Literature Group Cubes

Literature Group Cubes

Overview of Activity

· After reading literature books in homogenous groups, students will answer questions from Kaplan’s depth and complexity model.

· This activity is planned as a way to check for students’ comprehension of their literature books or chapters. Students can complete the activities in two different ways: as a concluding activity for the entire book or as a follow-up to a chapter.

How This Strategy Benefits Students

· Kaplan’s depth and complexity benefits the above-grade-level students because it offers challenging questions or activities for any topic of study.

· On-grade-level students benefit from questions based on Kaplan’s depth and complexity because there is room for growth and challenge at their level of readiness.

· Students functioning below grade level can strengthen their skills with questioning from Kaplan’s model at their level of readiness. It also allows them room to grow and develop their thinking.

· Because they are mainly deficient in language, English language learners can find their levels of readiness with some individual guidance from you.

Learning Standards

· Students use reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of literary passages and texts.

· Students reflect on what has been learned after reading and formulate ideas, opinions, and personal responses to texts.

Preparation

1. Copy the Literature Cubes on white paper. Cut out, fold, and glue or tape the shapes to create cubes. Above-grade-level students will receive triangle cubes, on-grade-level students will receive square cubes, and below-grade-level students and English language learners should receive the circle cubes.

2. Before beginning this activity, copy the Literature Cube Activities. Only copy one packet per group.

3. Gather literature books on various levels for each of the groups to read.

Whole-Class Activity

1. Place students into homogenous groups, based on their reading levels. Choose literature books for them to read that will not cause frustration. Each group will read a different literature book.

2. Allow the students to read their books with their literature groups daily. Within their groups, they can read silently, with partners, or with the entire group. The groups should decide how much to read each day so that everyone stays at the same place in the book.

3. Each group will receive a cube with the levels of Kaplan’s depth and complexity written on it. Distribute one Literature Cube Activities packet to each group. Ask each student to roll the cube, find the activity that relates to the title in the packet, and complete that activity. Tell the students that the activities should not be repeated in their groups, so if they roll the same activity as another member of the group, they should roll the cube again.

4. You may have them complete a cube activity after every chapter or only at the end of the book. The activities are general enough to be repeated in the same literature groups, as well as over time, using various literature books.

5. After students have completed their cube activities, allow them to share their activities in their literature groups. This will allow for group discussions about literature books, helping group members discover ideas and information about the books that others may not have noticed.

Assessment

1. Assess student’s work according to the following criteria: includes insightful information; uses rich detail; shows accuracy in content and mechanics; and uses vivid images or words.

2. Place these criteria on the board. This way, students are aware of how they will be graded.

Teacher Reference Sheet

Language of the Discipline – What are some vocabulary words you found interesting or new as you read your literature book? List hose words, and then create an advertisement that sells this book. Use the new words in your ad.

Details – Choose two main characters from your literature book. What made these characters stand out or seem special? Why were they the main character? Create “baseball” style cards for these characters, with “photographs”, names, descriptions, and why they were important to the book.

Patterns – What did the characters in the story have in common? List their common characteristics.

Trends – How were the characters affected by other events or people? Create a T-chart, listing the events or people that changed the characters in some way. Then, state the effects those events or people had on the characters.

Unanswered Questions – If you could ask a character in the book a questions, what would that questions be? How might the character answer it?

Rules – What rules did the characters in the book have to follow? List those rules. Then, create another list of two to three rules that the characters should have followed, but didn’t.

Ethics – State a problem that occurred in the book. Then, state how this problem could have been prevented. Do this by creating an advice column, telling readers how to avoid such a problem.

Big Ideas – Why did the author write this book? What point was he or she trying to make? Create and “author’s page,” pretending to be the author. On your author’s page, explain why “you” wrote the book, and what idea you wanted to express in it.

Over Time – Do the characters in the book have the same problems that people from long ago had? How or why? Explain your answer by listing the problems the characters faced, then stating if those problems existed long ago. Be sure to give reasons for your answers.

Points of View – How would most readers feel about the main characters in the book? In general, how would most people feel about this book? Write a review of the book, explaining if it is a book that is worth reading again. Give examples from the book, including information about the characters.

Interdisciplinary – Your teacher would like to use this book when teaching other subjects. How could your teacher go about this? Give examples of how this book can be connected to science, to math, and to social studies. Create a chart, showing how this book could be connected to the other subjects.

Triangle Literature Cube

Square Literature Cube

Circle Literature Cube

Literature Cube Activities