Mrs. Bias's 12th grade English class has just recently completed a set of new projects. The projects were about the poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The project began on the 10th of October and ended on the 19th of October. Each student worked on their projects in the school's computer lab, during class, and at home, as needed.
A total of 15 students completed the projects. They had three options for what to do: A logbook (like a captain's log of each day), a story board (which included pictures with appropriate quotes), or a newspaper report (which has to be in the same style as a newspaper). Each of these options had to reflect the events of the narrative poem in chronological order (the order in which events happened).
Mrs. Bias finds projects such as these to be invaluable, as they are an alternative way to assess student understanding. She feels as if this particular project assignment was successful in helping students to grasp the difficult language of the narrative poem and to have a better understanding of the story line. She feels that it also lead to her students thinking on a higher level because the assignment required students to be creative. Mrs. Bias said that SOL testing tends to push away these invaluable assignments, due to strict timelines. Ultimately, these types of assignments can vastly help a student's understanding of the particular subject.
Written By: Dustin Pilkenton
