Lesson Overview 

By this point in the school year - discussions, group works, and all activities exist in three planes: What has come before; What is happening now; What will come later.  If you ask me why I repeat the same texts over and over with little variation (except in the lessons perhaps, and even then...) - I would tell you because only when you've done something a number of times can you start making the wonderful connections from one text - one idea - to the next. 

In this group work, the students will connect it to so much that has come earlier: The last chapter with Unferth, his loss of innocence in Chapter 2, the weight of the Shaper.  And they will also connect it in a more literal way with Beowulf - their first reading.  Students love seeing the concrete references to that old Anglo-Saxon work in this modern novel by an American.  

There are also questions that talk about that most modern of ideas (perhaps): "Conspiracy Theories" - and I prepare the students (see the last question) for John Keats's epic poem - "Ode on a Grecian Urn".   I can do that because I've seen the connections over the years that the students make themselves - point out to me - and that I integrate into the lesson.  That, to me, is "student centered".  In any case, this is probablythe third group work that they've done in groups of their own choosing.  They are learning how to utilize their strengths - and the students who usually don't participate are learning that they have to or they won't do well - either in the class or more importantly in learning.

I have also included below notes if you want to do this as a discussion rather than Group Work.

Thoughts on the Lesson 

By this point, students are usually groaning about Group Work.  See my page on Group Work.  But that's more than ok.  They groan because it is tough.  It makes them think.  And it's stressful to get done by the end of period.  All great reasons to do it.  When you can control the stress and the stakes - we are teaching students resiliency and grit.  This group work will give them the ooohhhh & ahhhhhs when they read and when they discuss.