In order to promote (fictional) reading, especially in a foreign language, our students have to read a novel or at least a series of short stories every year.
The English book we use in grade 8 deals with the USA and tries to give some insights into the American way of life in different states, times and also among different ethnic groups.
Photo credit: PenguinRandomHouse
The last chapter is about Atlanta, Georgia and in general about the American South. That’s why I wanted to continue with that part of American history and culture and went for the novel North by Night: A Story of the Underground Railroad by Katherine Ayres. It’s about a 16-year old girl named Lucinda who helps escaped slaves from the South getting to the North and then to Canada to live in freedom (for further information click here).
I divided the project into three big parts:
- PRE-READING: the American South (history, culture, music), slavery, the underground railroad
- WHILE-READING: Lucinda’s diary entries and letters, the role of the Bible and religion, spiritual and work songs, the role of women in the middle of the 19th century
- POST-READING: American Civil War, the abolitionist movement, segregation, the civil rights movement
This seems huge, even when looking at it now, but so far the students seem interested and really engaged. I think it’s also due to the frequent use of digital media in our English class so that the students can experience “traditional” content like historical facts and figures in a modern and new way. Here are some examples of tools I want to use:
- most important: the ebook-version of the novel in the (relatively new) kindle app by amazon
- Titanpad
- Twitter (one account for the whole class)
- Letter Generator
- Google Drive (one account for the whole class)
- Snapchat
Since I this as PBL, I also thought that the traditional way of testing their knowledge in terms of a regular class test at the end is out of the question. So I talked to the principal and got his OK to substitute that traditional class test with an (e)Portfolio.
So, if you are interested in finding out more, stay tuned: Weekly, I will upload my lesson plans and the (digital) tools I used including my comments what went well and what I would change the next time.
[Photo credit: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/6802/north-by-night-by-katherine-ayres/# ]
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