Color, Symbol, Image

We used the CSI routine yesterday to discuss the main character of each of our Literature Circle books. As a Language Arts teacher, this routine appealed to me immediately at PZ because I could see how it would lead to a much more complex analysis of literary characters. Since we are reading four different works of historical fiction, I want the boys to understand enough about each other's characters to be able to make connections between texts. This routine definitely helped with that-- like I told the boys, at the end of Literature Circles, I want us to feel like all four of the characters: Ned, Joe, Joey, and Grandma Dowdel, are all sitting in the classroom with us. As we reviewed their responses, we were able to make connections between characters and also discuss differences (i.e.-- Grandma and Gabe seem very different because Grandma faces her fears head-on while is afraid of everything, even moving up to the 5th grade). At the beginning of the year, I got a lot of what I call "surface" responses with this routine (for example, a baseball for an image of a boy who plays baseball). Now that we've used the routine a good bit, their responses demonstrate an understanding of figurative language--- for example, I loved the example of an image of a car driving in the "slow lane" to represent a character who lives in the "slow lane of life." Another example was the color red to represent a character's "true heart, perseverance, and willingness to shed blood for his country."