eyes.
- The music plays, the box is passed, the music stops. Rosie pulls out “lines 2-4”.
- Depending on the class, I might begin the 30-second discussion period: “OK – you’ve got 30 seconds to analyse Rosie’s lines in detail, paying attention to the effects of language and structure. Go!”
- This class are battle-hardened veterans of Pass the Parcel, though, so in this instance we’ll increase the challenge. Rosie keeps her note, and the music continues. This time, the parcel is in Dominique’s capable hands when the music stops. Dominique pulls out “The theme of Solitude”. Now the class may begin discussion: “you have one minute, everybody, to analyse lines 2-4 in relation to the theme of Solitude. Go!”
- I give the class the allotted time, circulating if possible to make sure that all are on task. I don’t interfere unless absolutely necessary: this is their discussion, not mine.
- “Ok, Rosie – pick somebody else in the class [here, I might hand Rosie my class-specific lollypop sticks] and challenge that person to analyse the lines.” Rosie chooses Charlie, whose response is good, but could be developed.
- “Thanks, Charlie – great start! Dominique, pick someone else and challenge them to develop Charlie’s point with reference to another technique / word / image”. Dominique picks Matt, who does a grand job.
- Having done lines 2-4 justice, the music starts and the game continues.
- To set up homework, the box is passed around one more time. This time, anyone who hasn’t already got a post-it note makes sure that they reach in and grab one. “For our next lesson, you need to write me 2 paragraphs about the poem in relation to the note you’ve drawn. Each paragraph should discuss a different poetic technique. Clear?”
Opportunities for Differentiation
While it’s tricky to differentiate a task with a “random” component like this one, it’s still possible to create opportunities for varied challenge! You could:
- Challenge students to write their own post-it notes to put into the box. Perhaps they write down a line number or the name of a technique that they would feel confident about discussing. This encourages students of all abilities to reflect on what they already know, and mentally prepares them with an idea or concept that they will be able to relate to whatever idea is drawn from the box.
- Before the activity, write down some differentiated challenges on the whiteboard to complement the game. During the discussion periods, students must choose one of the challenges and respond to it using whatever post-it comes out of the box as a launching pad (be sure to extend the discussion period to factor in the extra “thinking time” needed here).
For the poetry lesson outlined above, a task for less-confident students might be: “Identify ways in which the post-it note reflects the theme of Isolation”. A task for students who require more of a challenge might be: “Analyse the contents of the post-it note in relation to three different structural features of the poem”.