• It is conflict that pulls the reader into the story.

• The best stories have the most interesting conflicts.

• A reader fully understands a text when he fully understands the conflicts found in it.

• Conflict is an invitation to contemplate a complicated world.

• Change is driven by conflict.

• What causes conflict and unrest?

• Is conflict necessary?

• What is the value in considering multiple perspectives?

• What is the effect of conflict?

• What is worth fighting for?

Students will expand on their topics for writing, which will be utilized with their Quick-Writes and the Culminating Assessment Project. Students can also develop ideas from this list during the application phase of Language Study. The Quick-Writes allow students an opportunity to explore conflicts in their lives.

The components of this work include student novel self-selection, a group meeting to determine the reading schedule, in-class reading opportunities, several in-class book club meeting days, and in-class discussions. The focus is on characters, conflicts, themes, and personal connections.

This introductory lesson is designed to build a foundation for inquiry-based research. The learning in these experiences will help students practice the skills needed to transfer their understanding to the culminating assessment. Emphasis in these lessons is placed on the structural elements of informational text, including thesis, supporting evidence, footnotes, endnotes, citations, etc. Students engage deliberately with the textbook to utilize the physical features of an actual textbook while analyzing characteristics of multi-modal texts.

For the study of the novel Fahrenheit 451, students will engage in both a whole class experience and independent/discussion group experiences. One of the intents of this lesson design is to move students through the reading of the text and the comprehension work while practicing reading skills so that the bulk of the experience can sit in the interpretation and analysis phases. The experience synthesizes learning through participation in a Socratic Seminar.