Second Chance
Preparation
Select text. Read the text. Create or select a cause-and-effect graphic organizer.
Activity Steps
1
Introduce Second Chance activity.
You can initially model this activity, as you would with any new or complex task. Think aloud about a text as you read, and complete a chart for or with the students. Consider generating or providing a list of the types of reactions that a person may have to information or statements in a text, perhaps in the form of sentence stems.
2
Model cause and effect graphic organizer.
Review with students the difference between a cause and an effect. Ask for student volunteers to share a few examples of cause and effect from their own lives, readings, or history. Model filling in the graphic organizer using the student examples and identify causes and effects.
3
Stress to students that they do not necessarily need to complete cause and then effect, but sometimes it may be easier to think about the effect first and trace back what may have been the cause.
4
Students complete cause and effect graphic organizer
Students will work independently or in pairs to find examples of cause and effect from the text. Teacher walks around and coaches students to ensure they are identifying key events in the text.
5
Share out of cause and effect graphic organizers.
Review the cause-and-effect graphic organizer as a whole class or in small groups. The purpose of the review is to make sure that students are able to distinguish between cause and effect.
6
Model character manipulation.
Model for students the manipulation of one character. Select a character from the text and change one behavior or decision they made in the text. Explore how that change would impact the character, other characters, or events from the story. What would be the effect of the change?
7
Students manipulate character actions and explore possible effects.
Students will change an action of a character and explore how that change may affect the character, other characters, or events. What would be the effect of this change? How might the character’s world be different because of this change? This can be done by writing a paragraph or larger essay, on a graphic organizer, or orally.
8
Reflection on text
If using a fiction text, students can reflect as the author and think about the author’s decisions to have the character act in a certain way as opposed to the alternate action. Questions for reflection: · Why do you think the author chose to have the character make this choice as opposed to another choice? · How might this activity be useful for authors when writing a story? If using a non-fiction text, students can reflect on the actions of a person in the text. Questions for reflection: · If reading about a president, why do you think the president made that choice in the situation rather than one of the other possibilities? · How might the world be different if his or her choice were different?
