Okay, I’ll admit it…sometimes reading The Scarlet Letter and its Old English can be difficult, and a little dry. I wanted my students to take a break for a minute and do something creative!
To take a short pause from the book, we watched the movie clip of the forest scene–where seven years have passed since Dimmesdale and Hester have seen one another. It was a beautiful scene, and one of the happiest aspects of the book!
As both a reflective and creative piece, I had my students choose to write that scene from the perspective of either Hester, Dimmesdale, or Pearl.
They were to have at least one page, single-spaced, and try to emulate Old English/use references to the period as much as possible. I wanted them to really put themselves in that scene and in the eyes of their chosen character.
When they returned the following class period, they shared in small groups and I had at least five people share their stories with the entire class.
This was a fun and easy way to connect to the text personally and creatively. It was approaching the material in a new and interesting way and I think the students enjoyed it as well!