TEACH IT WRITE : "Comprehension and Writing lessons

Comprehension and Writing Activity - Trick or Treat?

No matter their ages, students are always looking forward to Halloween when the calendar flips to October.

The four activities in this Middle School and High School packet, Comprehension and Writing Activity - Trick or Treat? enable teachers to keep their charges on task with lessons that address four of the elements of literature.

Here are the activities and their directions:

Trick or Treat? Plot Soup
Directions – Various situations (the Rising and Falling Action) arise during a story that affect the Plot. They are either Helps or Hurdles for the Protagonist and the Antagonist. For this activity
• choose two situations each that the protagonist and antagonist faced
• summarize each event
• discuss whether the situation’s result was a Help or a Hurdle to the Protagonist or Antagonist.
•defend your reasoning by using story details in your explanations.

Trick or Treat? The Flavor of Personalities
Directions –Characters’ personalities are as varied as the candy that fill store shelves. They may be sweet, sour, nutty, smooth, sticky, hard or soft, for example, or a mixture of many of these qualities. For this exercise, choose four characters and decide which candy most matches each one’s personality. Defend your choices with details and examples from the story. Conclude this activity by choosing the Character Candy you prefer, and explain your choice.

Trick or Treat? Setting it Up
Directions – Choose either the Protagonist or the Antagonist, and discuss how the Setting influences this person and his or her decisions. In addressing this topic, consider any of the following ideas to ignite your thinking: How does the Setting influence the character’s main goal? Is the Setting a help or a hindrance to this person’s objectives? What is the character’s effect on the Setting? What is the Setting’s effect of the character? Use this form for your thesis statement and your Pre-Writing notes. Include citations that support your thesis. Include this sheet with your rough draft(s) and Final Essay copy on the Due Date.

and,

Trick or Treat? And the Symbol is….
Directions – Symbols represent a specific person, place, thing or idea. Sometimes this meaning is clear. In other cases, the symbol needs more analysis to determine its meaning.
For this activity
1. Examine the following Halloween Symbols, and determine what each one represents.
2. Next, list three qualities that illustrate the symbol’s connotation.
3. Finally, decide if the story has a corresponding Symbol. If so, explain your conclusion, using details from the story for support. If the story does not reveal a parallel Symbol, then write, “No Matching Symbol” after you address the first two components required for this exercise.

As always, these activities utilize Bloom's Taxonomy verbs to promote students' thinking and writing skills, and are aligned with Common Core Anchor Standards that teachers may use as guidelines to fit their state-specific standards. This information is included on the detailed "Teacher Notes" page.

Engage your students by channeling their Halloween anticipation with these four activities.