Text Based Drawings: A Creative Way to Get Students to Use Evidence from the Text

Asking students to cite evidence for every single question they answer when reading and responding to a text might be good practice and ensure that they are reading closely, but it also becomes repetitive. One way to mix things up is to ask students to draw a picture and label it based on details from the text.  

For example, as my students did a close reading of a passage from Chapter 1 of Of Mice and Men, they looked for the differences between the two main characters, George and Lennie. 

They used one color/symbol for George and another color/symbol for Lennie. Lots of students busted out their highlighter collection or colored pencils, but underlining, circling, starring, etc. works too. On a second read of the passage, students looked for language that compared the characters to animals and marked that with a third color/symbol.

One of the after reading activities was to draw and label a picture of Lennie using details from the text. Students had already identified these details in their close reading, but drawing Lennie helped students to better visualize what this character looks like and how he behaves. It was also a creative way of getting students to pull evidence from the text without just having them write.

As we continued reading Of Mice and Men, we did another close reading of the text, this time focused on a scene where Curley's wife is introduced in into Chapter 2. After reading, students drew and labeled a picture of her using details from the text.

This hands-on activity will engage your visual learners and even non-artistic students will love comparing their drawings with others. A slight variation of this activity would be to make copies of the page or pages that you would like students to pull evidence from. Students could then cut out the details describing the character, setting, etc. and glue it onto their drawing.

You can find all of my Of Mice and Men resources, including the activities and close readings described above, here.

Word Art: A Creative Lesson on Characterization & Symbolism

The inspiration for this project came from seeing an image of the mockingjay pin from The Hunger Games created out of words. My students were reading The Hunger Games at the time and I wanted to have them create something similar. I looked at sites like Wordle and Tagxedo, which let you create word clouds, but neither had the flexibility in shapes that I was looking for, so this project ended up being no-tech.

Students first selected their favorite character from the novel and brainstormed words to describe and associated with that character. During this brainstorming, you may want to remind students of the different methods of characterization: direct characterization and indirect characterization through appearance, actions, thoughts and feelings, dialogue, and other characters’ comments. I encourage students to use as much language from the text as possible.

From this brainstorming, an object that would serve as an appropriate symbol may arise. For example, in The Hunger Games, Peeta was a baker so a loaf of bread would be an obvious symbol to use for him. I’ve also used this activity with Of Mice and Men, and a red dress would be an obvious symbol for Curly’s wife.

You may want to encourage students to think a little deeper and choose a symbol that is representative of the character’s traits. For example, in Of Mice and Men, Lennie is very curious, so a question mark might be used as a symbol for him or George is the more intelligent one in the pair, so a brain might be used as a symbol for him.

Once students have selected an appropriate symbol, they will use the words that they brainstormed to create the image. I encourage students to do a rough draft first so they can play with the layout of the words. I find it easiest for them to lightly sketch out the lines of their drawing and then place the words on top. Some words may need to be larger or smaller than others. If needed, I allow students to repeat words. 

When students complete their final draft, I encourage them to use different colors for their words to help create the image. If they are going to color anything else, have them do light shading so that the words can all still be read.

You'll be surprised with the creativity of your students and even "non-artistic" students will enjoy this activity. If you try it out with your students, I'd love to see what they come up with!

You can find all of my Of Mice and Men resources, including the activity described above, here.

On My Bookshelf: Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt

The basic plot: Doug's problems are endless. His father is an abusive alcoholic. His brother Chris steals his things and constantly picks on him. His other brother Lucas is away in the Vietnam War. He has just moved to a new town so he has no friends. He is about to start eighth grade and struggles with reading. Before school starts, Doug manages to make friends with Lillian (Lil') who gets him a job making deliveries for her father's deli. He also befriends Mr. Powell, a librarian, who helps him discover his talent for drawing. But as Doug reminds us throughout the book, just when things are going good, they take a turn for the bad. Doug is struggling in school. He mouths off to his PE teacher, the principal is out to get him, and his math teacher won't call on him no matter how many times he raises his hand. His brother Chris is suspected of robbing some local businesses and his brother Lucas is coming home from the war with unknown injuries. His dad is still an abusive alcoholic. By the end, Doug has grown and changed for the better, as have many of the other characters, and many of the issues he hasn't been able to resolve himself, are resolved on there own. There's no happily ever after perfect ending (because that would be unrealistic!), but happily enough to be a feel good book.

Why I liked it: In Okay for Now, Doug is a very realistic character. He has down periods but always manages to pick himself up. He struggles with whether he wants to be like his brothers or be himself. Doug also makes meaningful relationships with other characters in the book, impacting their lives in positive ways despite their (on and off) stereotypes of him. The customers on his delivery route come to care for him and Doug helps them with aspects of their daily lives: replacing light bulbs, putting away groceries, and even babysitting.

Classroom application: Novels with strong male protagonists are hard to come by, but Okay for Now would be a sure winner for middle school boys (maybe 5th - 9th grades) and relatable for girls as well. Doug is just the right mix of smart aleck and underdog. As a high interest text, this would be perfect for independent reading (students would want to read it on their own time) and/or literature circles. Students would have great discussions about being judged as the younger sibling, dealing with troublesome brothers or sisters, adults treating teens unfairly, etc.

