Grade 7: Unit 7 – Fahrenheit 451: Connected Text Seminars

What Does Success Look Like?

Scholars explain how the North Korean government uses censorship to restrict its citizens’ access to knowledge. Scholars identify the fundamental difference between Bernard and Lenina in the excerpt from Brave New World.

Seminar 1: “Excerpt from ‘North Korean Censorship’” by Jessica Jarreat, from the Huffington Post (first two paragraphs) (Nonfiction); “Life Inside the North Korean Bubble” by Sue Lloyd- Roberts, from BBC News; and “Excerpt from Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley (Chapter 6, Part 1, ending with “…he sent the machine rocketing up into the sky.”, Harper Perennial, 2006) (Fiction)

Do Now — 10 minutes

• Play classical or jazz music to establish a calm work environment.
• Scholars revise their Exit Tickets from yesterday’s seminar based on the feedback you gave them.

Launch — 2 minutes

• Tell scholars that today they will be reading an excerpt from “North Korean Censorship”, “Life Inside the North Korean Bubble,” and an excerpt from Brave New World. Build excitement by telling scholars that both texts will develop their background knowledge about concepts important in Fahrenheit 451.

Read and Discuss 1 — 35 minutes

Display “Excerpt from ‘North Korean Censorship.’”

Preview the Text (2 minutes):

• • Have scholars read the title and scan the passage to frame their thinking.
  • Call on scholars to share what they noticed about the text and what they will think about as they are reading.

Read (3 minutes):

• • Say: As you are reading, think, What is this text mostly about?
  • Read the text aloud while scholars follow along on their digital copies.

Discuss (3 minutes):

• • Scholars discuss the following question in pairs: What is this text mostly about? Call on pairs to share out. Insist that scholars back up their claims with evidence from the text.

Display “Life Inside the North Korean Bubble.”

Read (15 minutes):

• • Say: As you are rereading, think, Why did the author write this text?
  • Read the article aloud as scholars follow along on their digital copies. While reading aloud, pause to ask the questions below about “Life Inside the North Korean Bubble”:
    • Stop after line 11, “… to anyone outside.”
      • Partner Talk: What is the effect of the phrase “a bubble of unreality”
        (line 6)?
    • Stop after line 24, “… was shooed away.”
      • Partner Talk: What information do the North Korean officials seek to hide? How do they conceal information?
    • Stop after line 45, “… The Sound of Music.”
      • Partner Talk: How does the special intranet impact citizens of North Korea?
      • Discuss: Why did the author write this text?

Main Idea Jot (2 minutes):

• • Scholars jot a main idea in a comment next to the title of the text.
  • While scholars are working, circulate to determine which scholars have a bull’s-eye main idea jot and which do not.

Discuss (8 minutes):

• • Scholars discuss the following question as a whole class: How does Lloyd-Roberts characterize the relationship between North Korea and South Korea?

Give scholars 2 minutes to revise their main idea jots based on the discussion.

Write — 10 minutes

Write an essay of no more than 200 words:

• • In “Life Inside the North Korean Bubble,” how does the author prove that the “chances of unification [between North Korea and South Korea] have never looked so remote” (line 77)? Justify your argument with at least two concrete pieces of evidence from the text.

Wrap-up — 5 minutes

• Show an exemplar essay to scholars. Have scholars discuss what makes the claim clear and compelling. Set your expectations for what scholars must do differently when approaching the next text.

Read and Discuss 2 — 30 minutes

Display “Excerpt from Brave New World.”

Preview the Text (2 minutes):

• • Have scholars read the title and scan the passage to frame their thinking.
  • Call on scholars to share what they noticed about the text and what they will think about as they are reading.

Read (10 minutes):

• • Say: As you are reading, think, What is this text mostly about? Why did the author write this text?
  • Scholars independently read and annotate the text on their Chromebooks. When they are finished, they jot a main idea in a comment next to the title of the text.
  • While scholars work, circulate to determine the major trend in scholars’ work and conference with two or three scholars.

Discuss (5 minutes):

• • Scholars discuss the following questions in pairs: What is this text mostly about? Why did the author write this text? Call on pairs to share out. Insist that scholars back up their claims with evidence from the text.

Give scholars 2 minutes to revise their main idea jots based on the discussion.

Read (6 minutes):

• • Say: As you are rereading, think, Why does Lenina find Bernard’s behavior “odd” (line 1)?
  • Reread lines 54–89 with scholars.

Discuss (5 minutes):

• • Scholars discuss the following question as a whole class: Why does Lenina find
    Bernard’s behavior “odd” (line 1)?

Exit Ticket — 8 minutes

Write an essay of no more than 200 words:

• • Compare Bernard and Lenina’s definitions of freedom. Justify your argument with at
    least two concrete pieces of evidence from “Excerpt from Brave New World.”

Homework

• Based on the Wrap-up, revise the essay question.