Class Collaborative Assignment - A Sample Task

10th Graders were given a character analysis exercise on Holden Caulfield from the novel "Catcher in the Rye". Instead of given them all individual assignments, they were given a class assignment. The class had to complete 5 separate tasks. The difference in the types of tasks was specifically chosen to try to catch the interest of each student. 

 One student was responsible for sending the completed assignment to the teacher by the given deadline but other than that the teacher gave no instruction on how the work should be divided or delegated. All five classes produced excellent work and students who normally struggle with homework or deadlines completed their parts for the class. Some classes even added extra to the assignment to more evenly share the workload. You can see the structure of the assignment below:

Holden Caulfield - A Class Character Analysis

 

As a class, complete the following tasks by the next lesson.

 

Task 1 - S.T.E.A.L

 

Complete the character analysis of Holden Caulfield using S.T.E.A.L as your framework.

 

S - Speech - How does the character speak? Does their tone affect the story?

T - Thoughts - What does the character think? What do we learn about them from their thoughts?

E - Effects - What is the character's effect on others? How do they interact with others?

A - Actions - What does the character do? How do they behave? What can we learn from their actions?

L - Looks - What does the character look like? What can we learn from how they present themselves to others?

 Note: This is a character analysis on a protagonist from a novel so I don’t expect a few sentences to cover it.

 Task 2 -  Playlist

 Create a playlist of 5 songs that you think the character would listen to if he were alive today. You can simply write the name of the songs and artists along with an explanation as to why you chose each song.

 Task 3 - Social Media

 Create a fake social media account for the main character. You do NOT need to actually open one, you can just create one using a template online or one you make yourselves. You may use twitter, facebook, instagram or whichever one you think would be best.

 Task 4 - Interview

One student will play the character being interviewed by someone. The interviewer will ask questions and the student must answer those questions in character. This may be recorded over zoom (approx 5 mins is enough). Also, gender is not important here.

 Task 5 - Diary

 Write a diary entry as the character as if he were living through a day in the life of a TED student at the moment.