Playing to Deepen Understanding of How Texts Work

As a good teacher, we want kids to learn to think for themselves. We want them to consider the points of view of the characters and authors and invite them to consider their own prejudices. Teachers work on so many different things, but according to Wilhelm (2002), "transformations in understanding is perhaps an educator's most important work" (p.137). When looking at a classroom example from Keene & Zimmerman, shared in Mosaic of Thought, these teachers focused on helping students move from simply reading the words of a text to actually understanding the root of it. This is not an easy task. After reading Wilhelm's book, I strongly believe that social interaction is necessary for true comprehension. In the real world, no one seems to completely understand something without working it out through discussion with someone else. Even as educators we are encouraged to not "go it alone", but to collaborate with colleagues on everything. It is disappointing when we see silent classrooms where students are expected to move a text from the surface level to deep understanding all alone. Wilhelm puts it well, in saying, "reading is a powerful way of expanding and transforming our understanding, but only if we have the willingness and the tools to see other points of view, reconceptualize our understandings, and change our thinking and behavior. Enactments can make that happen" (p.137). Teachers need the tools to guide students through this process and that is what Wilhelm is all about.

To further engage with a text, Wilhelm gives a variety of examples that will help students figure out and represent the literal and implied meaning of a text, as well as, intervene, reframe, recast, change and probe a text. These activities are so engaging that in Wilhelm's experience the students eventually run the lessons on their own, eager to engage in enactment strategies to understand any text. The examples that I find most interesting are those that involved using enactments in content areas, such as math and science. These subjects are not my personal strong suit because they always lack the creativity that I strive for in learning. Therefore, as a teacher, I shy away from teaching these subjects, as well. Wilhelm gives an example of using Mental Modeling in Action for teaching chemical reactions (p.142). As I read this example, a smile came to my face. If I could use this type of creative thinking it would motivate me as a teacher and my students. It was as simple as using an analogy to compare chemical reactions to the reaction people have to each other at a dance party. The example was genius!

Visualizing Meaning Through Image and Gesture

Every summer at Young Life camps across the country, a large group of high school and college students, along with adults, work together to create a frozen scene. As campers emerge from their cabins, they witness a still life portrait of the old west until the sound of a horn sends the characters into motion. After 90 seconds of motion, the characters are once again frozen in place. Campers are encouraged to walk amongst the scene and are then sent back to their cabins to put on their own costumes. This frozen depiction of a scene is called tableau; meaning visual presentation in French (Wilhelm, 2002, p.116).

Wilhelm uses tableau as a strategy for helping students visualize, perceive and consider after reading a text (p.119). The coolest part about using tableau to engage with a text is that it uses visual and kinesthetic intelligences that are normally not used in a classroom. From my years of teaching and from having my own son, I have learned how much the use of kinesthetic experiences is important for boys. Students understand a text at a whole new level when they are allowed to live through it. The most interesting part is how tableau can be used with non-fiction in all content area classrooms.

Just like all the enactments in Wilhelm's book, their are many different variations of tableau that allow students (and teachers) to never get bored. Wilhelm did state that with all the different enactment options it is important not to continue to use one after the students have mastered it, but to continue to challenge them with continued new ones.

Deepening Understanding of Characters and Concepts

In order to deepen understanding while reading, Wilhelm uses a series of enactments called hotseat. Hotseat is described as, "enactment techniques that intensifies role playing by putting students on the spot so they can be addressed, advised, questioned, and so forth. This strategy invites students to hone their ability to analyze characters, infer, elaborate, and think on their feet" (p.82). There was so many variations to the hotseat activity that changes things up and keeps students interested. They can interact as pairs or in a large group. They take turns asking questions and being in the hot seat. All students are engaged and involved the whole time. Before entering into a hotseat activity it is obvious that time and effort have been taken in the classroom to build relationships among the students and the teacher to ensure that kids feel safe enough to improvise. Wilhelm also focuses on stopping to reflect with students often throughout the activity (p. 83).

Hotseating provides an opportunity for students to dig deep and use higher level thinking skills. As one teacher puts it, "I want no 'right there' questions". Teachers shouldn't simply expect students to restate the literal understanding of the text, but to dig deep into the characters. Not only are students, role playing other characters while doing hot seat, but they are also relating it back to their own lives. While role playing they have the freedom to use their own life and experiences to improvise and respond for the character. The specifically like the idea of having another student being the inner voice for the character in the hot seat. This leads to a great class discussion about why we don't always say what we are actually thinking.

A final variation of the hot seat is called personification. This activity is different and interesting for all content areas. In personification, students play the role of concepts or ideas (freedom, force, electricity) instead of characters. This lends itself to being a very interactive way to learn in all content areas.

Action Strategies for Deepening Comprehension

Action Strategies for Deepening Comprehension: Role Plays, Text-Structure, Tableaux, Talking Statues, and Other Enactment Techniques That Engage Students With Text
By Jeffery D. Wilhelm Ph.D.

After reading only the introduction to this book, I am excited. The strategies used by the teachers in this book remind me so much of my classroom. It has been two years since I last taught in a classroom and I forgot how much I loved it. I am very glad that I chose to read this book, because the information in it will be useful for my career in the future. I can also see myself using it with the youth group I work with, and in teaching my own children.

The introduction discusses the issue of motivating readers by using enactment strategies. While teaching gifted students at the middle school level, I found myself using many of these strategies. While in my undergrad, I tried to use every creative technique that I heard of to motivate my at-risk students. Gifted kids don't seem to fit the mold of at-risk students, but research (and my own experience) shows that indeed they are.

Enactments help students, especially those at-risk, to "imagine to learn". Here are the benefits of using enactments strategies:
-make reading a transformative experience
-can be used flexibly
-assist students before, during and after reading
-harness the power of the social nature of learning
-invite students to think and imagine
-are motivating
-help students achieve a state of "flow"

The best part of enactments is that they are active and fun, therefore, students don't even realize they are learning. According to the classroom instruction of Keene & Zimmerman, literacy means not just reading at the surface level, but true comprehension and the ability to determine importance. Therefore, Wilhelm's book on enactments is written to help teachers guide students to comprehension. It is a very hands on approach to learning. James Gee, in his Discourse theory, also agrees that literacy can not be learned explicitly, but only acquired from apprentice situations. Wilhelm strives to give students real life situations to work with in his classroom through his various enactment strategies.