Findings
Section 4: Designing Projects for Deeper Thinking
Students’ Initial Project Ideas
In an effort to increase excitement and motivation, I guided students through a process of self-designing projects. I hoped they would create something “different” that would allow them to show their interpretations of the messages in Unwind. Still thinking we had to find a happy medium between enjoyment and deep thinking, I asked students to think of project ideas that could bridge the gap. I hoped they would come up with super creative, outside the box designs. I couldn’t wait to read their answers that night.
I was shocked to see many “traditional” answers such as, “take a test,” “take notes on each chapter,” and “do a book report.” Did they really want to do these boring activities, I wondered. This was not the kind of deep thinking projects I was expecting. One student pointed out that she wouldn’t enjoy doing her own ideas, but wrote about it anyway,
“Well I don’t like doing book reviews and I’m not saying we should do one but when I read a book and then do a book review for it. It really gets me thinking about the characters and basic theme of the book and makes me go more into the details of the topic and makes me enjoy the book more”.- Kalli
She was trying to think of ways to think deeply about the book but was missing the other factor I hoped to incorporate, enjoyment. Another student attempted to get past the typical project by taking it a step further,
“We could act out scenes of the book. When we act them out we have to express the emotion of the characters. Then we write down about how it felt to play those characters.”- Ester
The list below shows initial project ideas:
· Write a summary for a sequel
· Answer questions
· Write key facts
· Write what the message was
· Book report
· Book talks
· Act out scenes and then write about how it felt to play that character.
· Skit or act out a part from a different point of view
· Fan fiction- same characters, new story (New HTM Fan Fiction Web site)
· Group discussions
· Pick a quote from the book and make an illustration or collage based on the quote
· Write a paragraph/paper from a different point of view
· Mini Socratic seminar
· Act out or make a movie about a part of the book
· Rewrite a chapter, putting yourself into the book
· Summarize at the end of each chapter
· Book review
· Create a new book cover for the book
· Tell a part of the story in a graphic novel
· Take a test
· Do something that helps someone else understand the book
· Sit in a group and ask questions
· Paint or draw one image/symbol from the book
· Create a poster about a chapter of the book
· Notetaking (optional) with Socratic seminar at the end
· A project showing the different points of view
· Make a video of a book discussion
· Model diorama of a scene from the book
· Debates about the book
· Make a movie trailer
· Write a poem about the book or a character
· Visually interpret (reenacting, short video, photograph, painting, etc.) your favorite part of the book with Socratic seminar talking about how it represents that part.
In an effort to increase excitement and motivation, I guided students through a process of self-designing projects. I hoped they would create something “different” that would allow them to show their interpretations of the messages in Unwind. Still thinking we had to find a happy medium between enjoyment and deep thinking, I asked students to think of project ideas that could bridge the gap. I hoped they would come up with super creative, outside the box designs. I couldn’t wait to read their answers that night.
I was shocked to see many “traditional” answers such as, “take a test,” “take notes on each chapter,” and “do a book report.” Did they really want to do these boring activities, I wondered. This was not the kind of deep thinking projects I was expecting. One student pointed out that she wouldn’t enjoy doing her own ideas, but wrote about it anyway,
“Well I don’t like doing book reviews and I’m not saying we should do one but when I read a book and then do a book review for it. It really gets me thinking about the characters and basic theme of the book and makes me go more into the details of the topic and makes me enjoy the book more”.- Kalli
She was trying to think of ways to think deeply about the book but was missing the other factor I hoped to incorporate, enjoyment. Another student attempted to get past the typical project by taking it a step further,
“We could act out scenes of the book. When we act them out we have to express the emotion of the characters. Then we write down about how it felt to play those characters.”- Ester
The list below shows initial project ideas:
· Write a summary for a sequel
· Answer questions
· Write key facts
· Write what the message was
· Book report
· Book talks
· Act out scenes and then write about how it felt to play that character.
