Emily Hales, BYU, 2009 4 Corners Pre-Reading Strategy for A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry Random House Edition (New York: 1959) Context This strategy is to be used before you begin reading the play. It will work best because it presents various issues that are brought up in the text that students may react to or have opinions on. Purpose This activity will encourage independent thinking and the formation of opinions. It will also increase the understanding of different viewpoints, which will be important throughout the play, as students try to understand the actions of each character. This strategy also helps students develop their ideas and be able to communicate them either through group discussion or writing. Directions Step 1: Set up the corners —Four different signs (100% agree, Pretty Much Agree, Pretty Much Disagree, 100% Disagree) are placed around the room. One in each of the four corners Step 2: Engage students through thinking and writing and moving —Post 8 statements on board for students to see: People should do whatever it takes to accomplish their dreams Life is fair Inherited money should be equally split between family members Finances should be left to the man of the house Racism stopped with the Civil War People learn from their mistakes How you act in a crisis shows who you really are Love conquers all Ask them to fill out worksheet, organizing each statement into the four categories (There must be 2 per category) and write a brief reasoning for their choices. Read the first statement out loud and direct students to move to the corner they selected.
Transcript
Emily Hales, BYU, 2009
4 Corners Pre-Reading Strategy for A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Random House Edition (New York: 1959)
Context This strategy is to be used before you begin reading the play. It will work best because it presents various issues that are brought up in the text that students may react to or have opinions on. Purpose This activity will encourage independent thinking and the formation of opinions. It will also increase the understanding of different viewpoints, which will be important throughout the play, as students try to understand the actions of each character. This strategy also helps students develop their ideas and be able to communicate them either through group discussion or writing. Directions Step 1: Set up the corners—Four different signs (100% agree, Pretty Much Agree, Pretty Much Disagree, 100% Disagree) are placed around the room. One in each of the four corners Step 2: Engage students through thinking and writing and moving—Post 8 statements on board for students to see:
People should do whatever it takes to accomplish their dreams Life is fair Inherited money should be equally split between family members Finances should be left to the man of the house Racism stopped with the Civil War
People learn from their mistakes How you act in a crisis shows who you really are Love conquers all
Ask them to fill out worksheet, organizing each statement into the four categories (There must be 2 per category) and write a brief reasoning for their choices. Read the first statement out loud and direct students to move to the corner they selected.
Emily Hales, BYU, 2009
Step 3: Students discuss in pairs—Ask students to look around at the different choice people made. Within their own corner, have students pair with someone else and share they’re reasons for being there. (To extend the activity have pairs combine to make groups of four and discuss again) You can have students write down each other’s Step 4: Class Discussion—To introduce to class discussion, call on one person from each corner to share their reason for choosing the answer they did. Tell students to listen to one another, they may move corners as their opinion changes. You can ask students to write down other people’s opinions as well to encourage attentiveness. An alternative is after pairing with someone in their corner, select one student from each corner to create a new group. These students then compare and contrast their various viewpoints and/or rationale. Step 5: Repeat—Go through the same movement, pairing, and discussion for the rest of the questions, or however many time allows. Step 6: Tie it to the unit—Explain to students that these types of issues, questions and ideas will all be expressed in A Raisin in the Sun and that the class will study how the characters react to their situation and what they think of each of these statements. A Note to Teachers
• The teacher must introduce and describe each corner, and they must be visible and easily accessible.
• Make sure students do the worksheet first, so that they identify individually what corner they will choose. This will help to avoid peer influence on their selection.
• Give students enough time to think about and make their decision on the worksheet. Overall this strategy will take approximately 45 minutes, depending on how many questions you go through.
Assessment This strategy allows students to begin making text-self connections before they begin reading the text or are introduced to a concept. It can also be used again during reading/writing to track changes in students perspectives. Writing and discussion stimulate review of student’s previous knowledge and allow them to expand these concepts. This pre-reading also allows students to bring in their own unique experiences and opinions in which can form a new view to the text.
Emily Hales, BYU, 2009
Name:_________________
4-Corners
Directions: Read the statements as they are presented to you and assign each one to a category below: 100% agree, Pretty Much Agree, Pretty Much Disagree, 100% Disagree. Notice that you may only use each category twice. After assigning a category to the statement, in one phrase or sentence write your reason for you opinion and then name two experiences from your life that show you what you’ve written is true.
