Mrs. Follis
This summer we will read two books to get our minds ready for the challenging year ahead. As you can see below, you will be reading Fahrenheit 451 as a class and reflecting through blogging. Additionally, you will choose a book from the you pick list and join an online “book club” with your classmates to discuss it.
We will be having these virtual conversations at this website: www.mrsfollis2.ning.com.
It is a password protected social networking site, much like Facebook or Myspace, but safe and free of advertisements. The purpose is to help you engage and dig deeper into the texts so that you come to class this fall prepared for intellectual discussions and it gives me the opportunity to get to know each of you before class officially begins. I’m so excited to get to work with all of you as sophomores!
All: Fahrenheit 451 (1953 Bradbury)
Choose one of the following books:
Red Badge of Courage (1895 Crane)*
A Lesson Before Dying (1993 Gaines)
The Scarlet Letter (1850 Hawthorne)*
Little Women (1869 Alcott)*
*available online for free
For Fahrenheit 451: Write at least 6 blog posts over the course of the summer.
*Include the book title and chapters you will be referring to in the title of the post.
*For each post, you should also incorporate a major theme or characterization and elaborate on it using one of the following: song (provide classroom appropriate lyrics and audio if possible), quote, picture, video, external links, etc.
Make your posts original and personal. This is NOT a summary of what you've read. I can access Sparknotes, too. I want to know what YOU think and what connections YOU can make to the text.
By August 5th, you should have completed at least three of the blog posts. You should complete the other three blog posts by the first day of school. We will be discussing F451 in class.
Join the *group* with your book title. Here you will be required to participate in ASKING and answering thought provoking questions under the discussion forum. (See sample questions for more details.)
You will receive:
*15 points for asking an open ended question
*10 points for providing a thoughtful response with support from the text (quotes and specific details)
*5 points for making a contribution (no, “I totally agree/disagree” doesn’t count!).
By JULY 1st, you should have a total of 50 points earned on the discussion forums.
By JULY 25th, you should have an ADDITIONAL 50 points. Extra credit may be awarded for students going above and beyond!