High School Learning with Apple #9: One Word Theme

Megan Trahan (@Dragon_Coach) and I met at ADE Institute in 2023 and have been working on compiling lessons for high school teachers using MacBooks or iPads in class. Megan uses MacBooks, and I use iPads, and in our collaboration, we realized that small adjustments can be made to apply the lessons in each environment. Over the next 30 days, we’ll post one lesson idea each day with tips on how to make it work in either environment you are teaching in. 

Lesson Idea #9: One Word Theme

For some students, writing can be a challenge. So asking them to write a multi-paragraph essay about the theme of a book can be a daunting task. To support their thinking and writing process, this activity could be used after any book that is read.

In this activity, students have just finished reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Rather than jumping right into an essay analyzing the themes of the book, students are first asked to create. They start by thinking of just one word that describes a theme of the book. Then they use iPad to go capture images of the letters in their word.

After capturing images, students use Keynote to create a collage showing their word. In addition to their images, they must also add a short paragraph explaining how that word relates to a theme in the book.

After each student had created their collage and written an explanation, they shared their work with one another. This facilitated a comparison of themes, provided additional supporting reasons for the themes their peers had identified, and allowed them to further develop their ideas before embarking on the full essay writing process.

If using MacBook, students could use Keynote to create the letters of their word or use royalty free images found online.

📣 What creative projects could your students engage in to stimulate deeper thinking?