· Skit or act out a part from a different point of view
· Fan fiction- same characters, new story (New HTM Fan Fiction Web site)
· Group discussions
· Pick a quote from the book and make an illustration or collage based on the quote
· Write a paragraph/paper from a different point of view
· Mini Socratic seminar
· Act out or make a movie about a part of the book
· Rewrite a chapter, putting yourself into the book
· Summarize at the end of each chapter
· Book review
· Create a new book cover for the book
· Tell a part of the story in a graphic novel
· Take a test
· Do something that helps someone else understand the book
· Sit in a group and ask questions
· Paint or draw one image/symbol from the book
· Create a poster about a chapter of the book
· Notetaking (optional) with Socratic seminar at the end
· A project showing the different points of view
· Make a video of a book discussion
· Model diorama of a scene from the book
· Debates about the book
· Make a movie trailer
· Write a poem about the book or a character
· Visually interpret (reenacting, short video, photograph, painting, etc.) your favorite part of the book with Socratic seminar talking about how it represents that part.
Defining Critical Thinking
As I read the journal entries I realized that I never really defined deep thinking, to the students or to myself. How could I define this elusive concept? What did it really mean to think deeply and how could I explain it in a concrete way to students? I decided to use the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy chart to measure our levels of critical thinking in both discussions and projects. A committee of educators led by Benjamin Bloom developed the original taxonomy in 1956. The new, revised taxonomy was developed by Lorin Anderson in the 1990’s as a way to show learning behaviors in an updated, 21st century way. |
When I compared students project ideas to this chart, I noticed that many of the projects or activities fit in the lower levels of the chart. Ideas like “summarize the chapter” would show that students had an understanding of the story but didn’t allow for higher levels of critical thinking. The higher levels, where I wanted student thinking to be, were represented on the list, but sparingly. Ideas like fan fiction, movie trailers and Socratic seminars involved the skills at the top: analyzing, evaluating, and creating. These projects involved using an understanding of the story to create something new, whereas the others just regurgitated the story in a different form.
At this time I was reading the book Empowering Struggling Readers (Hall, Burns and Edwards, 2011) and began to see a new purpose for reading. I now saw reading as a way to expand one’s worldview. Based on this understanding, I determined “new knowledge” to be combining the author’s message with the reader’s own opinions. When the reader connects personally to the book’s themes, puts his or her “stamp on it,” and shows it in some way, then it becomes new knowledge. This is where I hoped to steer future project ideas.
Connecting Critical Thinking to Project Design
I hoped that project ideas would change if I gave students a clear definition of each critical thinking level. The next day I passed out the list above of the different activities and projects suggested and had students circle 5 that they might be interested in doing. Next I showed the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy graphic and explained each level.
After discussing and providing examples of all six levels of critical thinking, I asked groups of four to make a poster of the chart. Together, the groups placed each member’s list of 5 activities onto the poster at the appropriate taxonomy level. I hoped this concrete activity of placing project ideas into a specific level would cause students to rethink their ideas. Naturally, some students asked to change their project ideas at this point and I happily agreed. Lastly, students listed one or two of the projects that they were the most excited about now on the back of their activity list.
At this time I was reading the book Empowering Struggling Readers (Hall, Burns and Edwards, 2011) and began to see a new purpose for reading. I now saw reading as a way to expand one’s worldview. Based on this understanding, I determined “new knowledge” to be combining the author’s message with the reader’s own opinions. When the reader connects personally to the book’s themes, puts his or her “stamp on it,” and shows it in some way, then it becomes new knowledge. This is where I hoped to steer future project ideas.
Connecting Critical Thinking to Project Design
I hoped that project ideas would change if I gave students a clear definition of each critical thinking level. The next day I passed out the list above of the different activities and projects suggested and had students circle 5 that they might be interested in doing. Next I showed the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy graphic and explained each level.
After discussing and providing examples of all six levels of critical thinking, I asked groups of four to make a poster of the chart. Together, the groups placed each member’s list of 5 activities onto the poster at the appropriate taxonomy level. I hoped this concrete activity of placing project ideas into a specific level would cause students to rethink their ideas. Naturally, some students asked to change their project ideas at this point and I happily agreed. Lastly, students listed one or two of the projects that they were the most excited about now on the back of their activity list.
