenchman Durkheim are said to be the forerunners in creating the discipline of sociology. Thompson (1982) describes Comte as 'giving the subject its name and an ambitious prospectus,' whilst Durkheim gave it, 'academic credibility and influence.'
Functionalist sociologists focus their attention on the 'nature of institutional relationships in society'.  To understand this further, one can use Talcott Parsons' functionalist ideas as an example. Parsons, [who supported functionalism in the United States] used the functionalist perspective to group institutions in society into four related functional sub-systems; economic, political, kinship, and cultural. This theory stressed the importance of interdependence among all behaviour patterns and institutions within a social system to its long-term survival.  In a similar way Durkheim In trying to explain the value of social and cultural character, illuminated them in terms of their contribution to the operation of an 'overall' system. Furthermore, Malinowski, who promoted functionalism in England, endorsed the idea that cultural practices had psychological and physiological functions, such as the reduction of fear and anxiety, and the satisfaction of desires.  Another Englishman Radcliffe-Brown contended that, 'all instituted practices ultimately contribute to the maintenance, and hence the survival, of the entire social system, determining the character of inter-group relations.'  It is Parsons 'sub-system' of culture that encompasses religion that we now turn to.
A functional definition of religion is fundamentally based on the 'social structure' and 'drawing together' of people, it pays particular attention to how religion guides and influences the lives of people who are actively involved, and through this promotes 'unity and social cohesiveness'.  Durkheim believed and argued that, religion was a socially constructed institution, serving the needs of society by socialising members into the same norms, values and beliefs, therefore reinforcing the collective conscience upon which the stability of society rests.  He looked in depth at the origins, meaning, and function of religion in society. His belief was that religion was not so much about God, but more about the consolidation of society and the sense of identity that this creates within a particular society.  He fully believed that individuals who accepted their role within their own society develop a form of 'social conscience' as part of that role, which Durkheim labels as the 'Conscience collective,'  which in simpler terms could be labelled as, ' a common understanding'.
Published in 1921 and penned by Durkheim,' The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life', is renowned as the best-known study on the sociology of religion.  Using secondary data, Durkheim studied native totemism in primitive Australian tribes, in effect the totem is a symbol that is an integral part of the group, and during ceremonies will be the magnet that draws everyone together to form a collective whole. Therefore, totemism in this instance is explained not in terms of what it is, [what the content of its doctrines and beliefs are] - but what it does, that is, the function it performs for the social system.  Durkheim claims that, 'the totem, the sacred object is a representation, by which society symbolises itself,'  which according to Fulcher and Scott, he believed to be the 'real basis of social solidarity.'  From his observations Durkheim developed his theory of the sacred and profane, believing that all things in society can be separated into these distinct categories, as a fundamental dichotomy the sacred and profane are seen as two separate domains or worlds. For Durkheim the sacred meant the unity of the group embodied in symbols, as in his example of totems, the profane was more about the mundane or the individual, and less concerned with the 'group'. However the British anthropologist Evans-Pritchard (1937) observed that sacred things may be profane at certain times, an example he gives is the case of the Azande  , who, when their shrines were not in ritual use, were used as props to rest their spears.  This analysis of the sacred and the profane was extended to all religions by Durkheim and his followers, making a focus on what is similar about what they each do, and about the integrative functions all these religions perform on their social systems.  He therefore viewed religion within the context of the entire society and acknowledged its place in influencing the thinking and behaviour of the members of society.  Furthermore he believed that order flowed from consensus, from the existence of shared norms and values,  for him the key cause of social upheaval stems from anomie, the lack of 'regulating' norms. 'Without norms constraining behaviour', explains Durkheim, 'humans develop insatiable appetites, limitless desires and general feelings of irritation and dissatisfaction.'
Radcliffe-Brown continued Durkheim's sociological perspective of society; he particularly focused on the institutions of kinship and descent and suggested that, at least in tribal societies, they determined the character of family organization, politics, economy, and inter-group relations.  Thus, in structural-functionalist thought, individuals are not significant in and of themselves but only in terms of their social status: their position in patterns of social relations. When regarding religious ceremonies Radcliffe-Brown contends that ceremonies, for example, in the form of communal dancing, promoted unity and harmony and functioned to enhance social solidarity and the survival of the society, in this he agreed with another renowned anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski.
Malinowski's functionalism was highly influential in the 1920s and 1930s, a British anthropologist, he conducted one of the first major studies of religion from an ethnocentric perspective, on the people of the Trobriand Islands.  The first anthropologist to undertake a long-term piece of field research, Malinowski lived among the Trobriand islanders for four years.  In studying the functions of religion in a small scale, he agreed with Durkheim that 'religion reinforced social norms, values and promoted social solidarity.'  Malinowski also believed that religion could relieve social anxiety and could provide a sense of security especially when people are faced with situations in which they have no control, an example Malinowski gives is based on his observation of the Trobriand islanders fishing in a calm lagoon, no religious practice was attached, however when faced with the perils of fishing in the open ocean, religious rituals were always performed. In this way Malinowski believed humans could exert a perceived control over a world in which they held no significant, individual power.  This individual, perceived control can be seen to be used by people facing a personal crisis. Often in a situation where they have no control over the outcome, people will turn to religion looking for guidance and sanctuary; thereby giving them a sense of power.
