The Literary Revolver

“The Literary Revolver” (originally published here on GettingSmart on 10.11.2014) Frankly speaking, interactive learning structures work. By merging standards-based prompts, random selectivity, a backchannel, improvisational acting, and overall creativity, Studio 113’s fairly new "Literary Revolver" places students on an engaging, challenging, and fun path to lesson mastery. Much like the “Voting Chips” and “Revolutionary Battle” structures that gamify lesson plans with out-of-the-box concepts, the “Literary Revolver” also injects a jolt of energy to any learning activity by gently tap-dancing on students’ nerves while maintaining a balance between unpredictability and rock-solid structure.

The Foundation

As with any good lesson plan, the standards and content come first. Then the question is: “How shall we explore and struggle with this lesson in a manner that promotes interest, forward thinking, and creativity?” Sometimes the answer provides our classroom learning community with a PBL solution, a personalized path, a somewhat traditional mode, or an interactive learning structure. To avoid any collegial accusations of hypocrisy, take a look below at the foundational prompts our students in Studio 113’s American Literature classes answered while participating in the “Literary Revolver.” In case you are wondering, this three-day lesson plan covered “Gate C22” from Ellen Bass, “Huswifery” from Edward Taylor, and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet.

The Video Tutorials

Let’s be honest. Sometimes we are just like our students. When words do nothing but muddy or convolute our attempts to understand, video tutorials work perfectly. Here are two fairly precise explanations of the Literary Revolver and a graphic of the structure.

[youtube http://youtu.be/pnv9T060cQE]

[youtube http://youtu.be/FkoBRI4J-Vs]

Classroom Examples

More in-action video examples of the “Literary Revolver” are in the works. Take a look at a few recent clips and some older clips from Studio 113. Sure. The examples here are from a Language Arts classroom. But can’t you imagine a “Math Revolver,” a “Science Revolver,” a "History Revolver," and a “_____________ Revolver”? Hey, you never know how cool it can be…unless you take a shot.