Teach Secondary - Issue 14.6

• YELLOW– Pick the word from the adjacent quotation that does most to highlight the linking theme Any hexagons left without a colour can be used to show links between different overarching themes. The task can be made more challenging by placing themes next to each other, so that students must think carefully as to which quotations can be linked to more than one theme. This resource is a great way of challenging students to think about the how the play’s different themes can overlap. Students are likely to make multiple mistakes at first, which is why I’d encourage them to fill out their honeycomb structures in pencil to start with. Learn, revise, present The resources I’ve provided rely heavily on students’ reading and writing skills, but we can also explore and encourage their oracy skills with a theme-based analysis that takes the form of a presentation. Working in groups of four, the students assume the roles of ‘researcher’, ‘quotation finder’, ‘analyser’ and ‘magnifier’. Each group is given a specific theme, and the members carry out the following assigned tasks: • Researcher: Suggests a number of key ideas for how the group can present their theme, drawing on the play itself and any other resources (teacher handouts, visual imagery, videos, etc.) • Quotation finder: Locates the best quotations within the play that can support the group’s theme, with the aim of helping the group flourish in their presentation • Analyser: Analyses the quotations found and checks them for specific links to the group’s theme. • Magnifier: Picks out keywords from the quotations found to highlight important ideas linking to the group’s given theme Once the groups have completed their tasks, they can deliver their presentations by following a set structure and format: 1. Theme overview 2. Quotation 1 – how does this quotation link to the theme? At what point in the play is the quotation presented, and what does it tell the audience? 3. Characters that link to the theme 4. Quotation 2 – how does this quotation link to the theme? At what point in the play is the quotation presented, and what does it tell the audience? 5. Events that link back to the theme 6. Quotation 3 – how does this quotation link to the theme? At what point in the play is the quotation presented, and what does it tell the audience? 7. Concluding thoughts If you want to challenge students further in this activity, you could get them to ‘zoom in’ on certain keywords, based on the quotations they’ve chosen, and show how these words reinforce the theme. They could also outline the messages and ideas audience members should take away with them, having seen the theme being presented in this particular way. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Meera Chudasama is an English, media and film studies teacher with a passion for design and research, and has developed course content for the Charted College of Teaching FREE RESOURCES ‘Web of themes’ chart bit.ly/ts146-M1 Thematic analysis table bit.ly/ts146-M2 ‘Theme grid’ template bit.ly/ts146-M3 ‘Exploring themes’ honeycomb structure bit.ly/ts146-M4 71 teachwire.net/secondary E N G L I S H