Activity
1. Ask the students to remember a time when they themselves have been very sick, such as with a bad case of the flu or even something much worse, or when a family member or close friend has been gravely ill. Have them write down all the ways being terribly sick affected their lives. What were the obvious physical symptoms and perhaps the emotional repercussions? What was the social impact? Was there a financial impact on the student’s family? Were there other areas of life affected such as spiritual, artistic, or political? If students are comfortable with this topic ask them to briefly share their answers with the class.

2. Give the students the rest of class and the week to carefully read the book they have chosen, filling in the matrix, which is a format they have already used in history class. Each student will need to take notes on how each of the literary elements of theme, point of view, characterization, setting, and plot illustrate the effects a certain disease has on a community , writing down quotes to be used in his or her five paragraph theme. You may need to review these elements of theme with the students.

3. Inform students that they should each take notes to identify examples in his or her book of how the specific time in history and the culture described have been altered or changed by the disease in the story.

4. If any student is not able to complete the work of this lesson in the four allotted classroom periods, they need to use time beyond class to finish their work so that they are prepared on Monday of the following week to present their matrix. This lesson does not have a discreet closure activity; its actual closure is the work to be done in the explain and apply lessons.

Homework
If any student is not able to complete the work of this lesson in the four allotted classroom periods they need to use time beyond class to finish their work so that they are prepared on Monday of the following week to present their matrix.