S. A. Gibson - Pratimas Forbidden Book: Teaching Guide

S. A. Gibson

Copyright 2012 S. A.Gibson

All rights reserved.

Dedicated to my family.

Thanks to Joshua William Murcray for help onan early outline for this book series.

Thanks to Ren Williams for help on some coverdesign.

Pratima's Forbidden Book, published in 2015,tells a story set in a future with much less technology than theUnited States and other Industrialized nations are accustomed to inthe 21st Century.

This book can interest young people who loveto fantasize about the future and the dramatic changes in the worldaround them. The themes of authority, justice and science and themeaning of knowledge are topics that are suited for classdiscussions, contemplation and even arguments. Indeed, the novelsassertions and challenges of common understandings can serve ascatalysts in the development of critical thinking and analyticalskills. The novel can aid in teaching specific skills in theclassroom such as building reading and writing vocabulary,improving reading skills, understanding some uses of figurativelanguage.

The novel deals with social and scientificconcepts, and provides a useful tool to encourage reading acrossthe curriculum. The novel is relatively short, and reading can takeplace in courses of different lengths. The novel can be read inonly four weeks, or the study can continue for 15 to 25 weeks.Following a plot summary, this guide is organized into sectionswith strategies to use before, during, and after reading, followedby student and teacher guides. Lesson activities are focused onassessing comprehension, or teaching writing devices, reading, andwriting strategies.

This teaching guide has been designed for themiddle grade teacher. It has three main purposes:

1. to help the teacher teach Pratima'sForbidden Book for academic purposes

as well as student enjoyment.

2. to help the teacher improve student'sreading and writing skills and

performance with reading strategies such aspreviewing and predicting,

while checking for understanding of ideas,locating details,

recognizing organization of ideas

3. to help the teacher give studentsopportunity for skill development and

demonstrate specific learning outcomes byidentifying knowledge, skills

and attitudes.

Students will listen, speak, read, write,view and represent to:

1. explore thoughts, ideas, feelings, andexperiences

2. comprehend and critically process fictiontexts

3. manage the processing of ideas andinformation

4. enhance communication skills

5. build community and sharing

Following the Collapse, the landscape haschanged. Technology has ceased to exist. The world has become awoodpunk dystopia/utopia and one youn woman, Pratima, studies dailyin books to understand the past.

In this utopian future of wood and animalpower, heroes must arise.

Pratima lives in a world with no petroleum; aquiet world of books and peace and study. Her world changes whenshe is sent by the Librarian on a deadly quest to stop the use ofan ancient book, that could destroy her world.

Together with William, a young man raised inthe world of the Librarian, she will race across India, facinghardship and adventure, and attempt to prevent the unleashing of agrave danger on the land.

Can they defeat forces bent on destroyingwhat remains after the Collapse?

This teaching guide will allow you to teachthe love and full enjoyment of fiction, while addressing theconcepts upon which your students will be assessed. These guidesare designed to be used in their sequential entirety, or may bedivided into separate parts. Activities can be mixed and matched.It is helpful to have a variety of valuable materials to choosefrom, and that your time is multiplied.

1. Comprehension Check: Exploringtextincludes handouts

designed to address the exploration andanalysis of the text

2. Comprehension Checks, designed forcomprehension of narrative textstudy

questions designed

to guide students as they read the text

3. Analysis FocusWorksheets and activitiesthat directly address the

content and allow students extensive practicein literary skills and

analysis. Students should be assisted inFigurative Language, Character Analysis,

and Setting.

4. Assessment PreparationVocabularyactivities, students should be assisted in

Context Clues and Connotation/Denotation

5. Group activities-both teacher led andstudent initiated activities

are included designated section; include:Group projects and Short Response

6. Pre-Reading, Post-Reading Activities,Essay/Writing Ideas plus

teacher rubricsthe guide also haspre-reading, post

reading and essay/writing ideas andalternative

assessment activities.

This guide is divided into chapter sectionsthat correspond with the chapters in Pratima's Forbidden Book Eachsection includes teaching tools and techniques, student activities,quizzes and where some rubrics for evaluation as well asreproducible handouts.

Pre-Reading Activities

Anticipation/Reaction Response

Pre-Reading Individual Reflection

Group reactions

Learning about the elements of Novels

Name _________________________________ Period_________

Pratima's Forbidden Book - teaching guide__________________________

Anticipation/Reaction Guide Response

Pre-Reading Individual Reflection

Directions: Use the information anddiscussion from the Before Reading responses to answer thefollowing questions on a separate piece of paper. Be sure to writeyour answers in complete sentences.

1. Which statement triggered the mostthought-provoking or interesting discussion?

2. Summarize the discussion/debate.

3. For any of the statements that youdiscussed, what were some of the strongest

or most memorable points made by your groupmembers?

4. How did you feel when a group memberdisagreed with the way you feel about an

issue?

5. Was any argument strong enough to make youchange your mind or want to

change any of your initial responses? Why orwhy not? What made the argument

effective?

Post-Reading Individual Reflection

Directions: Revisit yourAnticipation/Reaction Guide and your answers to the discussionquestions. Now that you have read the novel, complete the AfterReading column and answer the following questions on a separatepiece of paper, comparing your responses.

Answer each question using completesentences.

1. How many of your responses have changedsince reading the novel?

2. Which statements do you see differentlyafter reading the novel?

3. Describe an important part of the novelthat affected you, or made you think

differently after reading.

Name _________________________________ Period_________

Pratima's Forbidden Book - teaching guide_____________________________________________________________

Anticipation/Reaction Guide

Directions: Before reading the novel, writeyes if you agree with the statement, no if you disagree withthe statement, and ? if you dont have a strong opinion about thestatement.

Before Reading

-----------Statement ------

After Reading

__

1) Everyone needs a loving family to fulfillsour basic human needs.

_

__

2) All members of a group should be treatedequally.

_

_

3) It is never all right to fight and hurtothers.