Objective: Promote critical reading, allow students to “talk back” and pose questions to well-known texts.
Materials: Video Clip, Mystery Science Theatre 3000
Copies of student-provided folk and fairy tales (provide a few extras)
Small sticky notes
1. Hand back culminating proposals to students with comments and feedback. Students who handed in a proposal should receive the full ten marks, those with major elements missing should still get eight or nine.
2. Show students a clip from Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
3. Debrief the clip. Ask if students ever “talk back” to movies – why? Is William Goldman narrating the text of The Princess Bride or “talking back”?
4. Read aloud briefly from p. 180 - 183 (Buttercup's reunion with Westley), stopping periodically so students can practice posing questions to the text or the characters. Demonstrate some basic examples if students need prompting (Westley, how come you are so mean to Buttercup when you first reunite? Why are you dressed up as a pirate? Why didn't you write to Buttercup to say you were okay?).
5. For the sticky note activity, students may work individually or in pairs, depending on the number of books.
After some practise with questions, students should read through the stories they have brought, attaching sticky notes with any questions or comments they have for the character. These questions will be used to develop a critique of the text. Check progress periodically to make sure all students have at least made some notes in their story for tomorrow.
