Higher Education Literature Lesson

This resource features a bundle of all of our lesson plans, materials, and activities for Paolo Coelo's inspirational best-selling novel, The Alchemist. Each product is thoughtfully crafted and allows students to think outside the box by delving deeply into the novel's themes, characters, and plot development. Lessons have all been classroom-tested and allow for differentiation while encouraging optimal student engagement. You will not find tedious lists of comprehension questions and vocabulary words in this bundle; instead you will find materials that will bring the novel to life!

Included in this Bundle:

⭐ The Alchemist "Silent Conversation" Quote Pass Activity

This product features a thoughtful and engaging activity for use during the study of The Alchemist. Centering around 5 different provocative passages from the book, this lesson provides your students with a chance to think, reflect, and respond to their peers without ever saying a word. This creative approach is a great way to differentiate instruction among your students and allows even your most quiet students to shine. I am confident that this no-prep lesson will become a must-do activity within your unit on The Alchemist!

⭐ The Alchemist Anticipation Guide & Lesson Plan

This product features an anticipation guide for The Alchemist, and a meticulously-explained lesson plan that is in my opinion, the absolute best way to approach a new novel. Using a non-intimidating method called "Numbered Heads", this activity will get your students thinking, writing, conversing, and reporting about themes you will be encountering during your study of The Alchemist.

⭐ The Alchemist Bell Ringer Journal Prompts

This resource features a set of 25 reader response journal prompts for use during your unit on The Alchemist. Each bell ringer is comprised of a quote from the novel and a thoughtfully crafted question that encourages students to personally connect with his inspirational words. Prompts can be used as bell-ringers (most popular and mean the first 5 minutes of every class for a month are planned for you!), summarizers, stations, full class or small group discussion questions, for homework, task cards, sub plans, as a filler activity… the possibilities are endless!

⭐ The Alchemist ESCAPE ROOM

This meticulously-crafted resource features all of the materials you need to conduct a full-length Escape Room for The Alchemist. Planning an escape room may seem like quite the daunting task, but this product provides everything from the basics and set-up instructions to answer keys so that yours runs smoothly from start to finish. The activity involves movement, energy, creative thinking and most of all, collaboration. All tasks are skills-based so that with this fun lesson, learning is not sacrificed. Your students will be having so much fun that they won’t even realize the higher order thinking skills they are applying in the playing of this game!

⭐ The Alchemist Quote Posters

Make your classroom pop with this set of 20 gorgeous posters featuring quotes from The Alchemist. Each 7.5 x 7.5 (square) poster contains a provocative quote from the novel imposed over a stunning photograph meant to inspire your students and motivate them to follow their dreams. The square format is reminiscent of Instagram and makes for an eye-catching arrangement on your wall or bulletin board. I suggest laminating the posters and using them not just during your Alchemist unit, but all year long!

⭐ The Alchemist Socratic Seminar Materials

This resource features lesson plans and materials to conduct a formal set of Socratic Seminars for The Alchemist. Socratic Seminars (or "Fish Bowl" Conversations as referred to in this resource) are higher order ways of assessing whether your students are able to understand and react to your class texts. These seminars rely on the power of inquiry and allow students to take the lead in their learning and discussion. The only problem? They require a great deal of preparation. Fortunately, this student-tested resource includes everything you need to conduct a structured and formal set of Socratic Seminars in your classroom surrounding The Alchemist... and no preparation is required by you at all.

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This 170-page EDITABLE curriculum has everything you'll need for profoundly stimulating lessons on Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye! Invite your class to engage in student-driven discussions without compromising on intellectual rigor. The pre-reading handouts, discussion questions, daily quizzes, and analytical writing assignment will challenge your students to dig beneath the surface of the text and generate profound interpretive insights!

Hold your students accountable for completing the nightly homework by beginning every class with a quick vocabulary and reading quiz. Facilitate dynamic discussions that motivate students to become attached to the thrill generating shared knowledge. Challenge students to explicate textual details using a wide range of interpretive lenses: historicist, psychoanalytic, feminist, etc. Inspire students to arrive at a whole new depth of insight!

