ALEX Learning Activity

Inconceivable!: Using The Princess Bride to Assess Students

A Learning Activity is a strategy a teacher chooses to actively engage students in learning a concept or skill using a digital tool/resource.

  This learning activity provided by:  
Author: Amy Smith
System:Gadsden City
School:W. E. Striplin Elementary School
  General Activity Information  
Activity ID: 2845
Title:
Inconceivable!: Using The Princess Bride to Assess Students
Digital Tool/Resource:
Edpuzzle: Inconceivable!
Web Address – URL:
Overview:

This activity is intended to be completed individually using Edpuzzle. Edpuzzle requires the teacher to set up an account but it is free. Students will watch a short video montage of The Princess Bride. Students are asked to define the word and to write a story using the word. 

This resource was created as part of the ALEX Resource Development Summit. 
  Associated Standards and Objectives  
Content Standard(s):
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 6
27. Discover word meanings by analyzing word parts, examining connotation and denotation, or using print or digital reference tools.
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 6
28. Discover word meanings through active listening in various contexts.

Examples: classroom discussion, oral presentations, digital formats
Learning Objectives:

  • The student will: 

  • define the word inconceivable using their knowledge of affixes and base words. 

  • write a short story using the word inconceivable.

I can: 

  • define the word inconceivable because I have knowledge of affixes and base words.

  • write a short story using the word inconceivable. 
  Strategies, Preparations and Variations  
Phase:
After/Explain/Elaborate
Activity:

This activity allows the students to demonstrate their knowledge quickly and effectively. The students will access the Edpuzzle that the teacher assigned to them. As students watch the short Edpuzzle, they are asked to define the word "inconceivable." After students define the word, they will create a short story using the word "inconceivable." 
Assessment Strategies:

The teacher will want to make sure that the students defined the word inconceivable correctly. If the student did not, the teacher should make sure that the student wrote a story that reflected what they believed the word meant. 

If the teacher notices some students had trouble determining the meaning of a word, a small group of students could be formed. 

Here is some information about the word taken from Etymonline:

Meaning "take into the mind, form a correct notion of" is from mid-14c., that of "form as a general notion in the mind" is from late 14c., figurative senses also found in the Old French and Latin words. Related: Conceived; conceiving.
Advanced Preparation:

  • The teacher will need to create an account on Edpuzzle. It is free. 

  • The teacher will need to add a class to Edpuzzle. All LMS are available to link (ie: Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom, etc.) 

  • The teacher will assign the activity to the class. 

  • The teacher will make sure that students can access Edpuzzle. 
Variation Tips (optional):

Edpuzzles are very easy to create. If the teacher has a video they prefer to use for this type of activity, it would be very easy to replicate. 
Notes or Recommendations (optional):

This activity can stand alone or be used as an After/Explain/Elaborate activity for the following learning activities:

Wall of Words (before activity)

Wacky Words: Prefixes, Roots, and Suffixes (during activity)
  Keywords and Search Tags  
Keywords and Search Tags: 6th grade, digital literacy, Edpuzzle, prefixes, suffixes, vocabulary