Honeycomb Harvest - Collaborative Analysis of Text Structure (view)

Units included with this Open Author resource:

Rationale
Learning goals:
Students will understand how text structure affects meaning., Students will work in collaborative groups to consider a text from a variety of perspectives., Students will consider and understand the intentionality of authorial choices and their impact on meaning.
Keywords:
Collaboration, Manipulatives, Learning Strategy, Text Structure, Close Reading
Alignment:
VA.ELA.12.1.c, VA.ELA.12.4.b, VA.ELA.12.4.h
Sample Activity

Summary

This is an instructional strategy that has students work in small groups to construct a "honeycomb" that analyzes a text's structure. Students are given a set of ten honeycomb cards connected to their text and then must work together to assemble the honeycomb by ensuring that all connecting cards can be logically connected through careful analysis of the text. If they cannot successfully argue the connection between literary elements, they must reorganize the honeycomb until all the pieces work together seamlessly. This is a learning strategy that works well during a text unit (as opposed to before or after the unit) and is designed to help students understand the intentionality of a text's structure. It can be paired with any text, but I have provided a sample card set for "Frankenstein" and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" in this resource.