Begin your unit on Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles with an anticipation guide about literary themes. Class members read six statements about time, rules, and mortality, and note they believe each statement is true or false.

Concepts

ray bradbury, literary themes, science fiction, reading comprehension, literary analysis

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Have kids discuss their responses based on personal experiences or events
• Prompts kids to extend their answer for one question into a narrative essay, based on why they believe the answer is true or false

Classroom Considerations

• Crafted by a teacher candidate, the resource, contains a rationale and process notes
• Because some of the themes are more vague stated than others, they may not lead to as fruitful or engaging a discussion
• Lesson plan notes that the activity takes four minutes, though a thorough discussion and/or writing assignment would certainly take longer

Pros

• Statements introduce kids to the novel's themes before they begin reading
• Each statement applies to the human condition, allowing kids who may not be enthused by science fiction to engage more fully in the text

Cons

• No template for the anticipation guide is included

Common Core

RL.9-10.2 RL.11-12.2