Different Techniques in Teaching Literature
- Group poster presentations are a beneficial technique because every student is involved in learning. Break students up into different groups. You can have them draw numbers, or divide them based on their arrangement in the classroom. Have each group design a poster predicting what the story is going to be about. They can look at any pictures, or read the first page of the story to get some clues. They can draw pictures and use words on the poster board. Give each student an assignment to keep all the students responsible. One person can be the illustrator, one can be the writer, another person can read the passage aloud, etc. When all the groups are finished, they must present their posters to the rest of the class. After the groups have presented their posters, all students begin reading the story. This introduction is a good way to get students interested in what they are about to read.
- Skits are an interactive way to get students involved in the story they are reading. Almost any story can be made into a skit. Assign students character parts, then have them read their parts from the literature book. If there aren't enough parts for all students, assign a costume designer, make-up artist and setting coordinator. You must, however, require all students to follow along in the story while the skit is taking place. You may want to read through the story as a class before acting it out as a skit. That way, students are already somewhat familiar with the story before they begin.
- Independent reading is a must-do in certain areas of literature. Assigning students to read a certain number of pages by a deadline is a technique that can work for most students. By giving each student a graphic organizer to fill in information as they read, you can assess whether or not the student is actually reading the passage. By asking open-ended questions, students have to reflect on their own perspective of the passage to answer correctly. The tree map can be used to show the differences between characters. Students list special attributes that may either be listed in the reading passage or be assumptions based on clues given by the author. Graphic organizers such as Venn diagrams, flow maps and tree maps are appropriate visual organizers. You can add onto this assignment by requiring students to write a paper based on what they've collected through their graphic organizers. A book report is easier to write if you already have some information to help get you started. Students can complete this assignment at home or in the classroom.
- Ability grouping is the grouping together of students with similar skill levels. This is beneficial because the teacher can work with each group one at a time. This allows her to create lesson plans specific to each group's skill level. For one group, she may work on comprehension; for another group she may work on fluency. This technique is a good way to address student weaknesses. It's also a good way to challenge high-scoring students.
