Conversation that use the books to explore an era more deeply.
Groups.
First day:
Choose Roles:
Discussion Leader: Keeps the work moving forward, steers conversation in interesting direction, creates focus.
Secretary: records the interesting points that get made, by whom. Hands the sheet in for group grade.
Reporters: write down and report to the class the deepest insight or question that came out of the conversation.
1. Take turns reporting what you read:
a. What page are you on, now?
b. Introduce and read the most powerful moment, for you, so far. Anything from a sentence to a paragraph
c. Describe what was powerful for you about that moment, giving enough background that the classmates who haven't read it can understand what you're saying.
d. Get your questions answered.
2. Choose one of the following questions together, and each person write a quick answer (3-5 minutes freewriting, timed by the discussion leader) in your journal:
a. Characters make decisions for all sorts of reasons. Describe a decision a character makes and how you feel about it, and about the character.
b. The style of a book is part of its meaning. Describe something weird an author is doing with language or structure, and speculate about what it shows in terms of the meaning of the book so far.
c. The world of the book is (hopefully) strange to you. Describe an aspect of the culture that the novel portrays, and discuss your response to that.
d. What is your understanding of the title at this point? How does it contribute to the meaning of the book?
e. From whose point of view is this book told? How does that affect the meaning?
3. Share your answers with each other. Add at least one brilliant idea to what you had written in your journal.
4. Secretary hands in group sheet. Reporters report back.