Posted

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What are the positives and negatives of communicating through technology, including texting, social media posts, comment posting, and other methods? How might people communicate differently online than they do in person?

Teaching Suggestion: With the prevalence of technology-based communication, most students probably have had a variety of experiences with online communication by middle school. Pausing to examine some pros and cons of such interactions can lead to increased analysis of the novel and perhaps some self-reflection. The novel begins with a cruel text; when cell phones are banned, sticky notes become a physical, anonymous social posting method. Though the forms of communication shift in the novel, the characters discover that the methods hold less importance than the motivations beneath. Depending on the class, students might write responses to the prompt on sticky notes and “post” them in a reading journal or their notes; once the class is involved in the reading of the novel, students can revise their responses as inspired by the story before posting the notes publicly. Information from these or similar resources may help students develop additional context on the topic; the NPR article could be a way to talk about limiting online time without eliminating it.

• “The Dangers of Online Anonymity” is an opinion article from a high school news site that questions the value of online anonymity. 
• This article (or 7-minute listen) from NPR explores recent studies of how teens feel about social media and ways to address their stress. 

2. What is the purpose of rules at school? What makes a rule effective?

Teaching Suggestion: The school in the novel tries to address bullying, but the rules are not as effective as they could be. Exploring your school’s or classroom’s rules may make this topic more concrete for students. Students might address this prompt in a reading journal or their notes before beginning the novel, then apply those reflections during reading to discuss the effectiveness of the cell phone ban at Branton Middle School and later the ban on sticky notes. Additionally, returning to the ideas discussed here might help in beginning Activity 2 in the After Reading section.

• “Facts About Bullying” from stopbullying.gov presents some research-based statistics and other findings about bullying.
• In “About Bullying,” the CDC explores statistics about, consequences of, and ideas for working to prevent bullying.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Are people more alike or more different? What unites us? What tears us apart?

Teaching Suggestion: These questions provide students with an opportunity to reflect on the theme Similarities and Differences Are Illusions, which could lead to more in-depth analysis of the theme during the reading of the novel. It might benefit the class to approach this prompt with a short activity: Students vote whether people are more alike or more different, then read the suggested poem and vote again. Quickwrites before and after the poem study could function in a more personal, private way than a public vote. Alternatively, students could annotate or “stop and sketch” throughout Richard Blanco’s poem, finding some specific examples for their prompt response.

• Richard Blanco’s “One Today” illuminates experiences and goals that unite us. This link includes the written poem and a video of the poet’s presentation at the second inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Differentiation Suggestion: Readers who benefit from an oral reading of the text might watch the video and conduct a close reading of a section of the poem. The visuals and ideas in the poem may help make the prompts more concrete.