helpful in understanding and critically thinking about literature. One of my mentors on this capstone, Dr. Winn, suggested that I also use certain creative writing approaches to responding to the novel as well. This might include having my students rewrite a section or chapter in another character’s point of view or write responses to sections of the novel in relations to the chapters. Dr. Winn also suggested that I do these assignments along with my students to show that I am putting work into this but also to help advance my own critical thinking as well. I am a strong advocate of summative and formative assessment in any form other than tests and quizzes. I think that to really reach all of my students I will need to be able to assess them in more ways than just passing out a quiz or a test and grading them. This is not to say that I completely disapprove of tests and quizzes; I just believe that they should not be the only forms of assessment utilized. It is pretty easy to just memorize facts and themes, but to actually be able to explain them in their own words and apply these themes and ideas to what they are doing is important and one of my many goals for my students. I want my students to be able to delve into this novel and be able to tell me more than “Daisy couldn’t be with Gatsby because he wasn’t old money.” That is why I will use multimedia projects and various papers to evaluate and assess my students. The multimedia approach gives my students several options to choose from and feel comfortable in (Such as either a video, movie poster, or soundtrack for a specific event, theme, or the general plot). While I want my students to have options on how they comprehend and apply their understanding of the novel, I do recognize the need to see their understanding written in their own words as well. This is why I will also ask for a research paper to be written and turned in as the final project of this unit.
helpful in understanding and critically thinking about literature. One of my mentors on this capstone, Dr. Winn, suggested that I also use certain creative writing approaches to responding to the novel as well. This might include having my students rewrite a section or chapter in another character’s point of view or write responses to sections of the novel in relations to the chapters. Dr. Winn also suggested that I do these assignments along with my students to show that I am putting work into this but also to help advance my own critical thinking as well. I am a strong advocate of summative and formative assessment in any form other than tests and quizzes. I think that to really reach all of my students I will need to be able to assess them in more ways than just passing out a quiz or a test and grading them. This is not to say that I completely disapprove of tests and quizzes; I just believe that they should not be the only forms of assessment utilized. It is pretty easy to just memorize facts and themes, but to actually be able to explain them in their own words and apply these themes and ideas to what they are doing is important and one of my many goals for my students. I want my students to be able to delve into this novel and be able to tell me more than “Daisy couldn’t be with Gatsby because he wasn’t old money.” That is why I will use multimedia projects and various papers to evaluate and assess my students. The multimedia approach gives my students several options to choose from and feel comfortable in (Such as either a video, movie poster, or soundtrack for a specific event, theme, or the general plot). While I want my students to have options on how they comprehend and apply their understanding of the novel, I do recognize the need to see their understanding written in their own words as well. This is why I will also ask for a research paper to be written and turned in as the final project of this unit.