The OutsidersFirst of all, welcome back to everyone! I hope you had a relaxing break. On Monday 5 January we began our first novel study with S.E. Hinton's classic coming-of-age novel "The Outsiders." And yes, we will watch the movie after we have finished reading the book (and maybe even throw another coming-of-age movie in there for good measure!)
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Chapters 1 & 2
To properly introduce the novel, we discussed some of the context in which it was written. Below is a PowerPoint with information about the author and teen culture in the 1960's. I have also posted a summary of the first two chapters, some discussion questions for chapter 2, and our yearbook character analysis project. I handed out copies of all of these in class, but they are here for anybody who needs an extra or new copy.
The Author & Teen Culture PowerPoint | |
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Chapters 1 & 2 Summary | |
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Chapter 2 Questions | |
File Size: | 60 kb |
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Yearbook Assignment | |
File Size: | 59 kb |
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Major Themes in the novel
On Friday 9 January I introduced the students to 4 major themes we will be focusing on. There are many themes that run through "The Outsiders," but I chose these 4 to focus on for our purposes. We will look at each of these in more depth as we go along, but an introduction to them should better inform the students' reading. One of the themes we are looking at is coming of age, so I have also included a list of coming of age movies that we briefly discussed in class.
Major Themes | |
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Chapters 3 & 4
Here are the handouts for class on Monday 12 January, which include a summary of chapters 3 & 4.
Chapters 3 & 4 Summary | |
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Chapters 3 & 4 Questions | |
File Size: | 60 kb |
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Police Report Assignment | |
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In class we looked at our notions of heroism to answer the question "what is a hero?" and then we looked closely at some of the characters in "The Outsiders" to help each student decide for themselves just who they think the hero of the novel is and why. We also came up with modern definitions of some 1960's slang used by S.E. Hinton in the novel.
1960's Slang in "The Outsiders" PowerPoint | |
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What is a Hero? (Part I) PowerPoint | |
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What is a Hero? Lab Assignment | |
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Tintin as Hero PowerPoint | |
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What is a Hero? (Part II) PowerPoint | |
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The first three characters from "The Outsiders" that we looked at for their heroic qualities and acts were Ponyboy Curtis, Johnny Cade, and Dallas Winston.
Heroes in "The Outsiders" Notes | |
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One of the main themes that we are exploring during our novel study is friendship & loyalty. We began discussing this theme by sharing some of our own personal experiences of friendship and loyalty and then discussed the role of friendship and loyalty to the characters in "The Outsiders." We especially connected this theme to the events that occur in chapters 4 through 6.
Friendship & Loyalty PowerPoint | |
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Friendship & Loyalty Group Questions | |
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Chapters 5 & 6 Summary | |
File Size: | 15 kb |
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Chapters 5 & 6 Discussion Questions | |
File Size: | 45 kb |
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"The Outsiders" as a coming of age story
As we read chapters 7 & 8 of the novel, we considered how "The Outsiders" is a coming of age story. To help us better understand what exactly a coming of age story is, we looked at the example of the movie "Stand By Me" and tried to draw some parallels between the two stories. Students only need to answer 2 out of 3 "Stand By Me" questions (their choice), but the answers should be in paragraph form of 5-7 sentences each.
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conflict in "The Outsiders"
There is, of course, a lot of conflict in "The Outsiders." We looked at conflict in general in fiction, and then examined conflict in the novel.
IMPORTANT: All students should finish reading the novel for class on Monday 26 January. We will have a quiz on chapters 6-12, and then will begin preparing for the final unit test.
IMPORTANT: All students should finish reading the novel for class on Monday 26 January. We will have a quiz on chapters 6-12, and then will begin preparing for the final unit test.
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"The Outsiders" Wrap-up
Now that we have all finished reading the novel and in preparation for this week's unit test, I wanted to quickly summarize some of the key ideas and major themes in "The Outsiders." Here is my PowerPoint and the notes to go with it.
"The Outsiders" Wrap-Up PowerPoint | |
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"The Outsiders" Wrap-Up Notes | |
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"The Outsiders" Final Project
Each student must complete a final assignment for "The Outsiders." This assignment will be worth quite a few marks and should not be rushed. The assignments are not due until after exam week, so students have lots of time to get them done.
I am giving the students three choices for this assignment and they only need to complete one. Below are the instructions for each assignment, which also have samples of each that students should use as a guideline. BEFORE BEGINNING YOUR ASSIGNMENT, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS AT LEAST ONCE TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS FOR THAT ASSIGNMENT.
I am giving the students three choices for this assignment and they only need to complete one. Below are the instructions for each assignment, which also have samples of each that students should use as a guideline. BEFORE BEGINNING YOUR ASSIGNMENT, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS AT LEAST ONCE TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS FOR THAT ASSIGNMENT.
"The Outsiders" Newspaper | |
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"The Outsiders" Soundtrack | |
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"The Outsiders" R.A.F.T. Writing | |
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