Lesson Plan for Question Cube Discussion

Supplies:  Silent discussion form, question cubes (I bought mine, but I don’t think they’re still available.  You can make your own by writing on cubes of wood with marker or making them out of cardboard)

In groups of three or four, boys read the poem aloud.

1.  The groups conduct a "silent discussion"--that is, each boy chooses a line or two from the poem, writes it on his paper, writes a comment about the poem, and passes it to someone else in his group, who reacts to his reaction. When the paper comes back to him he reflects on what everyone said and writes down his reflection.

2.  Each group is given a pair of question cubes. One cube has what/which/when/who/how/why on its faces and the other has might/could/should/will/is/does on it. They have to roll the cubes three times and write three questions each about the poem, using the questions.

3.  Ask for volunteers to share the questions.  Write the questions on the board.  Point out that the questions are MUCH better than the typical question, which is "WAIT--I don't GET it."

When I did this with Stanley Kunitz’s “The Portrait,” my sixth graders asked some very good questions indeed:

Why did the dad kill himself? It might be because when you're having a child, it puts a lot of pressure on you.

• How did he kill himself? It might be with a knife or a gun. Or possibly he burned himself and set the whole park on fire.
• Why is the mother mad at the father? Because he left her at a time when she needed him to be there for the kid.
• What will happen to the boy?Nobody knew.
• How is the boy still feeling the slap? It might be because he somehow finds out that the portrait he found is his father, and then he feels how his mother is feeling, so it brings him back to his memories. I think it's a mental feeling. He's still remembering and wondering who that was. He's asking why she slapped him. Mentally scarred.
• Why did he kill himself in public? He might have done it because he wanted everyone to know he was committing suicide.
• What might the father have done to make the mother angry? He killed himself.
• When might the boy visit his father's grave, if there is one?
• How will the mom get over what happened? Stephen T. said he got over the death of his dog, and another boy commented, "Yeah, well, you got a new puppy."
• How is the mom "keeping him in the cabinet?" It's a memory in her heart. Another boy suddenly gasped and said, "That's why she could hear him thumping!"
• Who will the next character be? Could someone else be endangered by opening this memory? They didn't pursue this.
• Who might feel worse, the boy or the mom? They agreed this was a good question, but they didn't pursue it.
• Why did the mom not get over the death of the father This circled back to the suicide.
• Who could be blamed more for the son's ignorance about the father, the dad or the mom?
• Where would the pain really hurt, his heart or his cheek?