Here are some highlights from the 170-page editable curriculum:

• Discussion Question Handouts (x9): Thirty-five pages of higher-order questions guaranteed to inspire profoundly thoughtful class discussions! This unit features double-sided handouts with 8-10 questions for each of the novel's 9 sections. The discussion questions are the beating heart of these lesson plans. They challenge students to build interpretive arguments that require the support of carefully selected textual evidence — leading to keen interpretive insights! Guaranteed to foster deep thinking and dynamic discussions! (35 pages)

• Discussion Question Answer Keys (x9): The answer keys are informed by scholarly articles and books written by professors who specialize in African-American literature and the novels of Toni Morrison: Alice Walker, Susan Willis, Michael Awkward, Madhu Dubey, and others. Every answer is grounded in concrete textual evidence that gets submitted to careful analysis. While every section in this unit comes with an answer key, the keys for the discussion questions are distinguished by an extremely high level of detail. (35 pages)

• Vocabulary Lists: Lists of 12 vocabulary words for every reading assignment, complete with definitions and sample sentences with the words as used in The Bluest Eye. A total of over 100 words. (9 pages)

• Vocabulary & Reading Quizzes: Daily quizzes with 10 questions on the nightly reading homework plus another 8 questions on the vocabulary words. If you choose not to have your students study vocabulary, you can still use the portion of the quiz devoted to reading comprehension. Grading these quizzes is simple and quick. They’re an easy way to log 12 grades into your gradebook. Answer keys included. (36 pages)

• Literary Devices Quiz: This quiz challenges students to identify the literary devices used in fifteen quotations from The Bluest Eye. The literary devices include metaphor, simile, personification, symbolism, foreshadowing, allusion, onomatopoeia, and more. This bundle also features a glossary with definitions of the literary devices as well as examples of how each device is used in Morrison's novel — so you can review the devices with students before they tackle the worksheet. The worksheet can be used either as a quiz or as a fun refresher. Answer key included. (3 pages)

• Quotation Race: Students work in pairs to identify the speakers of 30 key quotations from The Bluest Eye. Introduce this fun activity when you need to mix things up, or to refresh students' memories in preparation for the AP exam. Answer key included. (4 pages)

• Analytical Writing Assignment: Challenge students to take their interpretations one step further by writing an analytical paper on Toni Morrison's wonderfully complex novel. Let students choose from one of four thought-provoking sample topics — or invite them to develop a similar topic of their own. Rubric included. (4 pages)

• Poetry Pairing: Deepen your engagement with the themes in The Bluest Eye by reading and discussing several poems that touch upon similar themes. Included are a cluster of complex poems by African-American poets Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks. Discussion questions and answer keys are included. (30 pages)

This entire 170-page unit will come to you in two separate formats: Word doc *and* PDF. Because the Word doc is fully editable, you'll be able to CUSTOMIZE the materials to suit your teaching style and/or the skill levels of your students — year after year! If you don't have Microsoft Word, you'll still be able to access the entire unit as a PDF — which is easy to navigate and quick to print!

If you have any questions while teaching The Bluest Eye, please don't hesitate to get in touch. I love hearing from teachers who share a passion for great literature. Wishing you an amazing experience with Morrison's powerful novel!

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

P.S. Don't forget to click “follow” for email updates on new products by Rigorous Resources. New products will be 50% OFF for the first 24 hours!

Rigorous Resources is your one-stop shop for resources on American literature. Every unit was created by a Ph.D. in English with a research specialization in American literature. Feel free to check out these complete units on canonical texts by diverse American authors:

Complete Unit on Tommy Orange's There There

Complete Unit on Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Complete Unit on Frederick Douglass's Narrative

Complete Unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

Complete Unit on Nella Larsen's Passing

Complete Unit on Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

Complete Unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun

Complete Unit on Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese

NEW IN 2020: Rigorous! Thought-provoking! Discussion-based! This 80-page EDITABLE unit promises to elicit dynamic engagement from all students without compromising on intellectual rigor. Invite your students to engage in student-driven discussions that promise to be profoundly stimulating! The discussion prompts, daily quizzes, short writing prompts, and final paper will challenge your students to dig beneath the surface of the text and generate profound interpretive insights!

