Earlier this week, we introduced you to an awesome teacher who’s using Beautiful Creatures in her classroom. In fact, here’s a photo of her — Adrien Alsobrook — with authors Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl:
Today, Adrien was kind enough to share some of her classroom tools for teaching Beautiful Creatures and other YA books.
You can open her complete Alternative Assessment Choices for Contemporary Literature, but here’s a sampling of some of the assignments:
2. Create a Game – With a partner, create a game based on your selection. It can be a computer game, board game, card game, or any other kind you’d like, but actual passages from the selection should play a part in the action of the game. If you create a computer game, write a detailed description of how it will be played, with samples of the graphics. For other kinds of games, create actual boards, cards, and other playing pieces. Write out the rules to play the game.
3. Dramatic Interpretation – With a partner, plan and rehearse a dance or pantomime a scene from your selection.. Select appropriate music, lighting, and costumes for your presentation. Present your performance to the class.
4. Research – Research to learn more about the culture and historical background surrounding the time period of your selection. How did they live? How were they governed? What was their religion? What is considered appropriate behavior? What is considered taboo? What references to this information is included in the text of your selection? How does the author relate that information to the reader? How is this information pertinent to your understanding of this selection? Make an oral presentation of your findings. Try to relate the information you learn to specific parts of the selection.
6. Story Quilt – Make a “quilt” relating to the book and include quotations on each quilt square with a graphic.
24. Comic Strip – Use a situation in your book as a springboard to create a comic strip in which your characters have a dialogue with one another. Try to be as humorous or as satirical as possible. Be sure to illustrate your work and block it into frames.
25. Travel Brochure – As the author of your book, write a travel brochure for a scenic tour of the setting of your selection. Describe the sights the travelers would want to see and include photos or illustrations.
Can I just say how jealous I am of Adrien’s students? Is it completely nerdy of me to think that these assignments sound fun? Or maybe that’s just because Adrien is such a great teacher — she’s made homework fun! Either way, her Alternative Assessment Choices sound awesome!
Thanks to Adrien for sharing this info with us!
Novel Novice 
AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!!