What would a perfect world look like?
Utopia vs. Dystopia: View slides and complete notes on the Dystopian Genre
Smart Homes Video
Kids and Tech
"The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury: Slides, read, and complete the analysis question in your packet.
Show the video: "How to recognize a Dystopia" (5:55) List the traits of a perfect world. How could this world be achieved? How could your idea of progress go wrong?
After viewing the final slide on Themes of Dystopian literature, watch the Hunger Games clip. Identify as many Dystopian elements as possible.
Reread "The Veldt"
Partner Question and written response. Use text evidence from the story to write your answers.
"Exit Ticket" Questions, if time
HW: Finish Analysis Packet on "The Veldt" - due tomorrow
"The Veldt" - Escape Room
Create a Dystopia WS
Target Skill: Analyzing Author's Point of View
Warm up Question
Author's Point of View: Video and Question
Article: "Why Americans are so Obsessed with Squid Game" - Read and answer in text questions
Writing Prompt: According to the author: “In the U.S., we play our own version of ‘Squid Game’ every day… whether it’s fighting for better wages, to maintain a roof over one’s head, or even for basic worker rights” (Paragraph 6). In your opinion, what is another television series, movie, or book that teaches an important lesson about American society? Explain your thinking.
Can Machines learn Morality? (video clip)
Moral Machines - CommonLit article
Introduce Dystopian Choice Slides
Students choose their focus for the week & begin working
Paths: TBD
In the context of the text, what are the costs and benefits of technology? What are the potential advantages and disadvantages explored in the text regarding equipping machines with a sense of morality? You may use evidence from this text, your own experience, and other literature, art, or history in your answer.
In the context of the text, what should the role of robots be in the future of our society? In what other ways do you think equipping machines with a sense of morality could change the future? You may use evidence from this text, your own experience, and other literature, art, or history in your answer.
In the context of the text, what is good and how do we know? Do you think humans have mastered morality enough to successfully teach it to machines? You may use evidence from this text, your own experience, and other literature, art, or history in your answer.
Part 1: Real life Dystopian topics and Non-Fiction reading skills.
Read and complete the work for one of the following options:
Identifying Main Ideas & Central Idea: "Empathy in the Age of AI" (high)
Finding the Meaning of Unknown Words: "'Consciousness in Robots was Once Taboo. Now It's the Last Word." (high)
Finding the Best supporting evidence: "Cyborg cockroaches are coming, and they just want to help" (medium)
Finding the Best supporting evidence: "Can We Stop A.I. from Learning Harmful Biases" (7th Grade - ELD 1 & 2 ONLY)
Part 2:
Complete any unfinished writing, edit, and submit your PRINTED work with the appropriate rubric IN CLASS ON THURSDAY, 4/10.
Identifying Main Ideas & Central Idea: "Empathy in the Age of AI" (high)
Finding the Meaning of Unknown Words: "'Consciousness in Robots was Once Taboo. Now It's the Last Word." (high)
Finding the Best supporting evidence: "Cyborg cockroaches are coming, and they just want to help" (medium)
Finding the Best supporting evidence: "Can We Stop A.I. from Learning Harmful Biases" (7th Grade - ELD 1 & 2 ONLY)
by Katherine Paterson (1999)
by Henry Slesar (1958)
by Henry Slesar (1958)
by Lucy Tan (2021)
by Anita Roy (2014)
by T.J. Resler (2021)
We is a work of dystopian fiction set in a future police state by Russian writer Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin (1884-1937). In 1921, We became the first work banned by the Soviet Union's censorship board; Zamyatin managed to have his work smuggled to the West and later lived out the rest of his life in exile. This novel is thought to have inspired Brave New World and 1984.
This article describes life in North Korea under totalitarian government rule. In North Korea, the government has control over the econony, military, education, and people's access to information --and punishes those who try to change the status quo.
In the informational text, "Jihyun Park: Defector. Refugee. Survivor. Freedom Fighter for North Koreans," Anne Hannah Foong describes how a woman who defected from North Korea became an advocate for other refugees. Use this article alongside "Total Control in North Korea" to gain additional information about life in North Korea as you compare North Korea to the society described in "We."
Artificial Intelligence
Genetic Engineering
The Quest for Eternal Youth
Social Media
Lab-Created Food
Note: If you have another idea for a topic for a persuasive essay connected to a potential dystopian scenario, please let me know your idea!