Don't You Love a Story With a Great Twist?

Don’t you love a story with a good twist? The answer is yes! I thought my students would think the same thing too. Thus, I shared the short story: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson with them. I told them this story was guaranteed to blow their minds! We began by talking about the lottery and what we think of when we hear the word: lottery. As a teacher assessing prior knowledge is important, but getting your students interested in the text is equally important! The students said things like money, tickets, the balls drop, etc. Thus, we started reading the text, but as we read on, I began to ask them questions to clarify their understanding. The tension was building; the questions increased. “Who is going to win?” they asked.


I hate to spoil it for you, but in the end, the lottery is actual a bad thing. One person in the town of 300 will be stoned to death on June 27th every year. They find out that this has been a tradition for more than 70 years; however, not all towns follow this ritual anymore. These facts evoked a tremendous amount of discussion about cultures that still practice stoning, to follow or not to follow tradition, and should one do something if it goes against human rights. They were intrigued and engaged!


I decided to take it deeper and make it more relevant; I came up with the authentic assessment of a trial in North Port. I told the students that Tessie Hutchinson was murdered in North Port yesterday. Mr. Summers was being tried for murder; is he innocent or guilty? They read their text again and took notes on a t-chart labeling it innocent and the other guilty. They then formed an opinion about both sides. I put the kids into groups. They chose a leader, and the leader picked the side they would defend. In my Reading classes, we participated in a Kagan logic lineup. They defended one side, but I didn’t stop there. I made them argue the other side and take an opposing view point. I taught them to formulate their opinions, as well as how to debate them.

I took this a step further in my English classes; I put them in two teams. Lawyers and paralegals met to come up with a defense for each side. The jury, my absent students, heard the case and closing arguments; they deliberated and delivered the verdict. We learned about the legal system too. I was excited that one of my students said the activity was relevant. Also, several students said they had fun. Yes, this made me happy, but what really made me swell with joy was all the learning that took place. Analysis, critical thinking, and debating was the application that occurred as a result of our text, and they enjoyed it. Folks this took some work on my part putting it all together, but that is the life of a teacher who wants to engage their students and have them learn something, as well as walk away with something that was memorable and relevant. I am sharing this story as one of the solutions to the demands of high stakes testing, which requires students to use critical thinking skills. So, they learned to go beyond the text and think critically; I can pat myself on the back because I took them from the knowledge and understanding level to the highest level of Blooms Taxonomy: evaluation. They reached, they succeeded, and they loved it!