To launch an investigation of symbolism, we played abstract concept dictionary in class on Monday.
Students were broken into small groups and given words like “Loyalty,” “Power,” and “Justice,” and had to find a way to convey these concepts to their peers through drawings.
In addition to a great team-building exercise, this allowed students to start thinking about how an image or event could represent something else. Quickly guessed drawings included a knight for “Honor,” a gavel for “Justice,” and a large building surrounded by money for “Power.”
After our game, we discussed the concept of symbolism in literature, and defined symbols as “objects, actions, places, words, colors, and sometimes characters that signify something different from their original meaning”.
Students read Ken Liu’s short story “The Paper Menagerie” and gathered evidence of symbolism in the story. On Wednesday they met in groups to discuss the evidence they gathered, and reflect on how the symbols they found connected to the theme of the story. We’ll continue this conversation tomorrow as a full class, and can’t wait to hear their insights!
This activity will help students design their book cover for their book group books, as they think about how to utilize symbols themselves to convey meaning to an audience.
Room 3 Blog 