Writing whilst Reading - 10th Grade

 

For the novel The Great Gatsby the students were given three writing questions before reading the novel. Before reading, the major themes of the novel were discussed giving each student an idea of what they are expected to be looking for whilst reading. This allows them to do their own analysis, instead of the teacher just stating post-reading.

 Each week, the students are required to write answers to the questions as they read each chapter. With every chapter they read, they will develop their writings and by the end, they will have an in-depth product. This is as opposed to writing after reading the novel when lots of ideas are lost/forgotten. It also adds pressure on the students to read properly as they are required to write after each chapter. As an extra, the students are required to fill out a spreadsheet with any vocabulary they have learned (or didn't understand) from each chapter allowing the teacher to easily identify problem words. This will also help the teacher prepare accurate and useful pop quizzes.