"A book, too, can be a star, 'explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly,' a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe." - from Madeleine L'Engle's Newberry Medal Acceptance Speech

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Book Club Handouts and Rubric

Name: _____________________________  Class: _____________  Coming of Age Book Club
Title & author: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­__________________________ Group Members: _________________________
Day 1 (1 period):
Get in to groups. Finalize book.
HW: Read the first 1/3rd of the book (up to pg. _____). You have 3 weeks to finish the book(s). Meeting times: 5/1-2, 5/8, 5/15-16 (book must be finished by this time).
·      Be prepared with about 10 thought-provoking notes that reflect your inferences, opinions, connections, or questions regarding character, setting, theme, writing techniques, and vocabulary.
Day 2 5/1-5/2  (2 periods):
Choose thought-provoking note. Share and discuss in your groups.
Lesson on character archetypes.
Group synthesis page on character archetypes.

HW: Read up to pg. ______.
·    Be prepared with at about 10 thought-provoking notes that reflect your inferences, opinions, connections, or questions regarding character, setting, theme, writing techniques, and vocabulary.
·      Answers to the following questions (in your notebook):
1. What struggles/conflicts is the protagonist going through? How is he/she changing in the story?
2.        What other character archetypes do you notice?
Day 3 5/8:
Lesson on situational archetypes.
Group synthesis page on this topic.

HW:
·      Finish book.
·      Be prepared with about 10 thought-provoking notes that reflect your inferences, opinions, connections, or questions regarding character, setting, theme, writing techniques, and vocabulary.

·      Answers to the following questions (in your notebook):
1.    What other archetypes do you notice in the text?
2.    What is the theme or message the author is teaching the readers about the journey of life? About childhood and growing up? About adulthood?

Day 4 5/15-16:
Lesson on archetypal symbols and themes.
Have a meaningful discussion on the book.
Group synthesis page for symbols and themes.
Assign roles for the final project.

HW: Bring in 1st draft of your part of the final project.


Day 5 5/23:
Work on final project (due Wed 5/28)

I. Group poster with the following elements:
  • new vocabulary - at least 5 words, sentence from text, definition, helpful way to remember the definition (visual or poem or other mnemonic device)
  • personal journey map that shows important events in the plot and how protagonist changes throughout the story  
  • at least 2 important notes/thoughts from each student that were discussed with the group
  • revised synthesis pages for character archetypes, situational archetypes, and symbol and theme archetypes

II. Individual student reflection: 2-3 paragraphs typed
  • What did you learn from the book club? What positive experiences did you have?
  • What challenges and conflicts did you have? How could the book club have been improved?

III. Optional/extra credit to be given to the students who complete the assignment:
  • reading response on an excerpt that you personally connect to and are inspired by
  • compare/contrast characters, themes, or other texts
  • artwork or performance inspired by text
  • dramatic scene acted out

IV. Presentation to class


Group Work Rubric   Students: ___________________________________________________________
Standards and expectations for group work:
Date:
Task:
(0-4 pts)
Comments:
Date:
Task:
(0-4 pts)
Comments:
Date:
Task:
(0-4 pts)
Comments:
1.       Group discussion:
·         Be prepared with completed tasks, necessary texts/tools, evidence, and notes
·         Follow rules, work cooperatively, take turns speaking, respect each other’s ideas
·         Each person must participate and contribute fairly to discussions and tasks
·         Ask questions, make connections and interpretations, propose new ideas, expand on each other’s ideas, and refer to evidence to enrich conversations
·         Evaluate the soundness and validity of each other’s ideas; clarify and improve ideas
·         Build empathy for and understanding of variety of perspectives, cultures, and backgrounds
·         Resolve conflicts peacefully and maturely
(SL 8.1 CC Standard)
2.       Presentation:
·         Present ideas and projects in a focused, coherent manner with sound reasoning, relevant evidence, and well-chosen details
·         Exhibit proper body language, appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation
·         Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify, inform, and engage
(SL 8.4 & 8.5)
3.       Focus, Organization, and Preparation
·         Take notes
·         Complete task on time
·         Review plans, texts, and previous discussions; Focus on and put a lot of effort in the task; when off task, quickly work on getting back on task; do not waste time
·         Say interesting things; have fun, thought-provoking conversations
·         Make plans and prepare for future meetings

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