I was curious to see how much change there would be. Would students still pick lower level thinking activities or would they go for higher level ones? Overall I noticed that the new project ideas did move up the critical thinking ladder. In her final reflection, Cat explained how her project changed at this point to reflect deeper thinking.
“In the beginning of this project I was thinking about doing some easy projects that would be quick and easy. However, we then started thinking about the level of thinking that was required in the projects and we had to really think about where the projects we wanted to do (would) be placed on the level of thinking trapezoid. It made me reconsider some of the easy projects and look at some ones that would make me think deeper about Unwind. That was when I decided to do fan fiction.” -Cat |
A New Purpose to Read: Books as Windows & Mirrors
If I wanted students to create new knowledge from what they read, in other words combine the author’s message with their own opinions, I needed them to see relevance in this futuristic thriller. At various times in journal responses and surveys, students wrote comments such as Jerry's comment, “The plot, though unrealistic at times, is gripping.” I wanted students to see that this book does have a larger message and can teach us something about the world, even though some deemed the setting unrealistic. By showing students that they could potentially see themselves in the book, I would be one step closer to helping them create new knowledge.
To help students see the relevance of all text, I wrote the following quote from the book Empowering Struggling Readers on the board,
“Texts should also serve as both a window and mirror allowing students to look into the lives of people they would not normally experience and as a way to understand themselves and how their views influence their understanding of texts and interactions with the world” (Brooks, Browne, & Hampton, 2008 cited in Hall, Burns and Edwards, 2011).
I asked students to respond to this quote, hoping they would see a purpose for reading beyond enjoyment. I hoped they would realize people read to see the world through a different lens and to see themselves more clearly. Understanding this could lead us to a new, deeper purpose for reading and talking about books.
After giving a few minutes to write individually, I asked students to share out their thoughts. After the first student spoke, other students added on their ideas and together, we built a common understanding of the quote. Melanie’s journal entry shows how our class discussion helped her see the quote differently. She originally focused on the “window” metaphor alone and wrote, “When you read a book you start to understand what’s going on in their mind (author) or to understand their perspective or point of view.” She showed a slightly expanded idea after the group discussion, “I really like what Jim said. He said that when people read books, each person gets a different message and different point of view.” Our discussion helped her to see that a book’s message changes depending on the reader and his or her life experience.
After the group discussion, I asked students to write an additional journal entry, either to explain how Unwind might be a window and/or mirror for themselves or to add any new thinking they had about the quote. Students were now able to show understanding of the quote and see the connections between Unwind and themselves. Alex shows this thinking in the following quote, “I was able to picture what their world was like and even though I’ve never been in their exact situation I can feel for them because I have been scared and angry and sad which are all emotions that are present in the book.”
I was excited as I read students’ responses. I could practically see their eyes opening up to a new purpose for reading. Jerry, the student who wrote the quote above about the plot being unrealistic explained his new thinking below:
“Unwind is a window into an unfamiliar utopia completely different from our modern universe. Through Unwind we see characters that we can relate to placed in a dark and foreign world. It is a window into the Unwind reality and a mirror in that we see ourselves in the characters.”
Students now understood how books could express universal truths and personal connections. I hoped that by focusing on the quote I had given students a concrete way to think about the themes in the book. As they continued to plan projects, I wanted them to think about how Unwind was a window into some bigger themes like parental vs. youth rights, power and governmental control. I also wanted students to think about how the book was a mirror, and how they could personally connect to the story and characters. A futuristic book could teach them something about themselves and the current world. With this common language, we could hopefully push each other to show this “window and mirror” through our book projects.
