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Teacher's Note: This is a team assignment where students have read the same novel. it works well where there are 5 or 6 teams in the class and each team reads a different novel. There are two team tasks and teams could choose which task they will do or do both. You may like to set the Reading Log assignment for individual reading of the team novel.

Task 1.         Design a visual showing how the story is told.

Task 2.         Prepare an Oral Presentation on a Theme

Task 1

Design a visual showing how the story is told.

 

Look at this checklist of some ways in which an author can tell a story.

 

Humorous dialogue

Amusing comments by the teller of the story

First, second or third person writing

Revealing moments about a character

Evaluative comments by a character

Moments of suspense or tension

Moments of high excitement

Humorous events

Dramatic events 

Surprises, twists and turns in the story 

Multiple characters voices

Changing the point of view to another character or another place

Using different fonts

Moving backwards and forwards in time

Colourful or striking language, idiomatic language

Others?

Questions to talk about:

• How does this novel tell the story?

• Is it a combination of some of the above?

• What methods are most used by the author?

• How does knowing this influence the way you might read the novel?

• How does the way the story is told fit the themes or message of the story?

Designing a visual

This can be in any form. Some suggestions are:

• using images and text in a poster, with headings and explanations

• a diagram, plotting the events in the story with annotations on how the story is told at each point

• creating a slide presentation using images and text

Expectations of Quality:

• each member of the team must prepare their own response to the questions

• the visual should demonstrate depth of understanding

• the visual should use appropriate evidence from the novel

Task 2             Prepare an Oral Presentation on a Theme

All novels are about issues that effect our life as human beings. These issues might include friendship, family, growing up, racial prejudice, animal rights, violence, grief, love, history etc. The writer has a message, or theme, about these issues which is communicated by what happens to the characters and how the story ends. Often the message is not simple (which is why they need a whole novel to explore it!)

Working in a team make a list of 3 Issues explored in the novel you have all read and have each student in the team make some notes on what they think the author's message is for each of the three themes.

With your team compare notes and organise a 5 minute oral presentation around the three issues. You might explore one issue from different points of view  or debate the relative importance of different issues

Expectations of quality: 

• Everyone in the group must participate in the oral part of the presentation

• The presentation should include brief readings from the novel as evidence