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>>Ms. Matei: The text graffiti method is a pre-reading activity that allows teachers
to use in the classroom before reading a short story.
The purpose of using text graffiti is to activate students' prior knowledge.
So I want to know what the students know before they read a story. Um it can connect
to students' lives, it can help them to look at certain words because words are very
powerful in stories. So it sets up the story for them.
We're going to be doing an activity today called text graffiti. Okay, text graffiti.
It is a pre-reading activity. We are going to eventually read a short story.
But I'm not going to tell you the title of the short story. Okay. You are only going to
get a glimpse into what the story is about. Each person has a different quote.
These quotes are taken directly from the story. Okay.
You are going to
read the quote to yourselves. I'm going to give you about eight minutes.
And as you read the quote, you are going to do what is called text graffiti.
You're going to write all over this paper. You can draw a picture, you can circle words
that stand out because we just learned about words, and we know that words
are very powerful. One single word can have a lot of meaning.
Okay. You are going to make a judgment. You can make a prediction based off of what
this quote is saying. Maybe your quote is talking about a specific character
that's from the story. And you are going to learn about the character based off of the
details and description.
So you can say, I predict that this character is going through a lot.
Or, actually, I can relate to this character based off of what this quote is saying.
Okay. Maybe you just want to make an interpretation. This quote reminds me of or
this quote means this to me.
So let me give you an example of one I already did.
It's important for a teacher to do a think aloud and model the assignment for students
so that students are not lost.
So essentially I modeled the activity for them. So text graffiti. I read the quote
to them and then I just did a think aloud as to what I saw and what I would do in this
instance. So I circled certain words, I highlighted phrases that stood out to me,
and I made connections to myself by saying, I can relate to this. This is a prediction
for what's going to happen next, and so forth.
You are going to interpret what is the meaning, what is going to happen next,
what is this whole story really about just based off of your phrase?
I'm going to give you eight minutes. Music will be playing in the background.
When the music stops, you know we are ready to move on the the next step.
Thumbs up if you understand.
Alright, please get started.
So the story that I chose in particular is called Lamb to the Slaughter.
And it's essentially about betrayal and trust that was broken.
Students usually-when it comes to theme, students struggle with figuring out the
the author's message. Uh, they struggle with finding evidence and looking at details.
And I believe that it is really important for us as teachers to teach them that
theme is everywhere.
It's in our lives, it's in movies, it's in songs, it's in poems,
um it's in our experiences. There's theme everywhere. They just don't know how to
dissect it. And I'm trying to teach them to break down information. Look at words,
look at characters and motivations, actions. Look at the setting, that sets up theme.
Um, you can look at the conflict.
So now we're going to share with our group members.
So I am going to give you guys about four minutes for that.
So one at a time, focus at your table only.
>>student: Um, so my quote was the axe forgets but the tree remembers.
And I believe that the axe symbolizes who dealt the harm and the tree represents
the victim or the one who was damaged. The axe feels guiltless of its actions and pushes
what it did behind effort-effortlessly. And the harm, um, given to the tree was too
much for it to let go and they were scarred or they could be holding a grudge.
And um, I drew a picture of someone who represents the axe who is turning away from-
they're both turning away from each other but one is smiling and not remembering and
not caring that what they did. And this person over here has a scar on them and
they're frowning and turning away from the person who did the damage as well.
And I can relate to the tree because I can never really forget what um happens to me
and what impacts me the most but it doesn't matter who did it to me,
but sometimes I just can't let it go.
>>Ms. Matei: Now that you've heard a couple of different analysis-es, interpretations
of different quotes. Okay. You are going to write to me what do you think the theme of
the story is, so the central idea.
What do you think the problem is? We know it has to do with trust, betrayal, and taking
a bullet for someone. Okay.
And then after, [bell rings] so this will be for homework.
Just write a summary of what you think the whole story is going to be about. Okay.
You may clean up. Thank you.
Students enjoy this pre-reading activity because it gives them a voice.
A lot of students like to give their opinion and I feel that as teachers we don't
do that enough. And this just allows us to activate their prior knowledge,
experiences in their lives that they can share with other people
and most students love to share about themselves.
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