Reaching Higher Levels of Critical Thinking With New Project Ideas
Armed with a new understanding of the purpose of reading, we revisited our project ideas the next day. The students gravitated to the following ideas: debating, making a film/trailer, writing fan fiction, making an art piece, and creating a zine. Some of these ideas were new to students like zines, which are self-published and hand-drawn short magazines based on a specific topic, and fan fiction, which are rewritten stories based on an existing book. I created an activity to help guide an exploration of examples.
I explained to students that the purpose of the exploration was to help them decide on a project idea and that choosing to explore one of these ideas was NOT committing to it. Three students expressed interest in more than one idea so I recommended that they explore the project that they knew the least about. That way they could make an informed decision. At the end of the exploration time, I asked students to make a final decision on a project idea. I explained that they could use any of the ideas we had discussed or something else they were thinking of now. I thought maybe after all of this discussion, new ideas would emerge. Most students chose the project they had just explored. Some switched to a new idea but no one thought of a completely new project.
I asked students to write their new idea into their journals along with an explanation of how the project idea showed the different levels of critical thinking.
While reading responses, I noticed that most students were able to clearly articulate what levels of critical thinking they would need in order to complete their project. I especially love the following quote because it reminded me that while I had been pushing students to get to the higher levels of critical thinking, they actually needed a combination of all of them to truly think deeply about the book. This student planned to make a movie trailer for the book.
“Creating: Because we’re creating something totally new and we’re producing this. Analyzing: Because we have to analyze the characters and make a decision if it’s going to be a dark film or not. Remembering: because we have to remember the scenes and characters and location. Understanding: Because we have to understand every scene in order to make it understandable.” –Patricia
If I wanted students to create new knowledge from what they read, in other words combine the author’s message with their own opinions, I needed them to see relevance in this futuristic thriller. At various times in journal responses and surveys, students wrote comments such as Jerry's comment, “The plot, though unrealistic at times, is gripping.” I wanted students to see that this book does have a larger message and can teach us something about the world, even though some deemed the setting unrealistic. By showing students that they could potentially see themselves in the book, I would be one step closer to helping them create new knowledge.
To help students see the relevance of all text, I wrote the following quote from the book Empowering Struggling Readers on the board,
“Texts should also serve as both a window and mirror allowing students to look into the lives of people they would not normally experience and as a way to understand themselves and how their views influence their understanding of texts and interactions with the world” (Brooks, Browne, & Hampton, 2008 cited in Hall, Burns and Edwards, 2011).
I asked students to respond to this quote, hoping they would see a purpose for reading beyond enjoyment. I hoped they would realize people read to see the world through a different lens and to see themselves more clearly. Understanding this could lead us to a new, deeper purpose for reading and talking about books.
After giving a few minutes to write individually, I asked students to share out their thoughts. After the first student spoke, other students added on their ideas and together, we built a common understanding of the quote. Melanie’s journal entry shows how our class discussion helped her see the quote differently. She originally focused on the “window” metaphor alone and wrote, “When you read a book you start to understand what’s going on in their mind (author) or to understand their perspective or point of view.” She showed a slightly expanded idea after the group discussion, “I really like what Jim said. He said that when people read books, each person gets a different message and different point of view.” Our discussion helped her to see that a book’s message changes depending on the reader and his or her life experience.
After the group discussion, I asked students to write an additional journal entry, either to explain how Unwind might be a window and/or mirror for themselves or to add any new thinking they had about the quote. Students were now able to show understanding of the quote and see the connections between Unwind and themselves. Alex shows this thinking in the following quote, “I was able to picture what their world was like and even though I’ve never been in their exact situation I can feel for them because I have been scared and angry and sad which are all emotions that are present in the book.”
I was excited as I read students’ responses. I could practically see their eyes opening up to a new purpose for reading. Jerry, the student who wrote the quote above about the plot being unrealistic explained his new thinking below:
“Unwind is a window into an unfamiliar utopia completely different from our modern universe. Through Unwind we see characters that we can relate to placed in a dark and foreign world. It is a window into the Unwind reality and a mirror in that we see ourselves in the characters.”
