Cross-Impact Matrix

This was a challenging and highly engaging activity that allowed students to analyze and interpret information from two texts we’ve read this year: the Iliad and Titus Andronicus. It also incorporated technology into the classroom, giving students a chance to collaborate quickly and silently without having to move around or disturb other groups. This activity promoted a growth mindset because it encouraged students to collaborate with one another and look beyond surface data/ “right answers” to make new connections not discussed in class yet.

I first shared a Google Doc containing the CIM document with each one of the groups. Students had to fill in information about their topic (e.g. Perseverance, Cycle of Rage, etc.) for each one of the characters listed. At the end of the 15 minute timeframe, I quickly compiled the data to one Google Doc and re-shared that document with the entire class. Each group then led a discussion of the characters and how they fit into their given topic. Students were excited to find that many of the characters struggled with the same things; for example, both Titus and Achilles wrought destruction on others to avenge their respective loved ones.

This activity was effective on several different levels. It encouraged students to delve into deeper analysis about characters discussed in the first half of the year. It also challenged them to synthesize the character traits of individuals from the two texts, drawing new conclusions about their similarities and differences. Students had to work together to solve problems, often discussing ideas and questions through the “Google Chat” function. Finally, they were highly engaged using Chromebooks, which allowed them to work quickly and effectively.

Period 5 Example

Taking on a Challenge / Learning from Mistakes / Perseverance / Cycle of Rage / Unconditional Love
Agamemnon / - Has to lead his people in a war against the trojans
-Isn’t the most well liked as a leader
-Gods influencing Agamemnon
-Eventually did very well in battle, but was later injured
-Other characters such as Odysseus are more influential to his people. / -Agamemnon pressures his soldiers to fight against Troy, but they are disheartened and want to leave due to being defeated so many times while the Trojans have the upper hand-but, when Odysseus encourages the Achaeans to stay and fight, Agamemnon realizes he may have to change his tactics for controlling the Achaean army
-Agamemnon angers Achilles by taking Briseis and this causes Achilles to not fight, which leads to the Trojans being able to push the Greeks back to their ships. Agamemnon realizes that he needs Achilles to win the war. / Continues to fight despite Achilles absence
Tries several times to apologize to Achilles and win him back. / Cycle of rage comes from Achilles making him give up Chryseis, and then refusing to fight for his army when he takes Briseis from Achilles / He loves Greece, which is why he is so persistent in trying to persuade Achilles to rejoin the war.
He is very prideful and thus he loves himself. This is evident when he steals Achilles’ spearbride and then has a feud with Achilles.
Saturninus / -Rouses an army in order to take on the challenge of becoming emperor
-Won the election between him, Bassianus and Titus / -He made the mistake of choosing Lavinia as his bride and he felt dishonored, so he learned to make a more strategic choice based on revenge.
-His choice to be emperor led to the death of his brother. After that, he had to be more careful in his actions or just let others take charge.
-He abandoned Bassianus and the rest of his family when he became emperor and married Tamora, which directly resulted in the death and mutilation of his own family, but he continued to stand by Tamora and her sons, so he did not learn from his mistakes. / Pushes for his spot at the throne despite the people wanting Titus
Continues to rule Rome despite Andronici/Goths bloodbath. / Saturninus is always pushing to make the Andronici suffer because he believes that they are trying to slight him, even though they were not. / Saturninus loves his brother Bassianus, and sentences two of Titus’s sons to death in a rage for the “murder” of Bassianus.
Saturninus loves power, shown by his insistence on becoming emperor.
Tamora / -Was able to get in with royalty in Rome despite being a goth
-Took on the challenge of acting as “Revenge” to get revenge on Titus for her son / -all of her children are killed because she tries to mess with Titus and Rome, thus teaching her that she cannot control everything-however it was too late and she dies as well
-she tries to deceive Titus and take advantage of his “going crazy” but then Titus kills and feeds her her own sons / Continues to try to kill off Titus’ family despite the army of Goths
Continues to try to hurt Rome despite the loss of her first-born son / To respond to Titus killing her son, Tamora went into a cycle of rage against the Andronicus family. / Tamora loved her sons, especially her first born son who was killed by Titus. She then vowed to get revenge on Titus. She does very risky things just for her sons who she loves.
Tamora loves Aaron, and goes along with a lot of his evil schemes out of love.

Concept Mapping

I was excited to do this activity with my 10 Intensified students for two reasons: one, I felt it would be helpful discussing some of the main themes and motifs of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and two, I, myself, struggled with the activity during Mindset Session #4! I felt that the concept mapping was both challenging and relevant to the curriculum, and helped students stretch their minds a bit.

The opening fifteen minutes modeled the activity Anne Reed did with us in the PD meeting. I put six images on the Smart Board (a tree, the brain, the Solar System, a weighing contraption, a man speaking to a jury, and a school bus) and asked students to individually write about pairings and groups of three that they found to be connected. Then, students were asked to come up with a one-word concept to describe what all six of the images had in common. After working independently, the students shared their findings with a partner; we then had a large-group discussion about their thoughts.

I heard many comments that resembled my own thoughts when I went through this activity. “What does a school bus have to do with anything?” remarked one student. “I don’t get the Solar System!” lamented another. We cautioned students to avoid a fixed mindset by remembering that there isn’t necessarily a “right” or “wrong” answer. Eventually, after a great deal of discussion and deliberation, one student noticed that each of the images was part of a system, which was the broader concept we were aiming for.

Students were excited to create their own concept maps for a given theme or motif from Alice; they were split into pairs and given a Chromebook to work with. Many struggled after the initial two or three pictures; it was easy for them to come up with a few images, but quite difficult to be creative with the remaining ones. We once again encouraged them to avoid the “fixed” mantra of, “I can’t think of anything else!”, and instead, brainstorm together, avoid using Google as a crutch, and think outside the proverbial box. Upon completion, students in the class had to guess one another’s concepts (some of which were really difficult!) and connect those concepts to our study of Alice.

This is an activity I will DEFINITELY use again; it was so effective in getting students to struggle in a good way, and share different ideas about how to solve problems. Not only were students engaged in the process of “trial and error,” but they were also encouraged to talk with one another and work creatively together. It also ended with a fantastic discussion of our text, which was quite engaging for all the students.