Anti-Bullying Website

Timeline: One week in class

We took a pause from our short stories to talk a little bit about bullying. We had a few situations we had to address and I found having the students complete this assignment really made them have some "ah-ha" moments! Students came up with some great material that they were able to explore! 

Short Story - Button, Button

 Our next short story was Button, Button, a story about Norma and Arthur, husband and wife, who are offered a deal by Mr. Steward for $50,000. If they choose to push the button, someone they don't know will die and they will receive the money. Again we are taken back to our central theme of study - individual versus society and we investigate the themes of temptation, greed, and curiosity. 

Reading Comprehension Questions 

1. What do you predict this story will be about? 

  

2. Norma asks if the “whatchamacallit” is valuable. What does this say about her character? 

  

3. What will the Lewises receive if they push the button? Is this worth it?  

  

4. What is Arthur’s character like when asked to think about the gadget? How do you know this (text evidence)? 

  

5. How are Norma and Arthur different in their perspectives to Mr. Steward’s bargain? 

  

6. What type(s) of conflict is presented in this story? How do you think it will be resolved? 

  

7. Why are the deaths of people far away much easier than those who are closest to us?  

  

8. What does Norma want to do with the money? 

  

9. What kind of research project might Mr. Steward and his company be conducting in Norma’s point of view? 

  

10. What is the climax of this story?  

  

11. How is the ending of the story ironic? 

12. Mr. Steward asks Norma if she thinks she really knew her husband. Do you think she did? Explain. 

  

13. Overall, what are your impressions of this story? Did you find this powerful? Explain your answer.  

  

14. Considering human nature, what do you think is more likely to occur—people pushing the button, or people leaving it alone? Why? 

  

15. What would you have done if you were Norma? Do you think she made the right choice? Explain why or why not. 

  

16. Why does Norma really push the button? What reasons does she give to justify it? 

  

17. What is the theme of this story? 

  

18. Overall, what might the box in this story symbolize? Explain your answer. 

  

19. Find a quote that shows an example of foreshadowing in the text. Include the quote below.  

  

20. From what point of view was this story told? Explain your answer.  

 

Students then wrote a thematic paragraph on Button,Button using evidence from the text. They used the following

Short Story: The Lottery

 This is actually one of my favourite short stories of all time. It's a bit dark but it really represents the theme of "individual versus society." If you haven't read "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson - it's about a small American town where tradition and culture are held to a high importance. Each year, a lottery happens and each year someone is scapegoated for the betterment of the community "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." 

This short story was featured in the Times and Shirely Jackson received a lot of negativity for her short story - many wondered how she could be so dark, especially during the post world war period.

The resource I put together includes (PDF) 

1) Copy of the Story
2) Character Sketch Worksheet
3) Symbols Worksheet
4) Symbols Part 2 Worksheet
5) Modified Discussion Questions Worksheet- for IEP students
6) Elements of a Short Story Diagram Worksheet
7) Scene Picking Activity
8) YouTube Film Review Worksheet- Google The Lottery on Youtube
9) The Lottery Criticism Worksheet
10) Literary Devices Worksheet
11) Written Response Questions Worksheet
12) History of Scapegoating Paragraph with rubric
13) SEEC Paragraph Template with rubric

Thank-You Ma'am by Langston Hughes

Our first short story - individual versus society was Thank-You Ma'am by Langston Hughes. The central theme deals with shame, trust, dignity, and second chances. A teenage boy, Roger, attempts to steal a woman's purse. Mrs. Jones, deals with the situation by highlighting the power of choice and engaging in empty and kindess. 

Heres' a copy to the short story and some prompting questions you ask your students to promote discussion. There's also an adaption to the video which my students very much liked! 

Questions: 

Provide quotational evidence from the text to support your answer (Google Doc). 
 
 1. Why do you think Mrs. Jones handles the situation the way she does in the story? What is she trying to accomplish? How do you think this experience is likely to affect Roger?  
 
2. Why do you think Mrs. Jones makes a point of getting Roger to wash his face? Why does she give him food? Why does she tell him about her past? Why does she avoid asking him about his family or background?  
 
3. Why do you think Roger decides he “[does] not want to be mistrusted”?  
 
4. What does Mrs. Jones mean when she says that “shoes got by devilish ways will burn your feet”?  
 
5. Why do you think Roger can’t say “thank you” to Mrs. Jones as he is leaving?  
 
6. What themes does the story express? What does it suggest about some people who commit some crimes?

Once students were done answering the questions, they completed a multiple choice quiz which I will upload here shortly. 

Literary Devices and Figurative Language

Before we start our short story unit - students should be able to identify the vareity of liteary and figurative devies used. By being able to recognize alliterations, metaphors, similies, onomotopies, students are able to dig deeper when analyzing a short story. Students are able to pull evidence from their text to support their answers such as - how does the main character contribute to the overal theme of the short story? 

Take a look at what my students created! As a classroom note, which did take time (a couple of periods with discussion), students created a literary and figurative device flipbook that they now keep with them as we read short stories and analyze them. This is a useful tool that they will also use in term 2, when we hit the ground running in our writing unit. 

Back to blogging! I can't wait!

I'm back and after two babies, two maternity leaves, I'm back in the classroom and ready to share with you all the creative things that are happening in my grade 8 homeroom class! Stay tuned and check here frequently for new resources! 

So let's start off the new school year right! Let's take a look at what we began working on: We started our language unit with our short stories unit. Our main focus was individual versus society and the short stories reflected this. Follow my blog posts above to see what learning is happening in my classroom!