Some Whiffling and Burbling

Read the excerpt from Lewis Carroll’s poem and answer the questions below.

Jabberwocky

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
--from Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There(1872)

1)      What were the slithy toves doing in the introduction to this poem?  (1 point)

2)      Were the borogoves or the mome raths mimsy?  (1 point)

3)      The “father” in this poem warns his son against three creatures.  Name these creatures. (1 point for each creature.  Extra credit if you can identify what makes any of these creatures dangerous.)

4)      What did the protagonist do while beside the Tumtum tree? What did this prepare the hero to do later?  (1 points for each complete explanation.)

5)      What kind of sword did the hero carry? (1 point—Use a complete sentence.)

6)      Name two things the Jabberwock did as he came through the tulgey wood.  (2 points possible.)

I saw a version of this test at some point early in my teaching career.  It took me about five minutes to re-create this version.  It’s just like riding a bike….

The point, of course, is that it is entirely possible to have students get “right” answers and not understand a thing they have read.  If you have students read a text and then use a worksheet or quiz that is similar to this 10-point assessment I just gave you, I have a challenge for you: Do something else.

The next time you have students complete a reading, try something like this:

• Summarize: Have students summarize in one sentence an entire section or chapter.
• Compare and Contrast: Have students write analogies.  For example: A cell membrane is like a….because…..
• Compare and Contrast II: Have students look at two problems or examples and tell what they have to do differently in order to solve the problems.
• Cues: Have students come up with an acrostic to remember the most important parts of the reading or lesson.
• Questions: Project answers on the overhead and have students write the questions.
• Nonlinguistic Representation: Have students draw (and label if needed) the main concept included in the text.
• Summarize and Question: Have students narrow it down and then write the three most important questions they can possibly answer about the topic.  Have them share and defend their questions.
• Graphic Organizers: Have students create concept maps making as many connections between topics as possible.

All of these assessments could be done individually, in pairs, or in groups.  My contention is that it would be very difficult to do any of these assignments without understanding the text.

Mike Smoker, an educator who stresses the importance of simplicity, clarity, and priority in teaching, claims the best worksheet is a blank piece of paper.  Have your students do something with one and see if you agree.  I would love to hear what you did and what worked well.

This week take some time to stand in uffish thought beside the nearest Tumtum tree.  Then take out your vorpal pen, pencil, or iPad and create a lesson that will impact the learning of even the most frumious bandersnatch or burbling Jabberwock.

Have a brillig week, HSE.

Phil