Kristin Leclaire shares a recent day in her classroom:
So how do we work through the story in a constructivist way without sacrificing efficient interpretation-seeking?
First, we made a list as a class of all of our questions. They had...a lot.
Then, every student picked one question that intrigued him/her and spent a few minutes brainstorming possible responses and follow-up questions. At the end of this brainstorming, they seemed even angrier and more confused. Some of them were holding their foreheads as if their brains physically hurt.
What happened next? Wordle to the rescue, and this is no exaggeration . . . So, we took "The Yellow Wallpaper," page by page, and wordled it. And here’s what happened . . .
Head on over and
read what happened, but here’s her summation:
It wasn’t just fun and fluffy; it sparked intense discussion and allowed us a concrete way to analyze abstract, elusive themes. Just as the design of the wallpaper emerged to the narrator, the design of the story revealed itself to us.