Hold your students accountable for completing the nightly homework by beginning every class with a quick vocabulary and reading quiz. Facilitate dynamic discussions that motivate students to become attached to the thrill generating shared knowledge. Challenge students to explicate textual details using a wide range of interpretive lenses: formalist, historicist, psychoanalytic, feminist, etc. Inspire students to arrive at a whole new depth of insight!!

Everything you’ll need to teach the novel is included in this bundle. Here are a few of the highlights:

• Unit & Pacing Guide: Suggestions for how to approach the complex themes and deceptively simple language in Kincaid's Annie John.

• Discussion Questions: Sixteen pages of deeply thought-provoking discussion questions! One 2-page handout containing 6-10 questions for each of 8 chapters. The discussion questions are the beating heart of this curriculum. Every discussion question is grounded in concrete textual details and challenges students to arrive at lucid interpretive insights! The questions could be used to focus students’ thinking prior to beginning a discussion, to foster in-class writing such as stop-and-jots, or to assign written reflections for homework. Guaranteed to elicit student engagement and foster profound discussions!! (16 pages)

• Vocabulary Lists: Lists of 10-12 vocabulary words for every chapter, complete with definitions and sample sentences with the words as used in Annie John. A total of close to 100 words. (8 pages)

• Vocabulary & Reading Quizzes: Quizzes with 10 questions per chapter. Build students’ vocabularies while holding them accountable for the nightly reading homework. Each quiz contains 7 questions on vocabulary words plus another 3 questions on reading comprehension. Grading these quizzes is simple and quick. They’re an easy way to log 8 grades in your gradebook. Answer key included. (16 pages)

• Narrative Writing Assignment: A narrative writing assignment that could be given after students finish reading Chapter 3. This assignment is inspired by the "autobiographical essay" that Annie shares with her classmates. (1 page)

• Analytical Writing Assignment: Challenge students to find connections between quotations excerpted from different parts of Annie John. Then invite students to use those quotations as the basis for building an interpretive argument that is supported by textual evidence. Builds skills in close reading and analytical writing! Student writing sample included. (3 pages)

• Creative Writing Assignment: Invite students to think about the messages they have received about what it means to be a "man" or a "woman." Then, following the example in Kincaid's short story "Girl," have students write a short story about how they have navigated the normative pressures associated with gender. Student writing sample included. (2 pages)

• Short Story Pairings: Read and discuss two short stories that examine how and why young children are socialized into normative gender roles: Kincaid's "Girl" & Bret Anthony Johnston's "Boy." This bundle includes transcriptions of both stories as well as a page of thought-provoking discussion questions on Kincaid's "Girl." (3 pages)

• Poetry Pairing: Wrap things up with the poem that Jamaica Kincaid says "taught me how to write." This poem by Elizabeth Bishop engages with many of the same coming-of-age themes explored in Kincaid's Annie John. The poetry pairing includes discussion questions, answer keys, and a quiz on poetic devices. (10 pages)

My store is called “Rigorous Resources” because all of the materials prioritize rigorous content over decorative graphics. Yes, these lessons are filled with dozens of captivating images — maps and photographs of Antigua, paintings of historical events alluded to in the novel, portraits of the author — that shed light on various scenes from Kincaid's novel. But what really distinguishes this curriculum is how the discussion starters, close-reading exercises, and writing prompts are all designed to help student arrive at an abundance of interpretive insights!! . .

These materials will come to you in a single 80-page EDITABLE Word document. Feel free to modify the lessons to suit your teaching style and/or the needs of particular students. The previews for my resources provide direct access to over a dozen pages of actual materials. Click on the green “preview” button to see what you’ll get. .

Thank you for choosing “Rigorous Resources”!!

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

P.S. Don't forget to click “follow” for email updates on new products by Rigorous Resources. New products will be 50% OFF for the first 24 hours!