Students now understood how books could express universal truths and personal connections. I hoped that by focusing on the quote I had given students a concrete way to think about the themes in the book. As they continued to plan projects, I wanted them to think about how Unwind was a window into some bigger themes like parental vs. youth rights, power and governmental control. I also wanted students to think about how the book was a mirror, and how they could personally connect to the story and characters. A futuristic book could teach them something about themselves and the current world. With this common language, we could hopefully push each other to show this “window and mirror” through our book projects.
Reaching Higher Levels of Critical Thinking With New Project Ideas
Armed with a new understanding of the purpose of reading, we revisited our project ideas the next day. The students gravitated to the following ideas: debating, making a film/trailer, writing fan fiction, making an art piece, and creating a zine. Some of these ideas were new to students like zines, which are self-published and hand-drawn short magazines based on a specific topic, and fan fiction, which are rewritten stories based on an existing book. I created an activity to help guide an exploration of examples.
I explained to students that the purpose of the exploration was to help them decide on a project idea and that choosing to explore one of these ideas was NOT committing to it. Three students expressed interest in more than one idea so I recommended that they explore the project that they knew the least about. That way they could make an informed decision. At the end of the exploration time, I asked students to make a final decision on a project idea. I explained that they could use any of the ideas we had discussed or something else they were thinking of now. I thought maybe after all of this discussion, new ideas would emerge. Most students chose the project they had just explored. Some switched to a new idea but no one thought of a completely new project.
I asked students to write their new idea into their journals along with an explanation of how the project idea showed the different levels of critical thinking.
While reading responses, I noticed that most students were able to clearly articulate what levels of critical thinking they would need in order to complete their project. I especially love the following quote because it reminded me that while I had been pushing students to get to the higher levels of critical thinking, they actually needed a combination of all of them to truly think deeply about the book. This student planned to make a movie trailer for the book.
“Creating: Because we’re creating something totally new and we’re producing this. Analyzing: Because we have to analyze the characters and make a decision if it’s going to be a dark film or not. Remembering: because we have to remember the scenes and characters and location. Understanding: Because we have to understand every scene in order to make it understandable.” –Patricia
I felt like many students misinterpreted the creating level at this time. Many students seemed to think the meaning was to physically create something. For example Madonna explained, “I’m creating a book cover based on the book and I’m summarizing/introducing the book on the back.” The act of creating a book cover does take critical thinking but could use lower levels depending on the design. If Madonna had simply drawn a scene from the book, that would have used the lower levels such as remembering and understanding. She did use higher levels of thinking such as analyzing by designing symbols to represent each character. Just creating the cover does not constitute the use of higher thinking skills. I needed to clarify this in the future if I wanted students to actually reach this level of thinking about the book in their projects.
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At this point I felt good about the direction the projects were going. Everyone seemed happy with their ideas and I saw potential for students to go deep into the book’s themes. Most ideas would not be simply replicating events from the story but rather evaluating and connecting to the character’s actions and author’s ideas. Some projects were still in the replicating stage, though, and I wanted to move them up. In order to see exactly what students had planned and to help them critique each other, I had students put their ideas into physical form, in other words, make a prototype.
A Protocol Pushes Project Designs
No matter where the projects landed on the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy chart, I wanted to push them even higher. I could go around to each student, asking questions, giving suggestions, ferreting out deeper thoughts but I wondered what students would get from each other. Would they push each other toward deeper thought? Would a problem solving protocol serve two purposes, helping students create more beautiful final projects and hold thoughtful conversations about the novel and it’s themes and characters in the process? These were my hopes and wonderings.
The following day I gave students one hour to make a “prototype” of their projects. I defined a prototype as a quick first draft. The purpose was to get ideas out of your head in order to show them to others. Depending on the project, students made a sketch, storyboard, summary, or list. The next day we would show our prototypes to a group of four for a project tuning. Their group would help push their project to higher levels of critical thinking and help brainstorm a dilemma or question about the project.
