by Scott Petri, high school social studies teacher, California
This post originally appeared on Petri's History Rewriter blog.
At a recent workshop, I was asked “How do you differentiate this for students with IEPs?” I felt like my answer of easing the rigor by adjusting text complexity and time on task was too generic.
In this post, I want to discuss a new differentiation strategy I am calling Reverse Retell in Rhyme (see my post of inspiration for this lesson here).
First, select a primary source for students to interpret via the Retell in Rhyme EduProtocol (Chapter 15 in the Social Studies Edition). Then, ask Google Bard or Chat GPT to retell the main ideas of the document in 10 rhyming couplets so an 8th grader will understand it. You may have to edit and improve the focus of this mentor text before you put it in front of students.
Next, I usually ask my students to work in pairs or small groups to interpret the primary source by retelling it in 10 rhyming couplets, which typically takes one class period. This time, I asked Google Bard for the 10 couplets, but it only gave me seven, so I had to add three of my own. I would usually ask students to come up with a creative and unique title before comparing their work to this mentor text the next day.
I asked Bard to read the primary source again and tell me the top 10 most important ideas. Instead of just picking words that were easy to rhyme, I would give this to students as a debriefing document, so they can see how many of the significant historical details in the document were included in their couplets.
After students analyzed their own work, I would try to extend their learning by having them triangulate five of the ideas in the Google Bard authored couplets and the debriefing document with the original text in the primary source. This sounds complicated, but here’s what it looks like:
I’d like to add a writing extension, but I am worried about overwhelming students. I’m hoping the group activity and discussion are enough to help them understand the academic language in the primary source.
This is one of those ideas that hit me in the middle of the night, and I can’t wait to try the Reverse Retell in Rhyme with students. I’d like to know how you have used the Retell in Rhyme EduProtocol in your classes (see contact info below!).
To recap, when I follow the traditional Retell in Rhyme EduProtocol, I use these steps. This lesson helps students determine the central ideas or information in a primary or secondary source. It also builds student confidence in playing with language, improving creativity and original thinking. Lastly, it is a powerful and fun EduProtocol that gives students practice writing accurate summaries that describe relationships and connections between key historical figures and events.
In order to prep the Reverse Retell in Rhyme differentiation strategy, I used the primary source and had AI to create a mentor text. Then Google Bard helped me create a debriefing document or success chart. Next, I would provide students with copies of all three documents so that they can understand the meaning of the important ideas in the historical document. Now students who might struggle to interpret a primary source, or balk at writing their own original couplets can still participate in the activity.
Additional resources:
- I recommend playing this video before starting this activity with students for the first time. It helps with buy-in!
- These earlier posts have some research that might help teachers understand the evolution of this protocol:
https://historyrewriter.com/2015/04/20/great-terror-tweetathon/
https://historyrewriter.com/2022/11/30/assessing-retell-in-rhyme/
Scott Petri has taught social studies at the middle school and high school level since 2003. He is a co-author of The EduProtocols Field Guide: Social Studies Edition. He holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and a Masters in Educational Administration from California State University Northridge, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of San Diego. Dr. Petri is a former board member of the California Council for the Social Studies and a past President of the Southern California Social Studies Association. He is a 2023-24 PBS Invention Ed Fellow. You can reach him on Twitter/X @scottmpetri.
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