Umbrella Theory Collages by Alyssa

During reading workshop, the class has been making umbrella theory collages.  An umbrella theory collage is when classmates partner up and make a theory with evidence that supports your theory.  These collages are based on the Patricia Polacco stories Just Plain Fancy and The Butterfly.  The evidence isn’t always writing – some of it can be pictures that symbolize something that is important in the story.

For The Butterfly, you can draw tall boots to symbolize the Nazis.  You can use character actions, character quotes, character internal thinking, interactions between characters and settings as evidence.  Every piece of evidence needs analysis.  Analysis is showing why the evidence supports your theory.

My group and I (Alyssa, John, Vanessa and Lilybeth) are making a collage about The Butterfly.  Our theory is “If bad things are happening, stay strong because good things will come out of it.” We talked about how Sevrine stayed strong and her problem walked away. We did these collages because the teachers wanted us to get into the characters’ shoes.