Along with a prototype, I had students write a question for their group on an exit card. The purpose was to have group members help solve a dilemma with the project or offer suggestions to make it better. These questions needed to be “meaty” in other words, the group should be able to talk about the questions for at least 10 minutes. I realized that more than half of the questions had either yes/no answers or weren’t even questions at all. Questions such as, "Is this a good idea?" How could they hold a purposeful discussion with simple yes /no questions? I quickly helped those students revise their questions but this proved to be a problem in the protocols the next day.
Journal Entry:
What went well in your project tuning? What was challenging?
When asked to reflect on the project tunings, no one mentioned the questions at all. Many students did write about the lack of focus in discussion and students getting off track. Cat reflected, “What worked for me in project tuning today was having set times for questions and discussions, etc. because it kept everyone on task and gave more info. Something that was challenging was not having enough to say.” I attribute these challenges to the quality of the questions and lack of experience with protocols. Another student, Fred, identified the quality of the prototype as being a challenge in their group, “Trying to keep talking because you can’t really talk when somebody’s project prototype isn’t well put together.” Although many students mentioned challenges, many also said the protocol was helpful. Toni states, “This went well. Some off topic discussions and arguing but the presenters got really good feedback in the end.”
While I was glad that some students got helpful feedback, I hoped they would also have revised their project ideas in order to show deeper thinking. When I looked through journals at the notes taken by each presenter, it was clear that the groups were not discussing the levels of critical thinking. Suggestions given were based on the question that each presenter posed. The focus was on the end product, not on the thinking it would show. After reflecting back on the protocols, I realized that I should not have given the groups two things to focus on. I think it may have been confusing for students to try to discuss the question posed and help the presenter think deeper. Next time, I would do the tunings multiple times throughout the project with different purposes for each round. By having separate rounds, students could focus on just one question and continue to practice the structure of a protocol at the same time.
A Protocol Pushes Project Designs
No matter where the projects landed on the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy chart, I wanted to push them even higher. I could go around to each student, asking questions, giving suggestions, ferreting out deeper thoughts but I wondered what students would get from each other. Would they push each other toward deeper thought? Would a problem solving protocol serve two purposes, helping students create more beautiful final projects and hold thoughtful conversations about the novel and it’s themes and characters in the process? These were my hopes and wonderings.
The following day I gave students one hour to make a “prototype” of their projects. I defined a prototype as a quick first draft. The purpose was to get ideas out of your head in order to show them to others. Depending on the project, students made a sketch, storyboard, summary, or list. The next day we would show our prototypes to a group of four for a project tuning. Their group would help push their project to higher levels of critical thinking and help brainstorm a dilemma or question about the project.
Along with a prototype, I had students write a question for their group on an exit card. The purpose was to have group members help solve a dilemma with the project or offer suggestions to make it better. These questions needed to be “meaty” in other words, the group should be able to talk about the questions for at least 10 minutes. I realized that more than half of the questions had either yes/no answers or weren’t even questions at all. Questions such as, "Is this a good idea?" How could they hold a purposeful discussion with simple yes /no questions? I quickly helped those students revise their questions but this proved to be a problem in the protocols the next day.
Journal Entry:
What went well in your project tuning? What was challenging?
When asked to reflect on the project tunings, no one mentioned the questions at all. Many students did write about the lack of focus in discussion and students getting off track. Cat reflected, “What worked for me in project tuning today was having set times for questions and discussions, etc. because it kept everyone on task and gave more info. Something that was challenging was not having enough to say.” I attribute these challenges to the quality of the questions and lack of experience with protocols. Another student, Fred, identified the quality of the prototype as being a challenge in their group, “Trying to keep talking because you can’t really talk when somebody’s project prototype isn’t well put together.” Although many students mentioned challenges, many also said the protocol was helpful. Toni states, “This went well. Some off topic discussions and arguing but the presenters got really good feedback in the end.”
