Ideas for Teaching Novels to Senior Students
As students enter their senior year of high school, they have read a number of novels during the course of their schooling. Rather than simply assigning chapters for the students to read, you can create an activity that complements the reading to make the process of reading the novel more engaging.
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Short Play Contest
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After the senior students have read a several chapters, assign them the task of creating a short play about one of those chapters. They can use dialogue which is written in the novel, and add dialogue of their own to enhance the play. Students must try to emulate the voice of each character and bring to life the conflict or event that occurred in the chapter. Then, in class the students can perform their plays.
Write a Chapter
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Throughout the novel characters make different choices that either create or resolve conflict. Assign your students the task of writing a chapter on their own. They can write a chapter where the character makes a different choice, or continue the story in the direction it was going by adding a new chapter after an event.
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Watch a Play or Movie
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Many novels have been turned into movies and plays. Bring your students to see the play, or rent the movie and play it in your classroom. You can then assign your students activities such as writing about how the movie differs the novel, or if the actors portraying the characters embodied the original intent of the author.
Author Biography and Inspiration
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Rather than just focusing on the actual story of the novel, teach the students about the author. Detail where he was born, raised, where he received his education, and literary influences in his life. Also study what the inspiration was for him writing the novel. Did something precede the novel, follow the novel, or were there any major real life events surrounding when he wrote the novel, are all questions that can be explored.
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References
- Photo Credit old paperback books image by Warren Millar from Fotolia.com
