
The succinct format of these assessments break the analysis into focused chunks that get to the heart of analysis very quickly.Ĭlick here for an editable say-mean-matter template to use with your students. The student then explains what the text literally says about that item (plot), what the item means (commentary), and why it matters (thematic connection). These items can be objects, character names, places, quotes, symbols, etc. In the say-mean-matter quiz, students are given 3-5 items from text.

The say-mean-matter quiz is also a focused assessment strategy that challenges students to analyze a text. Since each part of the “cube” is focused on a single element or technique, I can very quickly read and assess a student’s understanding of the text. Students respond to each part of the cube in order to analyze a text. Here’s how they work.Ī cube quiz involves analyzing any four components of a text. While the cube and the say-mean-matter quizzes still both involve assessing writing, they do do so in more succinct formats that make them easier to assess (time-wise) than traditional essays. The Analytical Cube or the Say-Mean-Matter Quiz In this bundle, you will not only find instructions for one-pagers but 49 MORE activities for literary analysis. If you’d like a ready-to-print guide on creating one-pagers, be sure to check out The Ultimate Novel Study Bundle: 50 Projects and Assignments for ANY Novel by Bespoke ELA. This helped them review for an assessment over the Gothic genre in a way that helped them create their own meaning of essential ideas. I required that they use three quotations from three different texts to support their analysis of the Gothic trait. The one-pagers depicted how the concept is represented in the Gothic texts we read, and students showed the relationship both pictures and words.


Recently, I had my students complete one-pagers over Gothic traits that they shared with small groups and then put on display around the classroom. The difference is that instead of using sentences to convey meaning, students use images, words, textual evidence, elements, techniques, etc. There are some fantastic templates for infographics to use FOR FREE over at .įor this alternative essay assignment, you can have students create an infographic or one-pager in response to a traditional essay prompt. They both depict key concepts as well as how they are related. Infographics and one-pagers are visual, graphic representations of information.