While I was glad that some students got helpful feedback, I hoped they would also have revised their project ideas in order to show deeper thinking. When I looked through journals at the notes taken by each presenter, it was clear that the groups were not discussing the levels of critical thinking. Suggestions given were based on the question that each presenter posed. The focus was on the end product, not on the thinking it would show. After reflecting back on the protocols, I realized that I should not have given the groups two things to focus on. I think it may have been confusing for students to try to discuss the question posed and help the presenter think deeper. Next time, I would do the tunings multiple times throughout the project with different purposes for each round. By having separate rounds, students could focus on just one question and continue to practice the structure of a protocol at the same time.
Although I didn’t see students thinking deeper about the book at this time, I did see them changing their projects for the better at this stage. Some changed their outcome like the students below:
“I’m doing a quote with a drawing and the drawing is going to be a heart with smoke around it and then body parts in the smoke.” (original project idea) “I had an idea but during the tuning they helped me come up with a new and better project idea and I like it better then the first idea I had.” (after project tuning) –Debbie |
Conversations with the Art Group Led to Thoughtful Products
Projects changed due to our formal project tuning protocol but that wasn’t the only reason. I watched many students make additional changes to their final product based on informal conversations with me and with other students. In my opinion the artistic interpretation group seemed to have the most trouble showing deep thinking in their artwork. Some had very literal plans such as drawing someone being unwound. I decided to pull them together and have a deeper discussion about how to show higher levels of critical thinking in their artwork. As a whole group we discussed potential messages in the story. Many already had a message in mind and attempted to show that message in their prototypes. We helped each other brainstorm additional ways to show this message symbolically, in order to make the audience think. At various times I would see an idea catch fire in one student’s mind and they would leave the group to sketch their new idea.
We also discussed how to go a bit further, not just showing the message but putting their own lens on it too. This allowed them to reach the highest level of critical thinking, creating new knowledge. They were now using all of the levels of the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students were using lower level thinking skills like remembering events in the book, showing understanding of the book messages and applying that knowledge in a new way through a symbolic representation. They were also using higher level thinking skills. They were analyzing and evaluating the author’s message by adding their own world views, and synthesizing all of this together to show their interpretation in an original piece of art. These deep conversations happened throughout our project time. Some students ended up making multiple drafts, each time thinking they were finished but eventually deciding to go further.
A Tale of Two Projects:
It was easiest to see how the structures I implemented created changes with the art group, due to the visual nature of their products. The two projects described below show how the product gets better and the thinking gets deeper with each step.
Projects changed due to our formal project tuning protocol but that wasn’t the only reason. I watched many students make additional changes to their final product based on informal conversations with me and with other students. In my opinion the artistic interpretation group seemed to have the most trouble showing deep thinking in their artwork. Some had very literal plans such as drawing someone being unwound. I decided to pull them together and have a deeper discussion about how to show higher levels of critical thinking in their artwork. As a whole group we discussed potential messages in the story. Many already had a message in mind and attempted to show that message in their prototypes. We helped each other brainstorm additional ways to show this message symbolically, in order to make the audience think. At various times I would see an idea catch fire in one student’s mind and they would leave the group to sketch their new idea.
We also discussed how to go a bit further, not just showing the message but putting their own lens on it too. This allowed them to reach the highest level of critical thinking, creating new knowledge. They were now using all of the levels of the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students were using lower level thinking skills like remembering events in the book, showing understanding of the book messages and applying that knowledge in a new way through a symbolic representation. They were also using higher level thinking skills. They were analyzing and evaluating the author’s message by adding their own world views, and synthesizing all of this together to show their interpretation in an original piece of art. These deep conversations happened throughout our project time. Some students ended up making multiple drafts, each time thinking they were finished but eventually deciding to go further.
A Tale of Two Projects:
It was easiest to see how the structures I implemented created changes with the art group, due to the visual nature of their products. The two projects described below show how the product gets better and the thinking gets deeper with each step.
Veronica
Prototype: “At first, I started off with my project about picking a quote from Unwind and making it into a collage or a picture. The quote I choose was, “Stupid dreams, even the good ones are bad, because they remind you how poorly reality measures up.”
