Overview

A variation of the Text Walk that uses multimodal contextualising resources — nonfiction, fiction, photographs, artwork and video — rather than extracts from the central text. Instead of annotating for TTS/TTT/TTW, students identify common features and connections between the contextualising materials, providing a shortcut to the background knowledge needed to understand a complex central text.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Before beginning the central text, select five to eight contextualising resources: historical articles, photographs, reviews, author biographies, related artworks, or short videos.
2. Set up each resource as a station around the room.
3. Divide the class into groups. At each station, groups examine the resource and annotate with observations: what they notice, what questions arise, and what connections they can draw between this resource and what they already know.
4. Groups rotate at timed intervals, adding to previous annotations.
5. After the walk, facilitate a class discussion: What common themes emerged across the resources? What background knowledge have students now gained?
6. Introduce the central text. Students should find their comprehension is stronger because the Context Walk has provided the background knowledge they need.

Tips

• This is especially valuable when studying texts from unfamiliar contexts (historical, cultural, geographical).
• Include a range of resource types — visual, written, audio — to engage different learners.
• The goal is to engineer the connections that students may not have naturally.

More Making Connections Activities