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!