YAToczekLens2

David Toczek YA Lit Michael Sherry 17 February 2011 LENS 2- Transmedial Walter Dean Myers’ creatively constructed novel // Monster // would be ideal for a transmedial form of classroom instruction. The novel itself reads like a movie script so an obvious technique would be to actually have students act out certain scenes, both ones they find important as well as ones the teacher deems worthy of being discussed in class. Students could even be put into groups and pick their favorite scenes to act out for the rest of the class. By acting out certain scenes students would gain even further experience with the text and it would allow them to step into the shoes of the characters themselves. This creates a closer connection with the text when emotions and thoughts of the characters are considered as well. It also opens the doors for more thorough understanding of the text as a whole, understanding the important parts and reacting to them. Sometimes it is easier for students to understand a text when someone reads it to them or they see part of the narrative actually occur. Students would then have to explain why they chose the scene, why it is significant, and what they felt the characters were feeling at that point in the story. Another idea would be to have students write a small version of their own movie scene to produce an alternate ending or an extra scene to add to Steve’s own script. The student can explain why they decided to write their scene and what significance it would hold in regards to the overall themes and lessons in the book. Students could even make a short movie if they would so choose reflecting on Steve’s experience or a personal time where they themself felt like Steve. Once again, students will become closer with the text through gaining a greater understanding of the character they are sympathizing with in the story. There would be challenges to this strategy though. Like any non-traditional teaching method, trying to get the students to take it seriously will be the biggest challenge. Many students just want to goof around when they are out of their seats not being preached at, but I think this activity is interactive enough to keep students engaged. I think another challenge of this activity would be making the right selection of scenes and/or journal passages to use as reflection in class. The scenes selected should arouse a number of conversation-sparking themes and questions.