Tomes Away From Home: And while we're on the subject...I could use some advice
Atonement is one of the texts I’m teaching this fall.
We’ll be reading it in the IB Senior English classes. I wouldn’t teach it to anyone younger, that’s for sure.
I’ll do what I always do with novels: I’ll make a reading schedule, complete with quiz dates, chapters to be read per day (in and…
I taught the Hunger Games to my sixth grade students, which as we all know has violent scenes, as well as Haymitch’s drunken self. The way I explained it to them is, don’t look at the scene as a piece. Look at the scene as a whole and figure out it’s importance to the story. Why is Haymitch a drunk? What is the author’s point in showing that to the reader? How does it affect the story? I really try to throw in some higher order discussion questions to provoke meaningful discussion and not just giggle at drunk Haymitch falling off the stage.
I’m not familiar with the story, so I can’t tell you whether my plan would work for that book, but maybe really having the students delve into it would make it less shocking and more purposeful.
