Lesson 15
Topic:  Historical backdrop in Fahrenheit 451.
                   This Activity Center will take approximately four days to complete. 
Grade Level: Grade 8 
Instructional Objectives:
  • Students will utilize prior knowledge of the novel Fahrenheit 451.
  • Students will navigate through their website to the correct pages to complete the activity.
  • Students will cooperate in groups to gather and prepare information for all portions of the activity.
Materials:
  • Computer
  • Paper for rough draft work
  • Blackboards for brainstorming (Advertisement groups only).
  • Poster board
  • Markers
  • Crayons
  • Four Library book on Hitler and Nazi Germany
Concepts addressed: students will focus the following topics fro their WebQuest.The topics include: Comparison of the character Beatty to Hitler, overall comparison of Fahrenheit 451 to Nazi Germany, and a persuasive advertisement..
Engagement/ Anticipatory set:
  • Students will be asked what government control is and how it is displayed within the novel
  • We will begin to talk about the work they have done in History class, work on drafting their own Constitution. 
  • They will be asked how life in a society with a Constitution differs from the society as a whole in Fahrenheit 451.
  • I will begin to introduce the concepts within the WebQuest.
  • Students will be broken into groups of approximately 8 at this time.
Procedure:
  • Students will review the information provided on the WebQuest.
  • Each group will designate group roles. This enables a sense of ownership within each of the groups. 
  • Students will begin to work on the activity.
  • The groups will rotate to other parts of the activity in approximately 43-minute intervals. (This activity was started on a day with a double block-teaching schedule).
Key discussion questions:Located on the website! 
Closure:
  • Students, I each individual group will end the class by discussing their finding from the searching of the web and books..
Extension activity/ Homework:
  • Research this topic on your own and continue this work tomorrow! 
Each day students will work to complete more of the activities.  on the fourth day, students will bring on all props and visual aids to preform their advertisement skits.  the first half of the class will comprise set up, getting into costumes, and fine tuning the skits.  At this time i vidieo taped the students.  Here are a few of their skits.

Fahrenheit 451 Activity Center

Historical Comparison

Character Comparison

Persuade me!!

 
Here are the rubrics for each of the parts of the Activity Center:

Rubric for individual work in the group: 4 points

Rubric for Historical Comparison: 5 points

Rubric for Character Comparison:  5 points

Rubric for Advertisement Skit:  5 points
 

Total point value of the project= 19 points