[in Ideas Plus, Book 15. 1997. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, pp. 28-29.]

Reviewing a Novel through Collaborative Illustration

This activity takes about two days and works well as a test review, particularly at the middle school and junior high levels. Students appreciate the fact that it provides a break after reading a major work.
Materials needed are pencils, markers, colored pencils, or crayons, and large sheets of white paper (approximately 3ft. x 4ft.). Roll paper works best for this activity and can be cut to the desired size.

Divide the class into groups of four. Have group members list, on a blank sheet of paper, the six most important events in any given story. I use this at the end of reading Romeo and Juliet and The Crucible. When students have the six events listed, I ask them to divide the large sheet of paper into six equal squares and draw the events they have chosen in the six squares on their paper. Students are encouraged to discuss the events together and work out the way they will depict them. I encourage each one of the group members to be working at all times.

Some students may complain that they can't draw well enough or that there isn't enough room for everyone to be working at the same time. I just tell them that any style of sketching or diagramming is okay, and that they will need to cooperate to figure out a way to get it done. Students are encouraged to devise whatever system best works for their group, whether it's assigning squares to individuals, using an assembly-line system, or all tackling one square at a time and then moving on to the next. Often students spread themselves out on the floor or in the hallway to allow themselves more room to work.

At the end of the second day, with 10 minutes left of class, I have them present their six events to the rest of the class. Some events are the same across groups, but the drawings themselves are always unique and the oral presentations often emphasize events differently. I haven't ever added this twist, but I have thought about having the class vote on the one they like best and offering to keep it on the wall during the test.

I'd recommend not telling students that they will be drawing the six events while they are initially listing them on paper. That way students do not limit themselves by what they feel they can or cannot draw. An alternative to this method is to have students draw and then cut out the characters from large, colored roll paper and add details to each character as they read along. For example, in The Crucible, students might create a character cut-out of John Proctor and then add a symbol of the adultery commandment, or create a cut-out of Mary Warren and add a bird. In Romeo and Juliet, the students might add a ring and a dagger to Juliet as they read along or a vial of poison and a Bible to Friar Lawrence.

Each of these ideas will let students exercise their imagination while focusing their attention on the characters and events of the story or novel under discussion.

Kelly A. Wolslegel
Preble High School
Green Bay, Wisconsin