Invitations

I have introduced a poetry activity to my class and I notice a student who is not engaged in the activity. I happen to know that this student has some learning issues, and I also notice that this student consistently needs a different point of entry into a project than the other students. I ask the student to make a sign to be hung near where our projects will be hanging and soon he is deeply absorbed in his task, as deeply absorbed as the other students in theirs. His sign doesn't require as much language use as the poems and it is therefore less intimidating.

As we plan lessons, we need to plan multiple points of entry into the activities--multiple possibilities for participating. I do an opera every summer with my music graduate students--we take a piece of children's literature and turn it into an opera, which we then perform. That project entails writing, staging, and creating sets (in our case, usually a backdrop that we paint). I have had students who were not fluent in English take part in the writing stage (which is done in groups) but then really shine when it came to painting the backdrops.

Students need opportunities to use the semiotic systems that are most comfortable for them, particularly when they are being asked to take risks. When they are uncomfortable--it doesn't even matter why--they need versions of the same work that are less overwhelming in some significant way. Making a sign was much less overwhelming than something we call a poem--and that allowed my student to participate at a level of engagement that I want students to have in my classroom. I would rather having something small done by a student who was deeply engaged than something large that was tossed off by someone who didn't care.