One pagers are all the rage right now, and as a secondary English teacher I heartily support this movement. One pagers are a great way to get a snapshot of a student’s understanding of a novel, story, character, or theme without assigning an essay. Through the elements of the one pager, you can get students to think critically and present their findings in a cohesive format.
This year, I started out assigning an All About Me One Pager. This is a great introductory activity because it introduces the concept of the one pagers while establishing the expectations for completing one. It also gives the students a chance to work with a topic they know a lot about- themselves! They could do everything by hand or do a digital one pager as long as they met all of the expectations. Here is the example I made to show them:
When we read stories and novels, I’m always looking for new ways to assess students’ learning. There are three one pagers I use to do this: the Novel One Pager, the Character Study One Pager, and the Theme One Pager. Depending on what we are focusing on, I assign the one pager that addresses those skills. For a more holistic view of a novel or story, I use the Novel One Pager. I use the others to focus on character or theme respectively.
Let’s be honest- One of the reasons I like these so much is that they are vastly easier to grade than an essay. However, it’s not just that aspect that drives me to assign these. The one pagers open up opportunities for students to show me a novel or story through their eyes. Based on the elements they choose to include, I get a window into what parts of the story resonated with them, what quotes stood out to them, and what characters were important to them.
Here are some student examples I have gotten in the past couple of years:
All four of these one pagers are included in my One Pager Bundle for a discounted price. So check it out, and jump on the one pager bandwagon!
