Higher Education Reading Literature Circles (by date, oldest first)

NEW IN 2020: Rigorous! Thought-provoking! Discussion-based! This 130-page EDITABLE document features discussion question and answer keys for all 9 chapters of The Great Gatsby. This discussion-based curriculum promises to elicit dynamic engagement from all students without compromising on intellectual rigor. The discussion questions will challenge your students to dig beneath the surface of the text and generate profound interpretive insights!

What you'll get are 9 double-sided handouts — one for each chapter of Fitzgerald's novel — that feature 8-12 discussion questions. The discussion questions are so detailed and thorough that they'll set your students up to hold consistently engaging and thought-provoking discussions. Every discussion question is grounded in concrete textual details and challenges students to arrive at lucid interpretive insights!! You'll also get a 90-page ANSWER KEY with detailed answers for every single question....

The discussion questions will come to you in a 130-page EDITABLE Word document that you can customize for your teaching style! The questions lend themselves to a range of different pedagogical uses: 1) to focus students’ thinking prior to beginning a discussion, 2) to prompt in-class writing, 3) to assign written reflections for homework, etc.

The previews for my resources provide access to dozens of pages of actual content. 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

Note: These discussion questions are also included in my Gatsby MEGA-Bundle. The bundle contains everything you'll need to deliver amazing and comprehensive lessons on Fitzgerald's novel: over 40 slides and over 240 pages of content-rich handouts and activities. If you've already purchased the bundle, you don't need to purchase these discussion questions. Thanks!

Click to view the Gatsby MEGA-Bundle

Click to view my TeachShare store

Sometimes the best classroom discussions arise when students say nothing at all!

This product features a thoughtful and engaging activity for use during the study of Paulo Coelho's allegorical tale about overcoming obstacles and achieving one's dreams, 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!

Product Includes:

- 5 "Silent Conversation" worksheets with 5 different quotes from the novel

- Full lesson plan

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Also, check out these great resources to complement your unit on The Alchemist by Language Arts Excellence:

⭐ The Alchemist Socratic Seminar Lesson Plan

⭐ The Alchemist Bell Ringer Journal Prompts

⭐ The Alchemist ESCAPE ROOM

⭐ The Alchemist Anticipation Guide & Lesson Plan

⭐ The Alchemist Quote Posters

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⭐Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence⭐

Sometimes the best classroom discussions arise when students say nothing at all!

This product features a thoughtful and engaging activity for use during your study of F. Scott Fitzgerald's beloved classic about the disillusionment of the American Dream, The Great Gatsby. Centering around 5 different provocative passages from the novel, 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 Great Gatsby!

Product Includes:

• 5 "Silent Conversation" worksheets with 5 different quotes from the novel
• Lesson plan

_______________________________________________________________________________

Also, check out these great resources to complement your unit on The Great Gatsby by Language Arts Excellence:

⭐ The Great Gatsby "Hot Seat!"

⭐ The Great Gatsby "Silent Conversation" Quote Pass Activity

⭐ The Great Gatsby Anticipation Guide & Lesson Plan

⭐ The Great Gatsby Escape Room

⭐ The Great Gatsby Human Tic Tac Toe Review Game

⭐ The Great Gatsby Social Media Materials

⭐ The Great Gatsby Socratic Seminar Lesson & Materials

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Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence

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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Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence

This resource features a bundle of all of our lesson plans, materials, and activities for F. Scott Fitzgerald's most beloved novel, The Great Gatsby. 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 Great Gatsby Anticipation Guide & Lesson Plan

⭐ The Great Gatsby "Silent Conversation" Quote Pass Activity

⭐ The Great Gatsby Socratic Seminar Lesson & Materials

⭐ The Great Gatsby Escape Room

⭐ The Great Gatsby "Hot Seat!"

⭐ The Great Gatsby Social Media Materials

⭐ The Great Gatsby Human Tic Tac Toe Review Game

⭐ The Great Gatsby Quote Posters

___________________________________________________________________________

Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence

Character traits and analysis fun!

Have some outdoor fun (or use butcher paper for indoors) with sidewalk novel characters! Students choose a character from their novels then do body outlines with sidewalk chalk. Fill these with physical and character traits from quotes within the novel...full directions for implementing and making a competitive game. Can be used with all ages and novels. Excellent for comprehension and assessment.