When I first talked with Veronica she had a quote that she liked but couldn’t articulate why she wanted to use it or what the quote was saying about the book. She was thinking about using the infinity sign in her art. |
Conversations with peers: “Then, when all the students grouped up in the same categories of our projects, Mrs. Ahrens and my group helped me go more in depth and think about a deeper message that goes to my collage. I thought of a “Dream vs. Reality” type of feel to my project. I thought instead of using pictures off of google, I should cut out words that describe a “dreamy, happy, fantasy world” and glue them into a background of clouds and on the outside, have a lot a negative words to represent reality.”
When Veronica and I talked about her second draft, she had thought about how the theme of her artwork fit the story. She spoke about how the Unwinds felt trapped in society and so do people in our world today. Being trapped in reality means being judged or criticized. She felt that people now and the unwinds in the story want to feel free and are longing to come out over “the wall.” Through multiple conversations and lots of thinking, Veronica had reached what I considered the highest levels of critical thinking. She had constructed new knowledge by identifying the author’s message but then relating it to the world now and her own experiences. Finally, she put all of this together into a beautiful, symbolic art piece. |
More changes: “But after all my newspaper cut outs were glued onto my wooden frame, I put in chicken wire to represent a “trapped, jailed” look. Mrs. Ahrens and I always talked about using chicken wire to make my project have a deeper message as, “having dreams trapped”. After I put in my chicken wire, I glued all around the border and on top of the chicken wire my negative words and that was my final product!”
Veronica came to me often to talk out her theme and how she could portray it in a symbolic way. She would tell me the literal message, such as “trapped” and we would brainstorm possible ways to show that in her art. She continued to push herself and her artwork, adding and changing materials even the day before it was due. |
Chichi:
Prototype: “My very first idea for the Unwind project was to make a poster board with images that sums up each chapter. I imagined the whole poster board would look like a bunch of pictures put together, kind of like a photo mosaic, but instead of photos, I would’ve drawn the images, and it wouldn’t be lots of little pictures to make one big one, just a lot of little pictures.”
Although this idea sounds like it would turn out beautiful, Chichi’s first idea was a literal representation of each chapter. If placed on the taxonomy chart, this project would be at the applying level. She would be using the events in the book in a new but similar way.
Protocol: “Eventually, I changed my idea when we had to do the protocol. I changed my idea to a painting with a quote in the background, and drew Roland on the operating table with people taking off his legs…my group told me on my final piece I should find a way to make it less literal. “
Prototype: “My very first idea for the Unwind project was to make a poster board with images that sums up each chapter. I imagined the whole poster board would look like a bunch of pictures put together, kind of like a photo mosaic, but instead of photos, I would’ve drawn the images, and it wouldn’t be lots of little pictures to make one big one, just a lot of little pictures.”
Although this idea sounds like it would turn out beautiful, Chichi’s first idea was a literal representation of each chapter. If placed on the taxonomy chart, this project would be at the applying level. She would be using the events in the book in a new but similar way.
Protocol: “Eventually, I changed my idea when we had to do the protocol. I changed my idea to a painting with a quote in the background, and drew Roland on the operating table with people taking off his legs…my group told me on my final piece I should find a way to make it less literal. “
Chichi’s protocol group successfully pushed her thinking. Her project idea, while still literal, is going in a more thoughtful direction. The picture of Roland that she plans is directly from the book but that part was personally meaningful to her and was one of the most important events in the book. She is moving into the analyzing stage at this point by choosing an important event in the book rather than showing many events.
Conversations with peers: “…after hearing everyone else’s ideas, I suddenly thought of one that Lorelis and I could use. My idea was originally a 3-D brain with words and images of what that person is thinking, and puzzle pieces of body parts symbolizing that the person could never be put together again.” She eventually decided to paint the brain instead but shows much deeper thinking in her final draft. The ideas and representations are not events from book but her own creations. She uses important quotes and adds her own words to show her opinion on the unwinding process. By going symbolic and adding her feelings to the book’s storyline, Chichi has reached the highest levels of critical thinking. |