Storyboards

Title: Storyboards

Grade: 8

Materials Needed:
-1 sheet of copy paper for each student
-1 copy of each photo from the Winona Historical Society for each student
-Class Copies of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”

Goals: The students will use certain chapters with much action and insight into lives from the era in order to build on chronological and historical thinking skills.

Objectives: Each student will create his or her own storyboard of events occurring in Chapters 13-15 of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. The students will also evaluate the progress they have seen in Huck’s character.

Procedures:
Introductory Experiences:
Pass out one copy of each photo from the Winona Historical Society to each student. Ask the students to predict why each photo pertains to Chapters 13-15. (5 minutes)
Correct Answer: The photo of the steamboat is much like the one that wrecked, which the robbers are looting. The photo with the caption, “A Season of Steam” depicts similar steamboat traffic on the Mississippi River. The photo of Warsaw is from the same era as the book’s setting and is also similar to that which the watchman would have taken to look for help.

Developmental Experiences:
1) Pass out one sheet of copy paper to each student. (1 minute)
2) Have the students divide the sheet into 8 squares: 4 on the front and 4 on the back. (1 minute)
3) Tell the class which components must be present and write each component on the board.
a. Title and Author
b. Main Character
c. Setting
d. Situation
e. Problem
f. Conflict
g. Resolution
h. Reader’s Critique
Each square will hold one component. The squares must be put in this order as to allow for chronological order. The students should add illustrations for at least 3 of the components. Each student can use their copy of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and their classmates, as well as the teacher, for any questions they may have. (25 minutes)

Culminating Experiences:
1) Have the students turn in their storyboards. (1 minute)
2) Conduct a short class discussion on how the students may start seeing Huck change or not change. (10 minutes)
-Guiding questions are:
-Would the Huck at the beginning of the book lead the watchman astray? Why or why not?
-Should Huck and Jim have taken what the robbers had stolen? What do you think influenced Huck to do this? Think back to his background narrated in the beginning of the novel.
-Would the Huck in the beginning of the novel apologize to Jim for hurting him by telling him he dreamed the entire separation that occurred the night before? Although his character has not changed too much this far, has it changed some in the sense that he did apologize to Jim?
3) Assign chapters 16-18 for tomorrow. (1 minute)

Assessments Used During Lesson:
Observe the students to see if they are working hard on their storyboard. Observe whether they need to rely on their book and classmates often. This will show if they have read and comprehended the chapters.

Introducing "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"

Title: Introducing "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"

Grade: 8

Materials Needed:
-“The Mississippi—Maker of Men, History and Fortunes” Article
-“Then and now” article
-“River provided entertainment for Early Winonans” Article
-Class Copies of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”

Goals: The students will be introduced to the explosive growth of cities along the Mississippi River. They will also see a glimpse of how people lived during the Mississippi River’s economic explosion.

Objectives: The students will discuss, as a class, how they think life may have been for people in the surrounding area during Winona’s early years after reading each article. Also, the class will receive their copies of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.

Procedures:
Introductory Experiences:
Ask students to write a 5 to 7 sentence paragraph, about what they would want to go back in time and experience in Winona. The time period should be around that of when the articles were written but the topic must involve any aspect of the Mississippi River. The students will hold on to the sheet of paper they wrote their paragraph on until the end of class. (5 minutes)

Developmental Experiences:
1) Pass out copies of all three articles to each student.
2) Have students read “The Mississippi—Maker of Men, History and Fortunes” first. Ask the class to break into small groups of 3-4 to discuss what they felt was the most fascinating part of the article. (10 minutes)
-Guiding questions:
-Was the most fascinating the facts about the river’s size?
-Was the most fascinating the story of the race between the “Natchez” and the “Rob’t E. Lee”?
-Was it that the article was written almost like a story?
-What was it that made this article interesting to read?
3) Next, the students will read the “Then and now” article. After students are finished, have the groups discuss the two articles to see if they can find two aspects that are common. (The two aspects that are most important for the students to notice are that Mark Twain is the person who said all of these great things about the Upper Mississippi region and that there was a reference to him setting “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” on the Mississippi). (5 minutes)
4) The students will then read the “River provided entertainment for Early Winonans” article. After reading this article, ask the students to begin a new paragraph on the same sheet of paper they had used for the first paragraph they had written. This new 5 to 7 sentence paragraph is to be about something new they learned about life on the Mississippi and/or how the Mississippi affected growth and/or the majesty of the Upper Mississippi region depicted by Mark Twain. This paragraph should sum up what each individual student’s learning experiences were. Both paragraphs are to be turned in. (10-15 minutes)
5) Pass out the class copies of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. There will be a sheet with each student’s name. Pass the sheet through the classroom so students can write their book number next to his or her name. (5 minutes)

Culminating Experiences:
All remaining time is to be to used to begin readings chapters 1-3, which should be read for tomorrow. (5-10 minutes)

Assessments Used During Lesson:
The paragraphs the students hand in will be used for assessing understanding of unit introduction information.