For Malinowski then, religion also helped to conciliate periods of life crises and events such as death, marriage and birth, these rituals, known as 'rites of passage' are marked by ceremonies, that by their very nature, are a form of 'social togetherness' that help to create social order and contentment. These 'rites' however can be seen to be controlled in that to a certain extent one is prepared for new life, death and marriage, these events form part the 'circle of life' and therefore come with some prior knowledge. Ceremonies that relate to these life events could be seen as a 'predictable' common bond that will help to reinforce social solidarity. Malinowski argues that religion minimizes the disruption, in particular, of death. He believes that the assertion of immortality gives rise to feelings of comfort for the bereaved, whilst the act of a funeral ceremony binds the survivors together.  Coser (1977) explains further:
Religion can counter a sense of loss, which, as in the case of death, may be experienced on both the individual and the collective level therefore religion as a social institution serves to give meaning to man's existential predicaments by tying the individual to that supra-individual sphere of transcendent values which is ultimately rooted in his society.
So far we have seen that collective or communal gatherings are generally aimed at promoting social solidarity and cohesion, this is backed by the empirical evidence offered by Malinowski in his study of the Trobriand Islands. Hamilton (1995) offers that these gatherings can also be interpreted as involving the 'recognition of divisions, conflict and disharmonies inherent in the society and rituals may be seen as a means of coping with and defusing them'.
Concerning Malinowski's empirical evidence, a contrasting point is noted by Casanova (1995) who questions functionalism on empirical grounds, he argues that religion does not provide consensus and unity, instead he says that most conflicts [an example he gives is the Iran/Iraq war] in society have religious foundations.  Marxist sociologists also criticise functionalists on a theoretical level. Marx claims that religion does not create societal consensus, instead it creates conflict between those that have wealth in the ruling class and those that do not in the working class.  Therefore according to Marx, the only norms and values that are conserved by religion are those of the ruling class. Functionalist theory could therefore be said to neglect the areas in which religion has been dysfunctional for society, whereby religious divisions have caused disruption and conflict rather than promoting social order. History provides numerous examples of this including the aforementioned Iran/Iraq dispute, Northern Ireland and Bosnia.
An "Extreme functionalist assessment of religion," declares William Stevens, is put forward by American sociologist Robert Bellah. Bellah fuses Parsons' argument that America derives its values from Protestantism, with Durkheim's belief that the worship of god is the disguised worship of society. From this Bellah develops a new kind of religious concept, that of a 'civil' religion.  Therefore despite the individual belief systems of American citizens, it is the overarching faith in America that unites Americans. Wallis (1983:44) cited in Jones, explains that Bellah finds evidence of civil religion in Presidential inaugurations and ceremonials such as Thanksgiving Day and Memorial Day are similarly held to integrate families into the civil religion, or to unify the community around its values.  A further point to be made here is that generally civil religion does not hold to a belief in the supernatural. Bellah disagrees and says examples of confirmation in the supernatural can be seen or heard on a daily basis, phrases such as "God Bless America" and the words 'In God we trust' on the national currency, he believes are prime examples of this. However Stevens asserts that this is not the god of any particular creed, but a god of America. For Bellah then civil religion creates a social cohesiveness by gathering people together to collectively partake in some form of ceremonial event. Therefore flag waving at a sporting event or lining the street to celebrate a royal marriage or death can bring about a united outpouring of joy or grief that in itself generates order. A contemporary example is the untimely death of Princess Diana. Her funeral witnessed a monumental combining of people, faiths and nations in a symbolic act of grief.
Functionalist sociologists tend to emphasize what maintains society, not what changes it and are criticized for being unable to account for social change because it focuses so intently on social order and equilibrium in society. Functionalists have to take into account that change does happen in societies and that change is a good thing, and can represent progress. Jones says that the functionalist way around this is to use an organic analogy - social progress occurs as it does with organisms - as an evolutionary change.  Bilton et al explain that this takes shape in the form of structural differentiation"¦'differentiation is a type of splitting or separation of a previously undivided unit, the new units differ in that they are more specialised in the functions they perform'.  Talcott Parsons, in his approach to social change, emphasises differentiation. According to Parsons, 'Institutions change, if the need of the system changes.'  An example of a system change stems from The Industrial Revolution, which was facilitated by capitalism, was increasingly demanding technological advances to increase profit. In order to make this possible there was a need for more educated workforces. As a result the industrial economy needed a new form of family to perform these specialist functions. Thus, as one aspect of society changed - the economy and production - it required a comparable change in the educational system, bringing social life back into equilibrium.
