Activity
1. The challenge of this lesson is that various students will
approach the work with differing levels of enthusiasm
and knowledge. Contact the librarian in advance and
ask for his or her assistance in presenting a brief
talk to the students on where to find the science fiction
section of the library and what works they would highly
recommend. The librarian may also be able to collect
and make available a number of books that the students
could use for this assignment.
2.
Take the students to the library for these two days of
reading and note
taking. Those students who already have a book or
a short story to read do not need to attend the librarian’s
presentation.
3.
Once students have a short story or a book to read they
need to do two things. First, they need to read
carefully
and hopefully enjoy what they are reading. Second, they
need to
take notes as they are reading on how the author uses the
literary elements of plot, character, setting, and theme
to create a
science fiction story. Some aspects will be obvious such
as a setting on another planet or in the future, characters
who
are dolphins or Martins, plot events which are not possible
in today’s world, etc. Other aspects such as themes
that deal with the consequences of mankind’s actions,
the universality of life, the impact of the past on the
future will be more subtle and consequently a little more
challenging
for the students to detect.
4.
Students also need to take notes on what makes the story
or book that they are reading
a successful piece of literature
apart from the science fiction components. Literature
is first and foremost good writing before it is science
fiction,
mystery
or social commentary. The students need to determine
what is exceptional (or perhaps not!) about their short
stories.
5.
If students finish this work early, encourage them to
read a second short story just to get a better
feel
for
the genre
of science fiction. Closure
Let the students know that the notes that they have taken will be used in the
next two lessons.
Embedded
Assessment
Evaluate each student’s participation in this
lesson by: 1) whether or not he or she came to class
with appropriate reading material or was open to suggestions
on what to read made by fellow classmates and/or the
librarian; 2) how on task he or she was during the open
reading time in class; and 3) the quality and quantity
of notes taken as he or she was reading.
Homework
If the students have not completed the reading or the note taking for this lesson,
it needs to be completed for homework so that they are ready to participate
in the class discussion of the Explain Lesson and are able to write the
paper in the Apply Lesson. |
