0:00
Lexi, what did you make?
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>> I basically made the family like eating
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at the dinner and then there's going to
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be like an empty seat for the dad since
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the dad's gone [music] now.
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>> Good. Because my students make thematic
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sculptures, they create something that's
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representative of their thinking [music]
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and deepen their analysis and their
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understanding of a text.
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>> Think about maybe something you [music]
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can add that sort of captures
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>> Yeah, a little bit more. Okay, keep
0:33
The mission of Spring High School
0:35
[music] is to give every student a great
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student experience to make [music] sure
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they feel included, loved, and valued. I
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[music] want them to feel excited about
0:49
learning. And so adding the additional
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layer [music] of play is just so closely
0:54
connected to what I believe as a
0:56
teacher. [music] Give me a thumbs up if
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you know the phone that you're going to
1:00
work with today. Give me a thumbs up.
1:02
So, what you're going to do is play with
1:04
Legos and Play-Doh today. Hooray. You
1:06
are going to work with these materials
1:08
to demonstrate an interpretation [music]
1:10
of the poem you selected. You're going
1:13
to grab some Play-Doh, grab a couple of
1:14
Legos, take it back to your desk, and
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make something awesome.
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Based on the polling I read, I was I was
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going to make three people like
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>> I see students begin with what am I
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going to make? They're focused [music]
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on their product. And then as they start
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working with their Play-Doh or their
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Legos and they're considering [music]
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the representation of their ideas, you
1:37
can see their thinking grow and evolve.
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>> I'm making like an orange but like in
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>> I love it. So tell me why.
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>> It says someone might have thought I was
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making a fire in my hands.
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>> Good. Can you think about how that
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connects to his experience? Just think
1:53
>> As they're building and creating and I'm
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encouraging [music] them to return to
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the text, they just continue to deepen
2:01
their analysis and their [music]
2:02
understanding. They never end where they
2:05
begin. And that's the cool part [music]
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At first, I did not know what I was
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going to do at all. I don't know how to
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like make this a little deep. I kind of
2:14
started rereading it and thinking about
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it a little more and I was like, "Oh,
2:18
wait." Like, I understand what to kind
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>> I really want to know more about your
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>> I think it might represent like him like
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>> Yeah. They have to write an explanation
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about what they've made, why they made
2:37
it, and figure out a way they can
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clearly and cleanly [music] explain to
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their classmates what their sculpture
2:45
is. All right, guys. Are we ready to
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>> We're all going to stand up and then
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just make your way around the room.
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A lot of times some of the quieter
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students have an opportunity to share
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their voice and their thinking and their
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insights with their classmates [music]
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that maybe they ordinarily wouldn't have
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>> That's really good.
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>> Yeah. Very good. Very good.
3:07
>> Writing an essay can be a little hard to
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find your understanding with that.
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Otherwise, with a sculpture, it's more
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fun. It's more open and it also helps
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you look deeper into [music] the text.
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>> Once you feel like you have seen the
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class gallery, go ahead and return to
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your seats. And then the cherry on top
3:22
is some sort of exit ticket. Or you
3:24
could just have them turn and [music]
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talk and crystallize their learning
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about their poem or someone else's poem.
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>> Play [music] for me builds community. It
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lowers the pressure for students who
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feel uncertain about their
3:41
interpretations. [music]
3:42
And so when you put something in their
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hands that they can use to create
3:45
something that's representative of their
3:47
thinking, I think we are accomplishing a