This new modernization of society, explains Marske, 'is associated with the increasing indifference of the individual from the traditional social bonds of an intimate network of diffuse social relationships.'  Due to a greater demand in the workforce people from all walks of life came together causing an increase in the cultural diversity within a particular society. As a result individuality became a more prominent feature; religion it seems was becoming less social and more personal. Durkheim would disagree with this statement as he believed it was possible to be an individual as well as social institution, he explains,
In reality, the religion of the individual is a social institution like all known religions. It is society which assigns us this ideal as the sole common end which is today capable of providing a focus for men's wills.
Dillon (2003) explains that social scientists and Western intellectuals have been promising the end of Religion for centuries,
Comte announced that, as a result of modernization, human society was outgrowing the 'theological stage' of social evolution and a new age was dawning which the science of sociology would replace religion as the basis or moral judgements.
Durkheim predicted the gradual decrease in formal world religions; in post-enlightenment society he felt that there would be a greater emphasis on the 'individual'. This he believed would lead to a 'weakening of ties' in the modern world. In addition he envisaged that 'social solidarity' and the 'collective conscience' would be taken up by other institutions that would evolve into new forms of religious experience.  Furthermore a maturing modernity would see scientific thinking replace religious thinking. As a consequence, Durkheim considered the 'concept of "God" to be on the verge of extinction.
In its place he envisioned society as promoting civil religion, in which, for example, civic celebrations, parades, and patriotism take the place of church services. If traditional religion were to continue, he believed it would do so only as a means to preserve social cohesion and order. Parsons disagrees with this synopsis, 'with modern life will come structural frameworks that are more competitive and specialised, however they would still persist because religion is an adaptable structural framework for the explanation of inexplicable social phenomena.'
A criticism applied to the functionalist's perspective stems from Durkheim's analogy that societies and social institutions have personalities.  To imagine that a 'society' is a living, breathing organism is a difficult concept when in fact it is seen as an inorganic object. This creates what can said to be a philosophical problem and an ontological argument that society does not have needs as a human being does; and even if society does have needs they need not be met. The view here is that society is alive in the sense that it is made up of living individuals. What is not taken into account is that each individual is a different entity, with their own wants and needs. As part of the unit they can function and integrate within the group as a viable member. However individual life choices may not always create a positive function for the society as a whole. Functionalists in general tend to have a too positive view by believing that everything that exists in society does so because it has some kind of functional purpose. Robert Merton believed that it was entirely plausible for society to have dysfunctional elements.  Durkheim also recognised that some forms of social life could be seen in the same way, however he did not use the term dysfunctional. In his work on crime, he noted that crime was functional to society, this seems to be a contradiction in that he also said, 'too high a level of crime' might not be functional, because it could create a state of confusion regarding what constitutes the 'norms' that applied to peoples lives. As a society dysfunctional actions, in particular criminal actions are frowned upon, and as a society we can become 'mob-handed' in the way people come together to condemn an act of crime. Durkheim has a point to make here in that, 'people combine together, forming a collective cohesion in defining themselves against what they are not.'  Picturing society like a vast machine, Merton argues that a society should best be considered as a cross between the cultural "goals" of a society-what it holds its members should strive for-and the "means" that are believed, legally or morally, to be legitimate ways that individuals should attain these goals. In an ideally organized society, the means will be available to deliver all of its members to their goals.
One must take into account when analysing such theories that at the time of writing the world was a very different place to the one we live in today. Social anthropology has come under criticism for looking into primitive societies as a representation of unchanged societies - criticism in particular stems from the lack of historical records that could confirm or deny any findings. Radcliffe-Brown considered this type of work a mistake"¦his belief was that the religious and ritual systems 'had to be understood in the context of the existing society and their role in that society.
One could linger on Durkheim's prediction that religion would decrease with modernity, religion here being in reference to the act of attending a social gathering in the worship of some form, whether it be totemic or divine. However an important point to note is that at the time when the 'Sociology of Religion' was in its infancy, religious practice was more of a regular occurrence than one would perhaps find in today's society. However individuals are still irrevocably influenced by the role of religion in their own lives. Their beliefs and values allow them to feel supported in their everyday life; religion sets aside certain values and infuses them with special significance. Culture plays an important part here, as values, customs and beliefs combine to become a moral code by which societies adhere to and live by and pass on to future generations. Religion encourages collective worship be it in a church, mosque, temple, home or some other specified gathering place. Through the act of collective worship the individual is encouraged to feel part of a wider community.
Today, societies are classed as more secular in their nature, yet if one consider the earlier statement about religion being an important form of social 'togetherness' it would be easy to make analogies with the different groups that make up the society we inhabit. For example schools hold assemblies, awards evenings and performances all which can be seen as an example of community spirit and social cohesion. People as individuals, have interests outside of their immediate social groupings, this does not make them an outcast or outsider, and instead it promotes a sense of identity, individualism and the 'self'. The writings of sociologists such as Durkheim, Comte, Radcliffe-Brown and Parsons are still important today, especially in comparing the way society sees religion. However, in contemporary society sociologists have a different set of problems to contend with as belief in 'modern society' and 'materialism' for many becomes a more vital 'moral value' than partaking in a religious practice.