Hello!

This is a Table Top Twitter/ Silent Discussion station rotation activity that will aide your students in analyzing Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum!

To set up, you’ll need to copy the large questions and paste them onto larger poster size paper. (I like to use those giant Post-Its so I can hang them up afterwards!) I have included 8 questions so that you can place one at each table or station. If 8 stations are too many for your classroom, you can pick and choose which ones you want to use. You will also need to project the 2 pages of directions onto your Smart Board, or make a copy of them and put them where students can see. My students like to write their comments in colored ink, marker, or colored pencil in order to make it a little more fun.

To begin this Tabletop Twitter discussion, students will first read the question. Then they will scan the answers their classmates have already written, and write an answer that hasn’t already been said. They may put a hashtag comment for fun after their comment. As the activity goes on, they have the option of responding to a comment that a classmate has already made instead. After a set time you deem appropriate for your students has elapsed, direct them to silently move to the next station.

After visiting all of the stations, students will return to the station where they began. You’ll put the second page of directions on the Smart Board, which instructs them to read all the comments and come to a consensus about which comment was the most thought-provoking or insightful, and which hashtag was the cleverest. Afterwards, they will report out to the rest of the class, and/or do a gallery walk to the other tables to see the final products!

This activity requires the students to rotate to 6 stations in order to annotate their copy of "The Tell-Tale Heart". The first pg in the document is directions for you to project on the smartboard so the students can read the directions. The next 6 pages are the copies you will put at each station. Each one lists a type of figurative language the students need to look for, a definition of the figurative language, an example from literature, and an explanation of the example. If the students can't find examples in the text based on that information, there is a hint at the bottom of each station's directions that gives them specific stanzas to look in. The last page of the document is a key for the teacher to use to guide the students as they work. The figurative language stations include simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification, hyperbole, and imagery. Answer key included!!!

This activity requires the students to rotate to 6 stations in order to annotate their copy of "The Raven". The first page in the document is directions for you to project on the smartboard so the students can read the directions. The next 6 pages are the copies you will put at each station. Each one lists a type of figurative language the students need to look for, a definition of the figurative language, an example from literature, and an explanation of the example. If the students can't find examples in the text based on that information, there is a hint at the bottom of each station's directions that gives them specific stanzas to look in. The last page of the document is a key for the teacher to use to guide the students as they work. The figurative language stations include simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification, alliteration, and imagery. Answer key included!!!

This product will allow your students to easily understand and analyze Edgar Allan Poe's "Alone" by breaking it down line-by-line!

Instruct your students to fold the paper in half the long way, and to cut along the black lines into the midline of the paper. They will end up with a long, skinny version of the poem on the front of the flaps, and analysis question inside.

As they read the poem, they will peel back the flap to reveal questions that ask them to analyze the poem for theme, imagery, metaphor, syntax, characterization, mood, and symbolism. I've included a suggested answer key for your convenience! Please ask if you have any questions!

This product will allow your students to easily understand and analyze Edgar Allan Poe's "A Dream Within a Dream" by breaking it down line-by-line!

Instruct your students to fold the paper in half the long way, and to cut along the black lines into the midline of the paper. They will end up with a long, skinny version of the poem on the front of the flaps, and analysis question inside.

As they read the poem, they will peel back the flap to reveal questions that ask them to analyze the poem for gist, theme, setting, repetition, metaphor, author's purpose, and syntax. A suggested answer key is included for your reference. Please ask if you have any questions!