One strategy that I had never heard of before was an Anticipation Guide. It is a great way to get the students thinking about the difficult topics that many books bring up. It was interesting to see how much student discussion these things generated in the discussion presented in the book. The classroom in the example was buzzing with discussion before they had even started to read the play.
I also thought the Tea Party was a great idea. One, it gets students up and moving. Two, it helps them understand concepts and how things fit together. At first when I started reading about the activity I thought, " What if they get it completely wrong!?" But then I began to understand that it's more about helping them predict and set the stage for reading, not being right or wrong.
I had never heard of the Anticipation Guide before either. I thought it was a really creative way to get students thinking about issues that arise in the play and how the characters in the play will react. I also liked the Tea Party idea. I think it's a great way of manipulating a text in order for students to start thinking about what is happening in the story. I also liked that it allows students to be active in the class and talk to one another.
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