This book also has art, science, and history connections. Doug receives drawing instruction from Mr. Powell, the librarian because he is so inspired by the collection of Audubon's printing plates displayed in the library. They discuss composition, horizon lines, shading etc. An ELA teacher could partner with an art teacher to teach the lessons outlined in the book with the plates of the birds with which Doug is so fascinated.

John James Audubon was a famous ornithologist (studier of birds), so this fictional text could be paired with nonfiction texts about birds and birdwatching. Students could try to photograph and identify birds in their own neighborhood and parks. You could take a field trip to a local birdwatching hotspot or have members of a local Audubon Society come an speak to your class.

Audubon (April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) could also be studied as a historical figure. He led a fascinating life. Or focus on the philosophy of naturalism: when were those ideas most popular? What other famous figures shared these beliefs? Are they still practiced today?

Okay for Now is a companion book to The Wednesday Wars, which takes place first and in which Doug is a minor character. I look forward to reading that as well.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Okay For Now for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.
Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Creative Writing 101: Talk Show Interview

When I think of creative writing, poetry and short stories are the first things that come to my mind, and probably yours too, but not all students are interested in that type of writing. In my creative writing elective class (which students had not elected to take), I wanted to come up with a creative writing topic that all of my students would be interested in. Since everyone has at least one person they are interested in, whether a famous athlete, musician, etc, I came up with the idea of having students write a script for a talk show interview.

As I thought more about it, I realized this assignment would also require students to engage with nonfiction sources and use their research skills, but because students would be focused on a person of interest, they wouldn't even realize it! Sneaky, sneaky me.

I allowed students to choose any famous person, living or dead. I discouraged students from using someone non-famous, like their grandmother, because that would be more difficult to research in class. Some choices were: Beyonce, Steve Jobs, Kevin Durant, President Barack Obama, Aliyah, and Will Smith.

After students selected a person of interest, I asked them to identify three credible sources of information about their person. As my students were in 10-12th grades, we just did a quick review of what makes a source credible or not. If your students are younger, you may want to spend more time on the topic. Students emailed me the links to their three sources and once I checked them to see if there was enough information and that they were credible sources, students received the okay to begin developing the questions and responses for their talk show.

Once students had an outline of their Q & A, we examined samples of written interviews to properly format our own. We also discussed the idea of dialogue (narrative skill) and making our written interview sound as if two people were actually speaking to each other. Watching clips of a view interviews would help students get the flow.

After students wrote out a rough draft, they typed it up in Google Drive where I could easily make suggestions about revisions.

In my English classroom, I might use a similar project to have students "interview" a favorite poet from our poetry unit or a favorite author at the end of the year. You could also "interview" a character from a novel, but then students would be using a fiction source rather than nonfiction and would not employ research skills.

A talk show interview isn't limited to the ELA classroom. This writing project would require nonfiction sources and employ research skills regardless of the subject area.

Some ideas:
1. In history/social studies, have students select a historical figure from a unit or time period to "interview."
2. In science, have students select a scientist who made a significant contribution to the unit or course topic (i.e. chemistry, physics, anatomy) to "interview."
3. Similarly in math, have students select a mathematician who made a significant contribution to the unit or course topic (i.e. algebra, geometry, calculus) to "interview."
4. In gym/physical education, a famous athlete.
5. In music or art, a famous musician or artist from the genre or style you are studying (i.e. jazz, Cubism).

For this and other creative writing activities, check out this engaging, common core aligned resource.

Creative Writing 101: Scary Story Mini-Books

In mid-October, about six weeks into the school year, I found out I was being assigned an additional class (the reasons why are complicated, so we will skip that part). A week or two later I found out that the class I would be assigned would be a creative writing elective. To say I was less than thrilled was an extreme understatement.

Two months into the school year I would be teaching an elective class that the students in it did not elect to take, and most of whom would be turned off by the mere mention of the word writing, let alone a course with writing in its name.

The students in the class would be a mix of 10th-12th graders, some of whom I taught previously, so I couldn't repeat any creative writing assignments I might have slipped into my regular English classes in the past. Sigh.

I was even less thrilled when the resources I was given for teaching the class included a grammar textbook and a handbook to writing a research paper. Seriously?!


Since the class started right before Halloween, the first assignment I came up with was creating scary story mini-books. A hands-on activity with minimal writing, and what kid doesn't love scary stories?

I used a plot diagram to help students plan their stories.

Then I taught them how to make mini-books from a single sheet of paper. You can see step by step directions in this previous post.

Then I gave them plenty of time to plan, write, and illustrate. While not the most rigorous first assignment, it was fun and helped me get to know my students a little better.

You can use mini-books in a variety of more rigorous ways in your own classroom:

1. Challenge students to retell and illustrate a short story, novel, or play in just 6 pages (8 with front and back cover). Word choice will really be important in a limited amount of space, and students won't be able to go on and on and on as sometimes they do when summarizing plot.

2. Similarly, ask students to summarize a nonfiction text, pulling out just the 6 most important points.

3. Create an illustrated glossary of terms as part of note taking or to review for a quiz or test.

4. Write a prequel or sequel to a fiction piece. 

5. Write a children's book on a nonfiction topic synthesizing information from several sources.

For this and other creative writing activities, check out this engaging, common core aligned resource.