Flipped Learning for Amy Tan's "Rules of the Game"

I have prepared four You Tube Videos to help me teach Amy Tan's "Rules of the Game". I will share the videos on this post because there might be colleagues who might want to use them, too. Colleagues might even suggest additions and / or improvements, which will be most welcome.

My idea is to do the following:

Step I. I will have different groups of pupils use " Collabrify"  (if that fails, then a simple Google Doc) to connect to the story before they read it. This will be done at home BEFORE class (Flipped Learning)

Some will work on a document to carry out the following task: 

 Read the article “Difference Between American & Chinese Culture” ( https://goo.gl/1bSZ6s ) and find out the attitude of Chinese and Americans to the following values:  

1. Family

2. Harmony

3. Humility


4. Obedience

Note; There is more - Click here to see the template I will use (I hope you can, at least)

Others will do some vocabulary work  - Click here to see the template I will use (I hope you can, at least)

Other pupils will do the  Pre -Reading activity about Chess and Life  - Click here to see the template I will use (I hope you can, at least)

I also hope to have a group of pupils fill in the following KWL chart - - Click here to see the template I will use (I hope you can, at least)

Step 2: Pupils will present what they have done in class (This means that this part of the lesson will not be teacher centered, but pupil-centered. I hope the presenters are the ones who teach.

Step 3: I hope steps 1 and 2 leave me time to introduce the story, having time for discussion.

Step 4: Active reading of Part 1 of the story ( Flipped Learning)

Step 5: In class: Follow up to step 4 (Instead of reading the story in class, I hope to  discuss (and have pupils discuss) different aspects of the story. There will be work using the text book (We use ECB Literature for 5 points Option 1). I guess HOTs will come in here.

The following steps follow the pattern set on Steps 4 and 5




The method I have decided to use for teaching the story is "Flipped Learning" (Click here for more on this method). My idea is to have pupils actively learn outside of class and before we take up the story.

I will use pre-reading activities that build the background. You can learn about them on this post: "Using Collabrify to teach "Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan (click here to reach that post on this blog). You can learn more about "Collabrify" on this other post I have published (Click here)

The following is a link to a video that provides some background to this post.

Following are the four videos that I hope to be using with my pupils. I have created one for each part of the stroy. The videos include a very short introduction, a reading of each part of the story by Markette Pierce, some active reading questions for pupils, and a word concerning the follow --up activity for each video.

Hopefully, my attempt to apply "Flipped Learning" for teaching "Rules of the Game" might free me from having to read the entire text in class, and give me lesson time to deal with so many other things: getting pupils to actively (the following is not necessarily in the order they might occur)  analyse and interpret the story, learn and use vocabulary,, deal with LOTs and Hots, write, speak , etc.  I guess it will be better than what I might have done had I not invested time on creating the videos. Time will tell. 











Useful resources:
1. Link to to the short story "Rules of the Game" that has been used on the videos
2.  Markette Pierce reads "Rules of the Game" ("Students in English 12 who need to listen to "Rules of the Game" to answer active reading questions can do so here." - MORE THAN 38.000 views!)
3. Flipped learning 
4. Plot Elements (video)
5. enotes "Rules of the Game"
6. "Rules of the Game" Worksheets (written by / uploaded by somebody whose name I do not know)

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Link to the Ted Ed lesson

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